SEO with Hermes

Use Hermes to keep track of SEO across your sites, review an audit and prepare a focused mission for a coding agent. Hermes connects to Serpkin as a remote MCP client. You can begin without a repository: add a public website in Serpkin, then create a monitor-only key under Agents. Choose research access only when you want Hermes to investigate opportunities using your allowance.

#Connect Hermes

Merge this server entry into your active Hermes profile's configuration, normally ~/.hermes/config.yaml. Keep any existing servers. The placeholder is an environment reference, not the key itself. Store your real SERPKIN_API_KEY in the profile's private environment or the process environment used to launch Hermes. Keep it out of repositories and chat transcripts.

mcp_servers:
  serpkin:
    url: "https://serpkin.com/api/mcp"
    headers:
      Authorization: "Bearer ${SERPKIN_API_KEY}"

Reload MCP or restart the session so Hermes discovers the server. If you prefer the terminal, npx serpkin --connect-only --agent hermes prepares configuration without registering a site or uploading a route map. It creates a fresh config when appropriate; a nonempty existing config is preserved for a deliberate merge. The CLI device-login key is full access. For monitoring or a custom ceiling, use the key created in the web app instead.

#Check the connection

Call serpkin_get_workspace. List my sites and the access this connection has. Ask me which site to review, then show its current SEO status and best supported next action. Do not implement changes.

A successful authenticated response confirms the transport and credential are working. Merely saving YAML does not. If Hermes shows an unresolved environment placeholder, set it in the active profile rather than another shell. If the server cannot be reached, check the HTTPS address and network access before repeating the setup. The endpoint is Streamable HTTP; it does not require a local stdio adapter.

#Use it over time

For a weekly review, have Hermes read the saved summary, site-watch alerts and next mission. Ask for changed facts, their observation dates and the next decision. Missing measurements should remain missing. If research is needed, state its credit cost first and use a research-capable key with a monthly ceiling. Site schedules remain a separate workspace setting, so a key ceiling is not a total site-spend limit.

When you choose a mission, fetch its handoff and pass it through an authorized channel to an implementation agent. Hermes can follow the durable mission's history without editing files itself. The receiving agent re-fetches the current brief, records accepted work, submits the real artifacts and requests verification. A human reviews and deploys. No saved prompt or handoff is proof that a change was made.

These instructions use Hermes' documented remote-MCP and environment-reference interfaces. A local Hermes MCP client connected and discovered permitted tools using a disposable read-only key. This verifies transport and tool discovery, not a model-driven task session or every client version. See agent connections and access for roles, budgets and troubleshooting, or the management workflow for a practical routine.