Status / Doctor Prototype

Status and doctor, made explicit.

This is a first-pass runtime contract prototype for Hermes and OpenClaw. It turns abstract ideas like tool safety, permission modes, and operator health checks into concrete files: one tool registry, one permission policy, and one local status/doctor reader.

See What Was Built Install / Run

Not a live runtime replacement. Not a whole product port. A clean contract checkpoint.

Origin claw-code

Borrow the architecture, not the product.

Decision Borrow Plan

Tool manifest + permission model first.

Contract Tool Manifest

11 seeded tools with schema, roots, and permissions.

Contract Permission Policy

Default workspace-write, explicit prompts for risky actions.

Surface Status / Doctor

Readable operator summary and audit output.

0 seeded builtin tools

0 tools forced to prompt

0 doctor warnings on the seed

Where It Came From

Started as a claw-code reference study.

The original thought

The idea came from studying claw-code as a reference architecture. The useful parts were its permission model, tool registry, and operator surfaces like status and doctor.

The constraint

The goal was not to adopt that whole Rust runtime. The rule became: copy the architecture, not the product. Start with the smallest contracts that improve safety and clarity.

The cut that mattered

The first two pieces were enough to unlock the rest: one shared tool manifest and one explicit permission policy. Once those exist, status and doctor have something real to read instead of guessing.

What Was Built

Three concrete pieces, all local and inspectable.

Seeded tool registry

A first shared manifest for Hermes/OpenClaw terms like execute-code, delegate-task, status, doctor, providers.inspect, mcp.inspect, and cron.inspect.

C:\Users\mikem\Desktop\hermes\docs\runtime-contracts\hermes-core-tool-manifest.json

Seeded permission policy

A first policy with workspace-write as the runtime default, explicit denied roots, prompt gates for risky tools, and a read-only override for the claw-code reference workspace.

C:\Users\mikem\Desktop\hermes\docs\runtime-contracts\hermes-runtime-permission-policy.json

Working status / doctor reader

A local Python script that reads those files and renders a compact runtime summary or an audit report. It runs cleanly on the current seed: zero errors, zero warnings.

C:\Users\mikem\Desktop\hermes\scripts\runtime_status_doctor.py

Why Use It

Use it if you want the runtime to stop feeling magical.

Safety

Permissions become honest.

Every tool has a minimum permission level, roots are explicit, and risky actions can be forced to prompt instead of silently inheriting host-wide freedom.

Operator clarity

Status has something real to say.

Once tools and policy are structured, status can report the active posture and doctor can flag mismatches instead of hand-waving.

Architecture

It gives Hermes and OpenClaw a shared contract.

That matters if you want one model for tools, roots, prompts, and operator health across Mac Hermes, Mac OpenClaw, and bounded environments like VPS3 Herman.

If you were actually going to use this tomorrow

Use it as a bridge layer. Keep your live runtime, but make it read from one tool registry and one permission policy before you attempt deeper runtime rewrites.

Install / Run

Two ways to use it: run the prototype, or deploy this explainer.

Run the local prototype

python C:\Users\mikem\Desktop\hermes\scripts\runtime_status_doctor.py status
python C:\Users\mikem\Desktop\hermes\scripts\runtime_status_doctor.py doctor
python C:\Users\mikem\Desktop\hermes\scripts\runtime_status_doctor.py status --json
python C:\Users\mikem\Desktop\hermes\scripts\runtime_status_doctor.py doctor --json

Open this explainer locally

cd E:\Codex\projects\hermes-status-doctor-explainer
start index.html

Deploy this explainer to Vercel

cd E:\Codex\projects\hermes-status-doctor-explainer
vercel
vercel --prod

What to copy into a real runtime repo

docs/runtime-contracts/tool-manifest.schema.json
docs/runtime-contracts/permission-policy.schema.json
docs/runtime-contracts/hermes-core-tool-manifest.json
docs/runtime-contracts/hermes-runtime-permission-policy.json
scripts/runtime_status_doctor.py

Saved Location

This project now lives on E:, not in your repo root.

Explainer project

E:\Codex\projects\hermes-status-doctor-explainer

What it contains

A Vercel-ready static site with the visual explanation, local open instructions, deployment instructions, and context for why the prototype exists.