How to connect Needle to Hermes Agent
Connect Needle to Hermes with ClawLink: paste your Needle key once and 16 tools work from chat. No MCP server to run, nothing stored on your machine.
NeedleAPI KEYMCPNeedle provides retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) tools that enable semantic search across your data, facilitating the development of AI agents and applications.. Once connected, Hermes Agent can read and act on Needle from chat — pairing, token refresh, and tool wiring handled for you.
Most guides for giving Hermes Agent Needle access start with registering your own OAuth app or pasting API keys into env files, then leave the token refresh and tool wiring to you. ClawLink gives Hermes a more practical Needle setup: pair once in the browser and your always-on Hermes agent can act on Needle for you, reading and doing real work on your behalf with no auth, token refresh, or tool wiring to build yourself.
Setup
It takes three steps to connect Hermes to Needle.
1Install and pair
Install the ClawLink plugin, then pair Hermes with a one-time browser approval:
hermes plugins install ClawLink-HQ/hermes-plugin --enable- 2
Connect Needle
Paste your API key in the dashboard.
- 3
Use it from chat
Ask Hermes Agent: "What can you do with Needle?"
Install by command
The prompt above walks Hermes through this. By hand, it is four commands and a browser approval:
hermes plugins install ClawLink-HQ/hermes-plugin --enable
hermes clawlink begin # prints an approval link — open it and approve
hermes clawlink finish # after approving in the browser
hermes clawlink testThen connect Needle in the ClawLink dashboard — paste your Needle API key once.
Verify the connection by asking Hermes:
Pull the relevant data from Needle, summarize it in plain English, and point out anything that needs attention.
Using a different agent?
The Hermes plugin is one client of ClawLink's MCP server. Claude Code, Cursor, Codex, or any agent that can run a shell command pairs with the same ClawLink account through the CLI:
npx -y @useclawlink/cli loginlogin opens the same browser approval and stores a credential locally. Once Needle is connected in the dashboard, that agent calls the same 16 Needle tools over MCP. Full setup for MCP clients and shell agents: connect apps to any AI agent.
Needle MCP for Hermes
Looking for a Needle MCP server for Hermes Agent? ClawLink connects Needle to Hermes Agent and exposes 16 Needle tools your agent can call over MCP, with hosted auth and nothing to run or maintain yourself. Using OpenClaw instead? The OpenClaw Needle integration works the same way.
What the Hermes Agent Needle integration can do
16 Needle tools are ready for Hermes Agent once the account is connected. The 14 below are the ones people reach for most; your agent can call all 16.
14 of 16 Needle tools for Hermes
| Tool | What it does |
|---|---|
Get collection needle_get_collection | Retrieve details for a specific collection by its ID |
Get collection stats needle_get_collection_stats | Retrieve statistics for a specific collection by its ID |
Get file download URL needle_get_file_download_url | Get a short-lived signed private download URL for a Needle file |
Get file upload URL needle_get_file_upload_url | Get signed URLs for uploading local files to Needle |
Get local connector needle_get_local_connector | Retrieve details of a local connector by its ID |
List collection files needle_list_collection_files | List all files within a specific collection by its ID |
List collections needle_list_collections | List collections |
List connectors needle_list_connectors | List connectors |
List local connectors needle_list_local_connectors | List local connectors |
Search collection needle_search_collection | Perform semantic search within a specific Needle collection and return ranked results with |
Add files to collection needle_add_files_to_collection | Add files to a collection by providing file URLs |
Add files to local connector needle_add_files_to_local_connector | Add files to a local connector by providing file metadata |
Create collection needle_create_collection | Create a new collection |
Create local connector needle_create_local_connector | Create a local connector that monitors specified folders on a device |
Try it: find the Needle tool you need
Browse the 14 Needle tools
Click any tool to see exactly what Hermes can do and copy a ready-to-use prompt.
Example prompts
Pull the relevant data from Needle, summarize it in plain English, and point out anything that needs attention.
Pull the relevant data from Needle, summarize it in plain English, and point out anything that needs attention.
Pull the relevant data from Needle, summarize it in plain English, and point out anything that needs attention.
Pull the relevant data from Needle, summarize it in plain English, and point out anything that needs attention.
