Hermes drafts local Cowork imports without claiming cloud-session access

Hermes Desktop's newest session-import proposal targets local conversation portability rather than another cloud integration. Opened September 8, it would discover Claude Cowork transcripts using the Claude project JSONL format Hermes already parses. It also changes the existing Codex source label to ChatGPT Work / Codex to reflect a shared local rollout store. The feature request and implementation both limit the claim to files visible on the connected backend.

The facts

- The proposed Claude Cowork filter appears only when its local source folder exists on the computer running the connected backend. - The implementation reuses the existing Claude transcript parser rather than introducing a second import framework for compatible project JSONL files. - The shared local rollout source is relabeled ChatGPT Work / Codex, with explicit wording that cloud-only sessions are excluded. - The request requires source files to remain read-only and imported Cowork sessions to retain distinct claude-cowork provenance. - The implementation promises older-backend compatibility so a new Desktop filter does not assume every connected server has the new discovery surface. - The author reports a live read-only scan showing the intended source labels, alongside focused parser, gateway and Desktop tests.

Why it matters

An agent's memory becomes more valuable as its history grows, which also makes switching tools expensive. Local transcript import offers a narrower portability path than account-level synchronization: it can move usable context without promising access to every hosted conversation or recreating another product's internal state. Backend location is essential here. A desktop interface connected to a remote server cannot infer that the user's laptop transcript folders exist on that server. Making the filter conditional on discovered folders prevents a familiar setup failure in which the UI offers a source the active runtime cannot actually read.

Current

Inspected on 2026-09-08. The Hermes Agent stable-release baseline is v2026.9.7 published 2026-09-07T22:17:01Z. The main source was open when captured. Release metadata is a version boundary, not evidence that an open proposal has shipped.

Evidence

The primary source is NousResearch/hermes-agent PR #105459 (https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/105459). Supporting context comes from NousResearch/hermes-agent issue #105457 (https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/issues/105457); Hermes Agent — current project README (https://raw.githubusercontent.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/main/README.md). The linked records were inspected directly; related project records are not independent confirmations.

Operator take

Treat an imported transcript as context with provenance, not as a complete restoration of the original application's execution environment. Before evaluating this branch, identify the connected backend, confirm the source folder is there and preserve the original files unchanged. Then compare a small imported conversation with its source: turn order, attachments and tool material are more important than the filter label alone. The proposal deliberately avoids private cache scraping and cloud APIs, which keeps its supported boundary intelligible. It should not be sold as universal Cowork or ChatGPT migration. A successful local scan is evidence of discoverability; it does not establish that every conversation format, hosted account or attachment variant has been covered.

Caveat

The PR was open when captured and is newer than the September 7 stable release. Reported tests and the read-only scan are author evidence. Cloud-only conversations, private caches and full application-state migration remain outside the stated feature.