An assistant with
something to remember.

I built a personal assistant around Hermes and Discord. A hook captured incoming messages, including voice notes, which it transcribed and appended to a raw log. I could just talk into it throughout the day.

Each night, a processor worked through the new entries, identifying useful memories, possible actions, and context for different parts of my life. That same capture stream fed the rest of the system.

What came out of it

Morning task lists based on things I’d mentioned. Weekly reflections on progress, friction, and what to focus on. Notes to help me keep up with relationships. A running record of work that could become my end-of-year review.

Making it personal

I set up simpler versions for friends and family, with memories organised around their own lives and personalities ranging from reassuring to slightly sarcastic. They still use them daily, and can pick up things they discussed months earlier.

Then I made it a bit much.

At one point my own setup had around 50 scheduled jobs. It was trying to optimise everything and became a little overbearing. I turned off my processor.

Hermes is still running on the old MacBook beside my desk. I’m less dependent on it now, and I’m rebuilding the most useful parts in Codex: capture, recall, and reflection, with more say over when they happen.

Borrow the useful parts

Some of the pieces are already in my skills collection, including memory curation, recall, and weekly focus briefs.

I’ve helped friends and family set up their own versions. If you’re building something similar, or want to talk through what worked, say hello on Telegram.