entities: - - 'Easier Hermes Infrastructure Plan: PERFECT FINAL VERSION' - Page topics: - EASIER_HERMES_INFRASTRUCTURE_PLAN - knowledge

Easier Hermes Infrastructure Plan: PERFECT FINAL VERSION

Status: Approved & Active
Last Updated: 2026-05-29
Version: 1.0.0
Prepared By: Hermes Agent (following Anthony Stratton's guidance)
Reference: https://github.com/garrytan/gbrain + Easier Documentation

---

Executive Summary

This plan outlines a rock-solid infrastructure-first approach for the Easier Hermes instance, prioritizing knowledge base robustness before adding agents and workflows. It synthesizes:

1. Karpathy's LLM Wiki pattern (via Hermes' official llm-wiki skill)
2. Garry Tan's gbrain advanced architecture (production-tested brain system)
3. Easier's documented best practices from research and deployment guides
4. Anthony Stratton's specific guidance on infrastructure prioritization

Core Philosophy: Build a self-maintaining knowledge compound where the agent handles maintenance overhead, leaving humans to curate sources, direct analysis, and ask strategic questions.

---

Phase 0: Foundation Infrastructure (IMMEDIATE FOCUS)

Goal: Establish auditable, self-maintaining knowledge infrastructure

0.1 Core Knowledge Base Architecture (Adopt gbrain structure)

Following gbrain's proven directory structure, implement:

/easier-brain/
├── AGENTS.md              # Hermes rules and permissions (reviewed)
├── SCHEMA.md              # Metadata and maintenance rules
├── index.md               # Content catalog with one-line summaries
├── log.md                 # Chronological knowledge-maintenance log
├── RESOLVER.md            # Master decision tree for filing (AGENT READS THIS FIRST)
├── schema.md              # Page conventions, templates, workflows
│
├── people/                # One page per human being
│   ├── README.md          # Resolver: what goes here, what doesn't
│   └── .raw/              # Raw API responses per person (JSON sidecars)
│
├── organisations/         # Client, prospect, partner, supplier pages
│   ├── README.md
│   └── .raw/
│
├── projects/              # Easier Agency, Easier Now, tools, client projects
│   └── README.md
│
├── decisions/             # Decision record plus why and evidence
│   └── README.md
│
├── experiments/           # Hypothesis -> test -> measure -> outcome
│   └── README.md
│
├── playbooks/             # Delivery and operational procedures
│   └── README.md
│
├── concepts/              # Insights and frameworks
│   └── README.md
│
├── briefs/                # Prepared outputs, not source evidence
│   └── README.md
│
├── reviews/               # Daily/weekly/monthly synthesis and audits
│   └── README.md
│
├── raw/                   # Immutable evidence (append-only)
│   ├── meetings/
│   ├── research/
│   ├── operations/
│   └── assets/
│
├── receipts/              # Source attribution links
│   └── README.md
│
├── digests/               # Processed summaries (Fathom, meeting extracts)
│   └── README.md
│
└── _archive/              # Historical reference only

0.2 Critical Agent Configuration Rules

Add these as HARD RULES in Hermes agent configuration (not suggestions):

1. Before creating any brain page → read RESOLVER.md (non-negotiable)
2. Before answering any question about people, companies, deals, or strategy → search the brain first
3. The enrichment skill fires on EVERY signal (meetings, email, social media, contacts)
4. Corrections are highest-value data → written to brain immediately, no batching
5. Never modify raw/ evidence – append-only, immutable source of truth

0.3 Implementation Stack (Phase 0 Recommended)

Following Easier research documentation:

• Primary: Hermes official llm-wiki skill (Karpathy pattern, official, simple)
• Evaluation: QMD hybrid search (after benchmark confirms improvement on Easier questions)
• Delay: gbrain installation until resource needs are clear on current VM
• Inspiration: Use gbrain design principles immediately (graph links, gap analysis, dream-cycle)

VM Constraints Acknowledgement: - Current host: e2-medium (4GB RAM, shared with n8n, Easier Done, Easier Marketing, nginx) - Do NOT run local embedding/model indexing until disk/memory headroom improves - Use gbrain's design as inspiration, treat installation as separate benchmarked decision

0.4 Zero Trust Initial State

Per Easier research recommendations: - No messaging gateway - No API published to internet or private network
- No n8n, Notion, CRM, ad-platform or email MCP integration - No autonomous curator, cron jobs, or automatic mass ingestion - No secrets in prepared configuration

Practical Target: Progressive operating memory that first helps Anthony recall/synthesize/decide → then drafts/routes work for approval → eventually executes bounded, reversible operations with logs/budgets.

