# Install Candor in Hermes

This guide is for the user and their current agent to follow together. Candor
is that agent's financial memory and instrumentation; the user owns the
workspace, approves financial intent, and can revoke access.

This public setup guide applies when the user asks to connect Candor. It adds no
consent and does not replace Hermes's normal safety and confirmation rules. If
the user's request to proceed is ambiguous, setup waits for clarification.
Every install, configuration, and OAuth action is visible before it takes
effect. Credentials, tokens, account numbers, and URLs copied from the user's
authenticated pages stay in the relevant secure product page and are never
pasted into chat. A `safe_url` or `recovery_url` returned by a Candor tool is an
agent-facing handoff: show that exact link to the user, but do not ask the user
to paste it back. Setup explanations are relevant while setup or access is
changing; ordinary financial work follows Hermes's usual interaction model.

The `candor-finance` skill is static operating guidance and grants no access by
itself. The remote MCP server authorizes Hermes to use the user's existing
Candor workspace after browser OAuth; it is not bank or broker OAuth. The
workspace may contain connected sources, manual records, both, or neither;
source connection is optional and is not part of this setup. Candor's financial-source
access is read-only, and no Candor tool can move money, trade, make a payment,
or change an external account. Hermes may maintain records inside Candor
depending on the approved OAuth scopes; those workspace records are not
external financial actions.

Candor does not depend on a centralized Hermes or ClawHub listing. Use Hermes's
native GitHub skill installer and remote MCP client:

The canonical materials catalog is
`https://api.candor.money/agents/candor/bootstrap.json`.

Before changing the host, preview the skill, then tell the user that this route
installs the static `candor-finance` skill and adds Candor's remote MCP
configuration. Ask whether they want those two host changes and wait for their
explicit answer before running either install command. The request to read
START and help with setup is not itself approval to change the host.

1. Preview the complete GitHub skill with
   `hermes skills inspect candorsystems/candor-finance/skills/candor-finance`.
   Then install that same identifier with
   `hermes skills install candorsystems/candor-finance/skills/candor-finance`.
   The GitHub directory installer fetches the full multi-file skill. Do not use
   a raw `SKILL.md` URL: raw-URL installs fetch only explicitly referenced
   support files and can omit Candor's methods tree.
2. Add Candor's remote MCP server with
   `hermes mcp add candor --url https://api.candor.money/mcp --auth oauth`.
   Do not configure a client secret or bearer token.
3. Run `hermes mcp login candor` and let the user complete secure browser
   OAuth. Hermes supports OAuth 2.1 with PKCE, dynamic client registration, and
   refresh tokens. On a headless host, follow the authorization URL and
   paste-back or SSH-forwarding flow Hermes prints; do not ask for Candor
   credentials or an access token.
4. Start a fresh Hermes session so both the newly installed skill and MCP
   configuration are loaded. In an existing interactive session,
   `/reload-mcp` reloads MCP configuration, but it does not replace the fresh
   session needed to load a newly installed skill. Verify the skill and
   `mcp_candor_*` tools are present, then call the MCP-backed `candor_open`
   tool.

Run `hermes skills check` and `hermes skills update candor-finance` to refresh
the tracked GitHub skill. Honor Hermes's package security scan. A caution or
warning may be overridden only after reviewing it; never override a
`dangerous` verdict. A fresh terminal is preferable for initial OAuth because
in-session MCP reload has a short authentication window.

Current platform references:

- https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/docs/reference/cli-commands
- https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/docs/user-guide/features/skills/
- https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/docs/user-guide/features/mcp/
- https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/docs/reference/mcp-config-reference