# How to connect Northflank to Hermes Agent (paste one key, 20 tools) > Connect Northflank to Hermes with ClawLink: paste your Northflank key once and 20 tools work from chat. No MCP server to run, nothing stored on your machine. Web version: https://claw-link.dev/hermes/northflank Most guides for giving Hermes Agent Northflank 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 Northflank setup: pair once in the browser and your always-on Hermes agent can act on Northflank 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 Northflank. 1. **Install ClawLink** — add the plugin to Hermes Agent once. 2. **Connect Northflank** — one-click OAuth in the ClawLink dashboard. 3. **Use it from chat** — ask Hermes Agent in plain English. **Paste this into Hermes to set up ClawLink:** > Set up ClawLink for Hermes and tell me when it's ready. > 1. Install the plugin: `hermes plugins install ClawLink-HQ/hermes-plugin --enable` > 2. Start pairing with `hermes clawlink begin`. It prints an approval link, so show me the link and stop, don't wait. > 3. I'll approve it in my browser, then reply "approved". > 4. When I say approved, finish setup: `hermes clawlink finish` > 5. Then run `hermes clawlink test` and tell me whether ClawLink is ready. **Alternative for any agent (no plugin needed):** if the Hermes Agent plugin route isn't available or doesn't work, any AI agent with shell access can use the ClawLink CLI instead: ```bash npx -y @useclawlink/cli login # sign in via browser — no API key to paste npx -y @useclawlink/cli connect northflank # connect Northflank (browser OAuth) npx -y @useclawlink/cli actions northflank # list available actions npx -y @useclawlink/cli run northflank --input '' # execute (add --confirm for writes) ``` ### Install by command The prompt above walks Hermes through this. By hand, it is four commands and a browser approval: ```bash 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 test ``` Then connect Northflank in the [ClawLink dashboard](https://claw-link.dev/dashboard) — paste your Northflank API key once. Verify the connection by asking Hermes: > Pull the relevant data from Northflank, 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: ```bash npx -y @useclawlink/cli login ``` `login` opens the same browser approval and stores a credential locally. Once Northflank is connected in the dashboard, that agent calls the same 20 Northflank tools over MCP. Full setup for MCP clients and shell agents: [connect apps to any AI agent](https://claw-link.dev/learn/connect-apps-to-any-ai-agent). ## Northflank MCP for Hermes Looking for a Northflank MCP server for Hermes Agent? ClawLink connects Northflank to Hermes Agent and exposes 20 Northflank tools your agent can call over [MCP](https://claw-link.dev/learn/what-is-an-mcp-server), with [hosted auth](https://claw-link.dev/learn/oauth-for-ai-agents) and nothing to run or maintain yourself. Using OpenClaw instead? The [OpenClaw Northflank integration](https://claw-link.dev/openclaw/northflank) works the same way. ## What the Hermes Agent Northflank integration can do 20 Northflank tools are ready for Hermes Agent once the account is connected. The 19 below are the ones people reach for most; your agent can call all 20. ### 19 of 20 Northflank tools for Hermes | Tool | What it does | |---|---| | **Get dns ID** `northflank_get_dns_id` | Retrieve the DNS identifier for the authenticated account | | **Get project** `northflank_get_project` | Retrieve detailed information about a specific Northflank project | | **Get secret** `northflank_get_secret` | Retrieve a secret from a Northflank project including its contents | | **Get secret details** `northflank_get_secret_details` | View a secret with details about its linked addons from a Northflank project | | **List addon types** `northflank_list_addon_types` | Retrieve information about available addon types in Northflank | | **List cloud provider node types** `northflank_list_cloud_provider_node_types` | Retrieve supported cloud provider node types available on Northflank | | **List cloud provider regions** `northflank_list_cloud_provider_regions` | Retrieve supported cloud provider regions available on Northflank | | **List pipelines** `northflank_list_pipelines` | List all pipelines for a Northflank project | | **List plans** `northflank_list_plans` | Retrieve available billing/resource plans in Northflank | | **List projects** `northflank_list_projects` | List all projects in your Northflank team with pagination support | | **List regions** `northflank_list_regions` | Retrieve available project regions in Northflank | | **List secrets** `northflank_list_secrets` | List all secrets belonging to a Northflank project | | **List services** `northflank_list_services` | List all services belonging to a Northflank project | | **Create or update project** `northflank_create_or_update_project` | Create a new project or update an existing project in Northflank (upsert operation) | | **Create or update secret** `northflank_create_or_update_secret` | Create or update a secret group in a Northflank project | | **Create secret** `northflank_create_secret` | Create a secret group in a Northflank project | | **Patch secret** `northflank_patch_secret` | Partially update a secret group in a Northflank project | | **Update project** `northflank_update_project` | Update a project in Northflank | | **Update secret** `northflank_update_secret` | Update a secret in a Northflank project | ## Example prompts **Get Dns Id** > Pull the relevant data from Northflank, summarize it in plain English, and point out anything that needs attention. **Get Project** > Pull the relevant data from Northflank, summarize it in plain English, and point out anything that needs attention. **Get Secret** > Pull the relevant data from Northflank, summarize it in plain English, and point out anything that needs attention. **Get Secret Details** > Pull the relevant data from Northflank, 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 Northflank working from chat. | | Manual | ClawLink | |---|---|---| | **Credential handling** | Collect, validate, store, and rotate the Northflank API key yourself, then make sure every tool call uses the right account. | Users complete the hosted ClawLink setup once and the connected Northflank 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 Northflank. | 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 Northflank actions to the runtime in a format your agent can reliably use. | 20 tools for Northflank are already exposed through ClawLink, so the agent can read and act from chat immediately. | ## ClawLink vs. Composio Composio also exposes Northflank 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 Northflank in the browser, and the 20 tools above work from chat. There is no SDK and no config file, and the Northflank key you paste at setup is stored server-side rather than kept in your environment. Choosing between them? Read the full [Composio alternatives](https://claw-link.dev/hub/composio-alternatives) comparison. ### Hermes paired but still can't use Northflank 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 Northflank 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 Northflank tools Northflank 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 Northflank 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. ### Northflank 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 Northflank has the right scopes or account access. A valid key can still be too limited for some reads or writes. ### Is there a Hermes Agent Northflank integration? Yes. ClawLink is the fastest way to connect Hermes to Northflank: link your Northflank account once in the browser and Hermes Agent can call the Northflank API through 20 ready-made tools — no custom code or token handling. ### How do I connect Northflank 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 Northflank in the dashboard and Hermes can use it from the next message — no config files, and the Northflank key you paste is stored server-side instead of in your environment. ### How long does it take to connect Northflank to Hermes Agent? About two minutes. Sign in, click Connect next to Northflank in the dashboard, authenticate, and Hermes Agent can use it from the next chat message. ### Why use ClawLink instead of wiring Northflank 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 Northflank working from chat. ### Hermes paired but still can't use Northflank 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`. ## Related - [GitHub](https://claw-link.dev/hermes/github) — Manage repositories, issues, pull requests, and workflows - [PagerDuty tools](https://claw-link.dev/hermes/pagerduty) — Manage incidents, on-call schedules, and services - [SafetyCulture](https://claw-link.dev/hermes/safetyculture) — SafetyCulture (formerly iAuditor) is a workplace operations platform that enables teams to conduct digital inspections, manage audits, track issues, schedule tasks, and maintain compliance through mobile and web applications.