---

Phase 1: Personal Research Vault

Goal: Validate system with public research and self-written notes only

Activities:

• Run Hermes interactively with official llm-wiki skill enabled
• Compare native retrieval with QMD hybrid search (after evaluation)
• Perform weekly human-reviewed lint/audit:
• Contradictions between pages
• Stale claims superseded by newer sources
• Orphan pages with no inbound links
• Missing cross-references
• Important concepts lacking dedicated pages
• Process sources ONE AT A TIME with active supervision (preferred)
• Build index.md and log.md through regular operations

Exit Gate:

• Retrieval quality test passes (correct evidence in top 5 for benchmark questions)
• All generated claims properly cited with evidence
• Knowledge base shows compounding value (less re-derivation over time)
• Agent can say "not enough evidence" when appropriate

---

Phase 2: Internal Business Memory

Goal: Integrate approved non-client-sensitive Easier operational knowledge

Activities:

• Bring in approved strategy, product research, and operating notes
• Begin approval queue for drafted decisions and tasks
• Establish sensitivity labeling and access boundaries:
• internal (default)
• client-confidential
• personal-sensitive
• Test backup and restoration procedures (encrypted preferred)
• Implement correction workflow for outdated information
• Wire up enrichment to fire on every new person/company signal

Exit Gate:

• Backup, sensitivity rules, and correction workflow tested
• System properly handles confidential vs. public information
• Approval process for knowledge updates functioning
• No sensitive data leakage inappropriately

---

Phase 3: Confidential Material Integration

Goal: Carefully introduce customer/prospect/meeting material under strict policies

Activities:

• Import selected material under retention, access, and deletion policies
• Consider separate vault partitions for confidential client data
• Implement strict provenance tracking for ALL external sources:
• Source URL/date or import origin
• Body checksum for change detection
• Confidence/contested flags for multi-source claims
• Maintain raw/ separation (immutable evidence never rewritten by agent)
• Implement write-time retrieval: check existing memory before writing new compiled pages

Exit Gate:

• Privacy review passed
• Tested access boundaries
• Zero inappropriate sensitive data exposure
• Provenance chain intact for all knowledge claims

---

Phase 4: n8n and Easier Now Integration

Goal: Expose narrowly scoped read or draft actions via controlled channels

Activities:

• Expose read/draft actions via n8n/Easier Now
• Human approval remains MANDATORY for:
• Messages to customers/prospects
• Spend, legal, finance, credentials or access changes
• Client deliverables
• Data export
• Workflow mutation
• Build approval queues for drafted work (n8n or Easier Now mediated)
• Maintain audit trails for all proposed actions
• Implement operational disciplines:
• Signal detection (brain-first lookup)
• Sync-after-write (persistence guarantees)
• Heartbeat monitoring
• Dream cycle maintenance (when resource-appropriate)

Exit Gate:

• Per-workflow audit, undo plan, monitoring, and budget control
• Clear separation between draft proposals and executed actions
• All external actions flow through approval gates
• System earns autonomy through reliable recall and auditability

---

Phase 5: Controlled Autonomy (LATER)

Goal: Allow narrow, reversible recurring actions

Possible Automations (AFTER infrastructure validated):

• Daily founder brief (draft-only until approved)
• Weekly relationship risk review (draft until approved)
• Weekly SOP improvement proposals
• Research digest
• Slack reminders to Anthony only (internal channel)

Still Gated (PERMANENTLY):

• Sending customer/prospect messages
• Changing spend, ads, billing or contracts
• Editing source-of-truth client records
• Deleting or exporting private data
• Autonomous actions without approval trails

---

Key Operational Principles (From gbrain & Easier Research)

1. The Brain-Agent Loop (Core Compounding Mechanism)

Human & Approved Captures
        ↓
raw/ immutable evidence ────────────┐
        │                           │
        │ controlled compilation    │ retrieve exact evidence
        ↓                           │
compiled Obsidian vault ◄───────────┘
        │
        │ relevant cited context only
        ↓
Hermes Agent (skills: llm-wiki, approved workflows)
        │
        │ logs/checkpoints, no broad write/actions initially
        ↓
Approval queue (later via n8n / Easier Now)
        │
        ↓
External action ONLY after bounded authorization

2. Three Founding Principles (Karpathy/gbrain)

Principle 1: MECE Directories
Every piece of knowledge passes through RESOLVER.md decision tree and lands in exactly one directory. Prevents knowledge rot from duplicate pages with conflicting versions.

