Pulldown for Hermes

Read a public web page as Markdown with a source URL, routing metadata, and explicit truncation. The native pulldown_fetch tool uses HTTP by default and can render JavaScript when requested. Requires Hermes 0.22.2 or newer and an external Python 3.10+ environment containing Pulldown.

Install

Create a persistent runtime environment in the same OS as Hermes:

python3 -m venv ~/.local/share/pulldown-hermes/venv
~/.local/share/pulldown-hermes/venv/bin/python -m pip install 'pulldown==0.5.0'
~/.local/share/pulldown-hermes/venv/bin/pulldown hermes install
~/.local/share/pulldown-hermes/venv/bin/pulldown hermes doctor
hermes plugins enable pulldown

For optional browser rendering, explicitly install the render extra and Chromium through Playwright's official installer:

~/.local/share/pulldown-hermes/venv/bin/python -m pip install 'pulldown[render]==0.5.0' 'playwright==1.64.1'
~/.local/share/pulldown-hermes/venv/bin/python -m playwright install chromium

Playwright's pinned release selects its corresponding Chromium build. This is an explicit setup download from the official Playwright browser distribution; the plugin never downloads a browser during a tool call. No browser binary is bundled with the plugin source.

Alternatively, let Hermes manage the plugin source. Copy the full 40-character commit from the Pulldown 0.5.0 GitHub release and use it for FULL_COMMIT_SHA:

hermes plugins install anthony-maio/pulldown/src/pulldown/hermes_plugin --ref FULL_COMMIT_SHA --no-enable
hermes config set plugins.entries.pulldown.settings.python_path /absolute/path/to/pulldown/venv/bin/python
hermes plugins enable pulldown

Install the external runtime first, then choose either the product installer or Hermes for the plugin directory. Do not run the product installer over a Hermes-managed clone. python_path takes precedence over the product installer's runtime.json. Preserve the virtualenv's executable path rather than resolving its symlink to system Python. On Windows, use the Scripts directory; for Hermes in WSL, use a Linux environment and Linux paths.

Start a new chat after enabling the plugin. Catalog submission and maintainer acceptance are separate; the pinned Git source command works before acceptance.

Use

Use pulldown_fetch to read https://docs.python.org/3/library/asyncio.html.
Explain when asyncio is useful and cite the page.

detail accepts minimal, readable, structured, or full and defaults to readable. render defaults to false. max_chars defaults to 20000 and accepts 1000 through 40000. structured summarizes tables; use full when every cell matters. Check ok and truncated before treating a result as complete. The source URL identifies the requested page, not a verified final redirect URL.

The active profile's plugins.entries.pulldown.settings accepts python_path and timeout_seconds (default 60, range 5 through 120).

Behavior and access

• Starts a fixed Python worker with JSON input and bounded output, without a shell. It can start Chromium only when render=true; workers and browser children are terminated on timeout. No persistent background service runs.
• Sends HTTP requests to the requested public site. Rendering also fetches that site's subresources. It does not offer login cookies, custom headers, proxies, private-address overrides, or disabled TLS verification.
• Checks destinations and HTTP redirects for private addresses. Rendering rejects redirects and blocks workers and WebSockets. DNS checks are not a replacement for network isolation against rebinding or proxy resolution.
• Rejects page content above 2 MiB after download and bounds returned text. This is not a streaming network-transfer or process-memory limit.
• Reads its external Python installation and Chromium installation. Caches fetched public pages in the active profile's plugin data directory for a configured runtime, or cache/pulldown for the product installer. Rendered fetches bypass that cache. Uninstall preserves caches.
• Returned page text enters the Hermes conversation and can reach its model provider. Treat page text as untrusted source material, not instructions.
• Reads no credential stores, strips ambient credentials and proxies from the worker environment, and sends no telemetry.
• Uses public ctx.register_tool, ctx.get_config, and ctx.state.data_dir. It does not override Hermes core functions or built-in tools.

The external PyPI runtime and optional Playwright dependencies are installed explicitly by the user. No packages install during a tool call. The plugin does not update itself; Hermes-managed updates use pinned source revisions.

Verification

The repository includes contract tests, an installed-wheel check, and scripts/hermes-smoke.py for actual Hermes discovery and dispatch. The release checks include public Python documentation, HTTP versus Chromium output on the fixture board, private-address rejection, and normal Hermes chat.

hermes plugins validate /path/to/pulldown/src/pulldown/hermes_plugin --install-deps

See the full setup guide and example gallery.