# Debate Workbench: Hermes Agent plugin

> Practice Lincoln-Douglas debate.

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

Practice Lincoln-Douglas debate. A case workbench helps a student build their own case section by section (resolution analysis, value and criterion, contentions, evidence, blocks) with a coach that gives real help and asks hard questions but never writes the case. A topic briefing maps a new resolution for both sides. A full NSDA practice round (AC, cross-examination, NC, 1AR, NR, 2AR, with prep time) runs against an AI opponent at three levels, followed by a ballot from a lay, traditional or flow judge. A fallacies guide, drill and spotter work on the student's own case and on other people's arguments. Cases are kept in a library with Word, text and backup-file export. Every model call goes to the user's own Hermes model through the plugin LLM helper. Debate Workbench is an independent community plugin. It is not made or endorsed by Nous Research or the National Speech & Debate Association.

## Good to know before installing

One network call of its own: when the user adds a topic source link, it fetches that one public web page (http or https, public addresses only, checked on every redirect, 20-second timeout, first 30,000 characters of text kept); no credentials, telemetry, shell commands, background processes or self-updates; registers no tools, hooks or middleware, only a Desktop page and a dashboard API; stores cases, rounds, ballots and briefings in $HERMES_HOME/plugin-data/ld-workbench/; reads a .docx or .txt case file or a backup file only when the user picks one; writes an export only to a path the user picks in the save dialog, inside their home folder; the optional dictation button uses the speech recognition built into the desktop app's browser engine when that engine provides it, which may send the audio to that engine's speech service; no private Hermes imports.

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 ld-workbench
```

2. Said no? Turn it on later:

```bash
hermes plugins enable ld-workbench
```

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: Everyday life & fun, Hermes Desktop add-ons
- Maintained by: Dgardenhire (Community)
- Needs: No API keys declared
- Requires Hermes: `>=0.22.0`
- Version: 0.1.0
- In the catalog since: 2026-10-23

## Links

- [Full setup and settings (official page)](https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/docs/plugins/ld-workbench)
- [Source code](https://linchpin.studio/hermes/ld-workbench/manual/)
- [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