Context References
الإشارة إلى ملفات ومصادر داخل المحادثة
What this page is, and what it holds.
This page covers Context References. About 4 minutes to read. Stuffing everything into context weakens the answer and raises the cost. Give it only what the task needs.
Inline @-syntax for attaching files, folders, git diffs, and URLs directly into your messages
Outcomes taken from this page, not a template.
- Understand what السياق is and when you need it.
- Read the table and take only the row that applies to you.
- Know the common mistake before you hit it.
Jump to the part you need.
Nothing summarised away.
The documentation body below is reproduced from the official source so commands and identifiers stay exact. Each section carries a short note describing what it contains.
Type @ followed by a reference to inject content directly into your message. Hermes expands the reference inline and appends the content under an --- Attached Context --- section.
Supported References
A lookup table. Do not read it all; find the row that applies to you.
| Syntax | Description |
|---|---|
@file:path/to/file.py | Inject file contents |
@file:path/to/file.py:10-25 | Inject specific line range (1-indexed, inclusive) |
@folder:path/to/dir | Inject directory tree listing with file metadata |
@diff | Inject git diff (unstaged working tree changes) |
@staged | Inject git diff --staged (staged changes) |
@git:5 | Inject last N commits with patches (max 10) |
@url:https://example.com | Fetch and inject web page content |
Usage Examples
Explains the idea itself. Read it slowly; the later sections build on it.
Review @file:src/main.py and suggest improvements
What changed? @diff
Compare @file:old_config.yaml and @file:new_config.yaml
What's in @folder:src/components?
Summarize this article @url:https://arxiv.org/abs/2301.00001Multiple references work in a single message:
Check @file:main.py, and also @file:test.py.Trailing punctuation (,, ., ;, !, ?) is automatically stripped from reference values.
CLI Tab Completion
Explains the idea itself. Read it slowly; the later sections build on it.
In the interactive CLI, typing @ triggers autocomplete:
@shows all reference types (@diff,@staged,@file:,@folder:,@git:,@url:)@file:and@folder:trigger filesystem path completion with file size metadata- Bare
@followed by partial text shows matching files and folders from the current directory
Line Ranges
Explains the idea itself. Read it slowly; the later sections build on it.
The @file: reference supports line ranges for precise content injection:
@file:src/main.py:42 # Single line 42
@file:src/main.py:10-25 # Lines 10 through 25 (inclusive)Lines are 1-indexed. Invalid ranges are silently ignored (full file is returned).
Size Limits
A lookup table. Do not read it all; find the row that applies to you.
Context references are bounded to prevent overwhelming the model's context window:
| Threshold | Value | Behavior |
|---|---|---|
| Soft limit | 25% of context length | Warning appended, expansion proceeds |
| Hard limit | 50% of context length | Expansion refused, original message returned unchanged |
| Folder entries | 200 files max | Excess entries replaced with - ... |
| Git commits | 10 max | @git:N clamped to range [1, 10] |
Security
Explains the idea itself. Read it slowly; the later sections build on it.
Sensitive Path Blocking
These paths are always blocked from @file: references to prevent credential exposure:
- SSH keys and config:
~/.ssh/id_rsa,~/.ssh/id_ed25519,~/.ssh/authorized_keys,~/.ssh/config - Shell profiles:
~/.bashrc,~/.zshrc,~/.profile,~/.bash_profile,~/.zprofile - Credential files:
~/.netrc,~/.pgpass,~/.npmrc,~/.pypirc - Hermes env:
$HERMES_HOME/.env
These directories are fully blocked (any file inside):
~/.ssh/,~/.aws/,~/.gnupg/,~/.kube/,$HERMES_HOME/skills/.hub/
Path Traversal Protection
All paths are resolved relative to the working directory. References that resolve outside the allowed workspace root are rejected.
Binary File Detection
Binary files are detected via MIME type and null-byte scanning. Known text extensions (.py, .md, .json, .yaml, .toml, .js, .ts, etc.) bypass MIME-based detection. Binary files are rejected with a warning.
Platform Availability
Explains the idea itself. Read it slowly; the later sections build on it.
Context references are primarily a CLI feature. They work in the interactive CLI where @ triggers tab completion and references are expanded before the message is sent to the agent.
In messaging platforms (Telegram, Discord, etc.), the @ syntax is not expanded by the gateway — messages are passed through as-is. The agent itself can still reference files via the read_file, search_files, and web_extract tools.
Interaction with Context Compression
Explains the idea itself. Read it slowly; the later sections build on it.
When conversation context is compressed, the expanded reference content is included in the compression summary. This means:
- Large file contents injected via
@file:contribute to context usage - If the conversation is later compressed, the file content is summarized (not preserved verbatim)
- For very large files, consider using line ranges (
@file:main.py:100-200) to inject only relevant sections
Common Patterns
Explains the idea itself. Read it slowly; the later sections build on it.
# Code review workflow
Review @diff and check for security issues
# Debug with context
This test is failing. Here's the test @file:tests/test_auth.py
and the implementation @file:src/auth.py:50-80
# Project exploration
What does this project do? @folder:src @file:README.md
# Research
Compare the approaches in @url:https://arxiv.org/abs/2301.00001
and @url:https://arxiv.org/abs/2301.00002Error Handling
A troubleshooting section. Find the symptom that matches yours rather than reading it end to end.
Invalid references produce inline warnings rather than failures:
| Condition | Behavior |
|---|---|
| File not found | Warning: "file not found" |
| Binary file | Warning: "binary files are not supported" |
| Folder not found | Warning: "folder not found" |
| Git command fails | Warning with git stderr |
| URL returns no content | Warning: "no content extracted" |
| Sensitive path | Warning: "path is a sensitive credential file" |
| Path outside workspace | Warning: "path is outside the allowed workspace" |
2 questions answered by this page alone.
Every option is a real identifier from the Hermes documentation. The wrong ones are real too, just from other pages.