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ryanbiddy/uoink

v0.1.0MIT

Connects Hermes to your installed Uoink app: capture a link into your local library, search it, read transcripts with timestamps, and run research that checks its quotes.

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Uoink for Hermes Agent

Connects Hermes Agent to the Uoink app on your computer. Hermes can search your saved videos, podcasts and articles, read transcripts with timestamps, save a new link or note, and run research that checks each quote against the saved transcript. Your library stays on your disk.

This is a portable Agent Plugins v1 package: plugin.json, mcp.json and one skill. It has no Python code, no scripts and no binaries. It starts the uoink command from the Uoink app you installed.

Install

  1. Install Uoink first, from github.com/ryanbiddy/uoink/releases (3.15.0 or later).
    • Windows: leave Add the uoink command to PATH for AI agents checked.
    • Mac: link the command once, then open a new terminal: ln -s /Applications/Uoink.app/Contents/Helpers/uoink ~/.local/bin/uoink (the app does not add itself to PATH).
    • Linux: run scripts/linux/install.sh from the Uoink source, and put ~/.local/bin on PATH.
  2. Check it works: uoink status.
  3. Install and turn on the plugin:
hermes plugins install ryanbiddy/uoink-agent-kit/plugins/hermes-uoink --no-enable
hermes plugins enable uoink

Hermes refuses to install, and hides the tools, if it cannot find Uoink 3.15.0 or later. Restart Hermes after enabling.

What you get

Two MCP servers, both started with uoink mcp over stdio:

ServerUoink toolsetTools
uoinksearch (9 tools)uoink_url (capture a video link), uoink_note, search_library, get_library_item, read_library_resource, search_clips, get_citation_map, list_recent_uoinks, get_transcript
uoink-researchresearch (7 tools)research_start, research_discover, research_capture, research_status, research_evidence, research_publish, uoink_url

That is 15 distinct tools instead of the 99 in Uoink's full set. Capturing a web page, a Reddit thread or a podcast feed is not in this small set; run uoink capture "URL" in a terminal for those, or switch to the full set (below).

The uoink skill tells the agent to search before capturing, to quote only text a tool returned, to cite the saved timestamp, and how to run a research pass.

Permission prompts

The package declares both servers untrusted. Hermes asks before every call that is not marked read-only: captures, notes and the research steps. Searching and reading the library do not ask. Captures can take several minutes, so the uoink server waits up to 15 minutes for a call and uoink-research up to 5.

Use all 99 tools

Add a server with the same name to ~/.hermes/config.yaml; it replaces the package's entry:

mcp_servers:
  uoink:
    command: uoink
    args: [mcp]
    env: {UOINK_MCP_TOOLSET: full}

Disclosures

  • Network. The plugin makes no network calls. Uoink does, only when asked: a capture downloads the video, captions and metadata from the source site (for example YouTube); research_discover searches YouTube, Hacker News, HackerTube and podcast directories, and only after you allow research network sources in Uoink's settings. Captions or audio for get_transcript are fetched from YouTube from your own connection. Optional Uoink features that use your own Anthropic or ScrapeCreators key are not part of the tools this plugin turns on.
  • Background process. Hermes starts uoink mcp while it runs; it exits when Hermes closes it. Nothing keeps running afterward. Speech-to-text, when a video has no captions, runs on your computer.
  • Local data. The plugin reads and writes Uoink's library in your Uoink data folder (on Windows, under %LOCALAPPDATA%\Uoink). Captures save transcripts, screenshots and metadata there. Research reports are written locally.
  • Telemetry. None from this plugin. Uoink's anonymous usage counts are off by default and are turned on only in Uoink's settings.
  • Credentials. None. The plugin stores no keys or tokens and reads no credential files.
  • Updates. The plugin does not update itself. Uoink the app has its own update check, off by default, which you control in its settings.
  • Prompt injection. Transcripts and web text are untrusted. The skill tells the agent to treat them as data, and Uoink wraps returned excerpts in a marked block.

Example session

You: what did the podcast episode I saved say about eval harnesses?
Hermes: [search_library "eval harness"] Found it. At 41:12 the guest says, "..."
        (saved 2026-10-30). Want the surrounding minute?

You: save https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIDEO_ID and compare
Hermes: Asking permission to run uoink_url ...   [you approve]
        Saved. Search finds two passages; the clearer one is at 12:03: "..."

You: research how teams test long-running agents, five sources
Hermes: [research_start] Needs your OK to search the web in Uoink's settings.

Troubleshooting

  • No Uoink tools in Hermes: run hermes plugins list, then uoink status in the same terminal that starts Hermes. On Mac, check the PATH link.
  • A tool says "Open Uoink first": open the Uoink app, then retry.
  • Uoink older than 3.15.0 is hidden on purpose. Update Uoink.

License: MIT. Source: ryanbiddy/uoink-agent-kit.