after today's spark posts, lots of you asking how the hermes agent /goal flow actually works. here's how to write a goal that actually executes.
what /goal does:
> hermes agent autonomous mode, you set the goal once, model executes without supervision, writes files, runs commands, builds, tests, iterates, closes the loop or tells you why it can't.
what to delegate:
> that one idea you've been thinking about but never started
> small broken thoughts you can't fully articulate yet
> a full feature suite you don't have time to build
> a research direction you want explored without writing it yourself
> anything where the outcome matters more than the path
how to write a goal that actually executes:
> single concrete outcome (build X, optimize Y, port Z, debug A)
> bounded scope (not "make my code better", be specific about WHICH code, what better means)
> ask for tests alongside the build (model writes tests, runs them, fixes until green)
> testable success criteria the model can self-verify (specific output, specific behavior, specific number)
> outcome-specific (X tokens/sec, Y test pass rate, Z file structure)
> include constraints (don't break existing API, keep file under N lines, use library M only)
GOOD goal examples:
> "build a multi-file html particle physics demo, 60fps minimum, write tests that verify particle count collision math, make it pass all tests, then serve on localhost:5000"
> "port my triton kernel at /path/to/kernel.py to native CUDA C , integrate into llama.cpp at the mmq dispatch path, benchmark vs current implementation, write a comparison report"
BAD goal examples:
> "make this faster" (which? how much faster? what's the bound?)
> "explore pytorch" (no endpoint, model loops forever)
> "design a beautiful UI" (taste calls = needs human judgment mid-run)
set the goal before bed. wake up to either receipts or a clean error log.
i named my dgx spark "spark." it runs hermes agent /goal overnight.
brain is qwen 3.6 27B Q8, 262K context, i set a goal before bed and wake up to results. no rate limits. no token costs. just local inference grinding while i sleep. this thing never stops.