# Chat Length: Hermes Agent plugin

> Tells the user when a chat is getting too long and hands them a short opener for a fresh chat; the new chat pulls the earlier context itself via session_search, no handover document.

Canonical: https://hermeswatcher.com/plugins/chat-length  
Tier: Community  
Official page (Nous Research): https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/docs/plugins/chat-length  
Last updated in catalog: 2026-10-23

Tells the user when a chat is getting too long and hands them a short opener for a fresh chat; the new chat pulls the earlier context itself via session_search, no handover document. Fill level from real provider token counts, measured against Hermes' compaction point by default; notices at 70 % and 90 % (configurable), once each per chat, re-armed after compaction, never in cron, subagent, kanban, batch or webhook runs. Notice in the conversation language, English or German.

## Good to know before installing

On the turn that crosses a threshold, pre_llm_call adds a one-turn instruction to that turn's user message (never the system prompt; replayed byte-identical, so prompt caching stays intact); post_api_request stores per-session token counts, model and provider name and which notice fired (no message content) under HERMES_HOME/plugin-data/chat-length/, pruned after 30 days; reads the session title read-only from state.db and the compression settings read-only from config.yaml; no network calls, no tools, no dependencies.

From the plugin's catalog listing.

## How to install

1. Install it. Hermes asks for any API keys it needs, then asks whether to turn it on.

```bash
hermes plugins install chat-length
```

2. Said no? Turn it on later:

```bash
hermes plugins enable chat-length
```

3. Restart Hermes so it loads the plugin.

Some plugins also need a sign-in or settings: see the official page. Memory plugins ask whether to become your memory provider instead. Steps follow the official plugins guide: https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/docs/user-guide/features/plugins

## Facts

- Category: Automation & multi-agent
- Maintained by: MadeByBrain (Community)
- Needs: No API keys declared
- Requires Hermes: `>=0.21.6`
- Version: 1.1.0
- In the catalog since: 2026-10-23

## Links

- [Full setup and settings (official page)](https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/docs/plugins/chat-length)
- [Source code](https://github.com/MadeByBrain/hermes-chat-length#readme)
- [All plugins](https://hermeswatcher.com/plugins.md)

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HermesWatcher is an independent guide. It is not affiliated with or endorsed by Nous Research. The [official Hermes Agent documentation](https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/docs) and [repository](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent) from Nous Research are the authority; each page here lists the official sources it was written from. If this site and the official docs disagree, trust the official docs. Index for agents: https://hermeswatcher.com/llms.txt