Multi-tool Agents: HERMES_ONLY_TOOLS

Resolve tool conflicts in multi-environment compositions with deterministic tool filtering

Multi-environment agent setups create tool conflicts when different capabilities overlap or shadow each other. HERMES_ONLY_TOOLS provides deterministic tool filtering for production deployments.

Quick Start

1. Basic Filtering

   Filter to specific tools in multi-env setups:

   import os
   from praisonaiagents import Agent
   
   # Set environment variable before agent creation
   os.environ["HERMES_ONLY_TOOLS"] = "web_search,send_email,file_read"
   
   agent = Agent(
       name="Focused Agent",
       instructions="Use only whitelisted tools for task execution",
       tools=["web_search", "send_email", "file_read", "other_tool"]  # other_tool filtered out
   )
   
   result = agent.start("Search web and send summary email")
   
2. Multi-Environment Setup

   Prevent tool shadowing in complex environments:

   import os
   from praisonaiagents import Agent
   
   # Environment with overlapping tool sets
   os.environ["HERMES_ONLY_TOOLS"] = "youtube_search,gmail_send,file_manager"
   
   # Agent will only see whitelisted tools despite multiple imports
   agent = Agent(
       name="Multi-Env Agent",
       instructions="Execute tasks with filtered tool catalog",
       # Multiple tool sources loaded but filtered
       tools="auto"  # Auto-discovery filtered by whitelist
   )
   
   agent.start("Search YouTube and email results")
   

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How It Works

Stage	Description	Example
Registration	Tools register with full names	web_search, send_twilio_sms, gmail_send
Filtering	HERMES_ONLY_TOOLS whitelist applied	"web_search,gmail_send"
Selection	Only whitelisted tools available	web_search ✅, send_twilio_sms ❌, gmail_send ✅

---

Configuration Options

Environment Variable Format

# Comma-separated tool names (exact spelling)
export HERMES_ONLY_TOOLS="tool1,tool2,tool3"

# Case-sensitive matching
export HERMES_ONLY_TOOLS="web_search,file_read,send_email"

# Empty = no filtering (all tools available)
export HERMES_ONLY_TOOLS=""

Discovery Commands

Check tool filtering status:

import os
from praisonaiagents import Agent

# Check current filter
current_filter = os.environ.get("HERMES_ONLY_TOOLS", "")
print(f"Current filter: {current_filter}")

# Create agent to see filtered tools
agent = Agent(name="Test", instructions="Test agent")
available_tools = [tool.name for tool in agent.tools]
print(f"Available tools: {available_tools}")

---

Common Patterns

Pattern 1: Environment-Specific Filtering

import os
from praisonaiagents import Agent

# Development: All tools
if os.environ.get("ENV") == "development":
    os.environ["HERMES_ONLY_TOOLS"] = ""

# Production: Critical tools only  
elif os.environ.get("ENV") == "production":
    os.environ["HERMES_ONLY_TOOLS"] = "web_search,send_email,file_read"

agent = Agent(
    name="Environment Agent",
    instructions="Execute with environment-appropriate tools"
)

Pattern 2: Capability-Based Filtering

import os
from praisonaiagents import Agent

# Research-focused agent
os.environ["HERMES_ONLY_TOOLS"] = "web_search,arxiv_search,wikipedia_search"

research_agent = Agent(
    name="Research Assistant",
    instructions="Conduct research using approved search tools"
)

# Communication-focused agent
os.environ["HERMES_ONLY_TOOLS"] = "send_email,send_sms,slack_message"

comm_agent = Agent(
    name="Communication Assistant", 
    instructions="Handle communications using approved channels"
)

Pattern 3: Incremental Rollout

import os
from praisonaiagents import Agent

# Phase 1: Core tools
core_tools = ["web_search", "file_read", "send_email"]

# Phase 2: Add experimental tools
experimental_tools = core_tools + ["ai_image_gen", "code_executor"]

# Set based on rollout phase
phase = os.environ.get("ROLLOUT_PHASE", "1")
if phase == "1":
    os.environ["HERMES_ONLY_TOOLS"] = ",".join(core_tools)
elif phase == "2":
    os.environ["HERMES_ONLY_TOOLS"] = ",".join(experimental_tools)

agent = Agent(name="Rollout Agent", instructions="Use phase-appropriate tools")

---

Best Practices

Use Exact Tool Names

HERMES_ONLY_TOOLS requires exact spelling matching registration names. Typos silently drop tools from availability.

# ✅ Correct - exact tool names
os.environ["HERMES_ONLY_TOOLS"] = "web_search,file_read,send_email"

# ❌ Wrong - typos cause tools to be filtered out
os.environ["HERMES_ONLY_TOOLS"] = "websearch,file-read,sendemail"

Set Before Agent Creation

Environment variables must be set before creating agents. Runtime changes don’t affect existing agents.

import os
from praisonaiagents import Agent

# ✅ Set before agent creation
os.environ["HERMES_ONLY_TOOLS"] = "web_search,file_read"
agent = Agent(name="Test")  # Gets filtered tools

# ❌ Setting after creation has no effect
agent2 = Agent(name="Test2")  # Gets all tools
os.environ["HERMES_ONLY_TOOLS"] = "web_search"  # Ignored for agent2

Monitor Tool Availability

Log or validate that required tools are available after filtering to catch configuration issues.

import os
import logging
from praisonaiagents import Agent

os.environ["HERMES_ONLY_TOOLS"] = "web_search,send_email"

agent = Agent(name="Monitor Agent")
available_tools = [tool.name for tool in agent.tools]

required_tools = ["web_search", "send_email"]
missing_tools = [t for t in required_tools if t not in available_tools]

if missing_tools:
    logging.error(f"Missing required tools: {missing_tools}")
    raise ValueError(f"Required tools not available: {missing_tools}")

Use for Production Deployments

HERMES_ONLY_TOOLS is designed for production where deterministic behavior is critical. Consider cost, security, and reliability implications.

# Production configuration
PRODUCTION_TOOLS = [
    "web_search",      # Core research
    "send_email",      # Communication  
    "file_read",       # Data access
    "schedule_task"    # Workflow
]

# Set in deployment config
os.environ["HERMES_ONLY_TOOLS"] = ",".join(PRODUCTION_TOOLS)

---

Troubleshooting

Missing Tool Errors

When agents try to use filtered tools:

# Error scenario
os.environ["HERMES_ONLY_TOOLS"] = "web_search"

agent = Agent(name="Test")
# Agent tries to use 'send_email' but it's filtered out
result = agent.start("Search web and send email")  # Will fail or adapt

Solutions:

1. Add missing tool to whitelist: "web_search,send_email"
2. Update agent instructions to use only available tools
3. Check tool name spelling in whitelist

Tool Discovery Issues

import os
from praisonaiagents import Agent

# Debug tool availability
def debug_tools():
    # Check current filter
    filter_setting = os.environ.get("HERMES_ONLY_TOOLS", "No filter")
    print(f"HERMES_ONLY_TOOLS: {filter_setting}")
    
    # Create test agent
    agent = Agent(name="Debug Agent")
    available = [tool.name for tool in agent.tools]
    print(f"Available tools: {available}")
    
    return available

debug_tools()

Name Matching Failures

Common tool name variations that cause mismatches:

Registered Name	Common Mistakes	Result
web_search	websearch, web-search	Tool filtered out
send_email	sendemail, email_send	Tool filtered out
file_read	file-read, readfile	Tool filtered out

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Decision Guide

Choose the right filtering approach:

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Related

Tools Overview

Core tool system concepts

Agent Configuration

Agent setup and configuration