hermes-desktop: Instructions file for Claude Code

Before starting work

• Run lat search to find sections relevant to your task. Read them to understand the design intent before writing code.
• Run lat expand on user prompts to expand any [[refs]] — this resolves section names to file locations and provides context.

Post-task checklist (REQUIRED — do not skip)

After EVERY task, before responding to the user:

• Update lat.md/ if you added or changed any functionality, architecture, tests, or behavior
• Run lat check — all wiki links and code refs must pass
• Do not skip these steps. Do not consider your task done until both are complete.

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What is lat.md?

This project uses lat.md to maintain a structured knowledge graph of its architecture, design decisions, and test specs in the lat.md/ directory. It is a set of cross-linked markdown files that describe what this project does and why — the domain concepts, key design decisions, business logic, and test specifications. Use it to ground your work in the actual architecture rather than guessing.

Commands

lat locate "Section Name"      # find a section by name (exact, fuzzy)
lat refs "file#Section"        # find what references a section
lat search "natural language"  # semantic search across all sections
lat expand "user prompt text"  # expand [[refs]] to resolved locations
lat check                      # validate all links and code refs

Run lat --help when in doubt about available commands or options.

If lat search fails because no API key is configured, explain to the user that semantic search requires a key provided via LAT_LLM_KEY (direct value), LAT_LLM_KEY_FILE (path to key file), or LAT_LLM_KEY_HELPER (command that prints the key). Supported key prefixes: sk-... (OpenAI) or vck_... (Vercel). If the user doesn't want to set it up, use lat locate for direct lookups instead.

Syntax primer

• Section ids: lat.md/path/to/file#Heading#SubHeading — full form uses project-root-relative path (e.g. lat.md/tests/search#RAG Replay Tests). Short form uses bare file name when unique (e.g. search#RAG Replay Tests, cli#search#Indexing).
• Wiki links: [[target]] or [[target|alias]] — cross-references between sections. Can also reference source code: [[src/foo.ts#myFunction]].
• Source code links: Wiki links in lat.md/ files can reference functions, classes, constants, and methods in TypeScript/JavaScript/Python/Rust/Go/C files. Use the full path: [[src/config.ts#getConfigDir]], [[src/server.ts#App#listen]] (class method), [[lib/utils.py#parse_args]], [[src/lib.rs#Greeter#greet]] (Rust impl method), [[src/app.go#Greeter#Greet]] (Go method), [[src/app.h#Greeter]] (C struct). lat check validates these exist.
• Code refs: // @lat: [[section-id]] (JS/TS/Rust/Go/C) or # @lat: [[section-id]] (Python) — ties source code to concepts