Principle 2: Compiled Truth + Timeline
- Above the line: Always current synthesis (rewritten when new info arrives)
- Below the line: Append-only evidence log (never rewritten)
→ Enables instant current-state questions vs. historical investigation

Principle 3: Enrichment Fires on Every Signal
Every touchpoint (meeting, email, tweet, calendar, contact) automatically triggers enrichment. Knowledge grows as side effect of normal operations.

3. Entity Identity & Deduplication Protocol (Critical)

Before creating ANY new page, agent MUST: 1. Search existing pages by name (exact and fuzzy) 2. Search aliases across all pages
3. Check .raw/ sidecars for matching email/social handles 4. IF match found → UPDATE existing page (add alias if new variant) 5. IF no match → CREATE new page

4. Write-Time Retrieval Discipline

Before proposing new compiled page or strong claim: 1. Search for existing related pages and raw evidence 2. If nearly duplicate → LINK evidence to existing page 3. If updating existing belief → PRESERVE old evidence, MARK change 4. If contradictory → RETAIN BOTH claims, ROUTE for review 5. Write log entry describing proposal/update

5. Maintenance Discipline (Weekly Lint)

Agent should regularly: - Deduplication scan: Similar names, same company, same email across pages - Contradictions: Conflicting facts between pages (different roles, etc.) - Staleness: State sections superseded by newer timeline entries - Orphans: Pages with no inbound links - Open Threads: Items seeming resolved but not moved to timeline - Missing cross-references: Entity A mentions B but doesn't link - Missing pages: Frequently mentioned entities lacking dedicated page - MECE filing: Pages that seem in wrong directory - Source audit: Unsourced claims in high-value sections (Beliefs, Motivations) - Alias coverage: Recent transcripts/emails with name variants not in aliases

---

Technical Implementation Notes

Hermes-Specific Configuration

In ~/.hermes/config.yaml:

# Enable core skills for knowledge base
skills:
  llm-wiki: true
  # Add others incrementally after validation

# Memory configuration - USE SPARINGLY
memory:
  memory_enabled: true
  user_profile_enabled: true  
  # DO NOT overload with business facts - use vault instead

# Auxiliary model configuration - BE CONSERVATIVE ON CURRENT VM
auxiliary:
  vision:
    provider: openrouter  # or your preferred
    model: google/gemini-flash-1.5
  # Delay compression/search until benchmarked

Required Toolsets for Knowledge Work

hermes tools enable file search skills memory session_search web

Backup Strategy (Follow Easier Research)

• Encrypted backups or encrypted git for versioned portability
• Store large attachments outside vault (keep only receipts/digests/links in Hermes)
• Monitor memory/disk/CPU before enabling QMD (2GB local model cited)
• Use snapshot/disk policy before ingesting private documents

---

Success Metrics & Exit Gates

Phase 0 Completion:

• [ ] RESOLVER.md created and referenced in agent config
• [ ] Directory structure implemented per specification
• [ ] Agent demonstrates MECE filing discipline
• [ ] All new knowledge flows through enrichment pipeline

Phase 1 Completion:

• [ ] 30-50 source documents processed with supervision
• [ ] Retrieval benchmark: 80%+ accuracy on Easier-style questions
• [ ] Zero uncited claims in agent outputs
• [ ] Weekly lint shows decreasing maintenance overhead over time

Phase 2 Completion:

• [ ] Approved internal Easier knowledge integrated
• [ ] Sensitivity labeling system functional
• [ ] Backup/restore tested and documented
• [ ] Approval queue for drafted work operational

Phase 3 Completion:

• [ ] Confidential material imported under strict policy
• [ ] Provenance tracking verified for all knowledge
• [ ] Zero inappropriate data exposure in testing
• [ ] Access boundaries validated

Overall Success:

System earns trust through: - Memory quality (accurate, cited, current) - Clear roles (human curates, agent maintains) - Reviewable work (all changes in log.md with provenance) - Reversible automation (no irreversible actions without approval)

---

Immediate Next Steps (TODAY)

1. Create RESOLVER.md based on gbrain's master decision tree
2. Implement directory structure in /srv/easier-hermes/vault/
3. Configure Hermes agent to reference RESORLER.md as hard rule
4. Run initial llm-wiki skill to verify basic functionality
5. Create benchmark question set for memory layer evaluation
6. Begin supervised source processing (one document at a time)

Remember: The human's job is to curate sources, direct analysis, ask good questions, and think about what it all means.
The agent's job is everything else: summarizing, cross-referencing, filing, and bookkeeping that makes a knowledge base actually useful over time.

This infrastructure-first approach ensures we build a rock-solid foundation that will compound value over time, rather than accumulating technical debt that must be repaid later.

---

This document serves as the authoritative reference for Easier Hermes infrastructure development. Refer to it before making architectural decisions or adding complexity to the system.