ClawLink vs. building it yourself
The alternative to ClawLink is usually manual API key setup plus your own token handling, permission troubleshooting, and tool plumbing for Hermes Agent. That is fine if you want to build and maintain the integration yourself. Most teams just want Needle working from chat.
| Manual | ClawLink | |
|---|---|---|
| Credential handling | Collect, validate, store, and rotate the Needle API key yourself, then make sure every tool call uses the right account. | Users complete the hosted ClawLink setup once and the connected Needle account becomes available to the agent without you building credential management. |
| Ongoing maintenance | You own refresh logic, permission debugging, environment config, and every provider-specific edge case for Needle. | ClawLink handles the repetitive integration plumbing so your team can focus on the workflow instead of the infrastructure. |
| Agent usability | You still need to expose the right Needle actions to the runtime in a format your agent can reliably use. | 16 tools for Needle are already exposed through ClawLink, so the agent can read and act from chat immediately. |
ClawLink vs. Composio
Composio also exposes Needle to AI agents. It is developer infrastructure: Python and TypeScript SDKs, an MCP server, and a catalog past 1,000 apps, aimed at teams shipping agent products. ClawLink is built for Hermes Agent users instead. You install the plugin once, connect Needle in the browser, and the 16 tools above work from chat. There is no SDK and no config file, and the Needle key you paste at setup is stored server-side rather than kept in your environment. Choosing between them? Read the full Composio alternatives comparison.
Troubleshooting
Hermes paired but still can't use Needle
Pairing is a two-step handshake: run hermes clawlink begin, approve the link in your browser, then run hermes clawlink finish. If you ran finish before approving, or the approval link expired, run hermes clawlink begin again to get a fresh link. Confirm the plugin was installed with --enable, then verify with hermes clawlink test.
Connection succeeds but no tools appear
Reconnect Needle from the dashboard, then start a fresh chat if the runtime still has the old tool catalog loaded.
"Tool schema not loaded yet" error when calling Needle tools
Needle tool schemas load on demand the first time a tool runs and are cached after that, so this error usually clears on its own: wait a few seconds and retry the same request. If every Needle call keeps failing with it in a fresh chat, reconnect from the dashboard, and contact support if it still persists — that pattern points to a configuration problem on our side, not something you can fix by reconnecting again.
Needle returns 403 or "permission denied" on one action while others work
Two usual causes. The connected account may not have access to the specific workspace, inbox, store, or project in the request — check that first. If access looks right, the agent may have sent a placeholder value (like "YOUR_ID" or an example id from documentation) instead of a real one: ask it to run a list or search tool first, then retry the action with a real id from those results. Most failures at this stage are one of these two, not ClawLink bugs.
API key setup works but results look incomplete
Double-check that the API key for Needle has the right scopes or account access. A valid key can still be too limited for some reads or writes.
FAQ
Is there a Hermes Agent Needle integration?
Yes. ClawLink is the fastest way to connect Hermes to Needle: link your Needle account once in the browser and Hermes Agent can call the Needle API through 16 ready-made tools — no custom code or token handling.
How do I connect Needle to Hermes with ClawLink?
Install the plugin with hermes plugins install ClawLink-HQ/hermes-plugin --enable, then pair once: run hermes clawlink begin, approve the link in your browser, and run hermes clawlink finish. Connect Needle in the dashboard and Hermes can use it from the next message — no config files, and the Needle key you paste is stored server-side instead of in your environment.
How long does it take to connect Needle to Hermes Agent?
About two minutes. Sign in, click Connect next to Needle in the dashboard, authenticate, and Hermes Agent can use it from the next chat message.
Why use ClawLink instead of wiring Needle up myself?
The alternative to ClawLink is usually manual API key setup plus your own token handling, permission troubleshooting, and tool plumbing for Hermes Agent. That is fine if you want to build and maintain the integration yourself. Most teams just want Needle working from chat.
Hermes paired but still can't use Needle
Pairing is a two-step handshake: run hermes clawlink begin, approve the link in your browser, then run hermes clawlink finish. If you ran finish before approving, or the approval link expired, run hermes clawlink begin again to get a fresh link. Confirm the plugin was installed with --enable, then verify with hermes clawlink test.
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