How to connect Semrush to Hermes Agent

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.

Reconnect Semrush from the dashboard, then start a fresh chat if the runtime still has the old tool catalog loaded.

Semrush 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 Semrush 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.

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.

The causes search results teach for this provider are plan tier, an invalid or expired key, and depleted units: some endpoints require Guru or Business tier, a rotated key fails everything from that moment, and a unit pool that is spent refuses calls regardless of the key. The causes this page's card already names remain real and are the ones only a hosted flow produces: a placeholder value such as YOUR_ID reaching the API as a literal argument, and calls that ask for data the connected Semrush account's plan cannot see. Start by checking the account's unit balance and tier, then confirm the key pasted in the dashboard is the current one from Semrush, then re-run the failed call with real arguments. Reconnecting is the last move, not the first.

Ask the agent to diagnose it:

Call semrush_account_units_balance and tell me the unit balance, then quote the exact error from the failed call. Do not retry the failed call yet.

Semrush limits request rates and charges units per endpoint, and an agent walking many keywords is the shape that meets both: one call per keyword, one call per database, one call per metric family. The fix is to change the shape of the work, not to retry it. semrush_batch_keyword_overview pulls many keywords in one call, so ask for batches instead of loops. If the account's unit pool is the constraint, no retry changes it and the balance call makes that visible.

Ask the agent to diagnose it:

Tell me how many Semrush calls you have made in the last few minutes and what you were sweeping. Quote any error text from the last response. Do not call Semrush again until I reply.

Two failures share this symptom. If no Semrush tools appear at all, the connection or pairing is incomplete: confirm the plugin was installed with --enable, that hermes clawlink begin and hermes clawlink finish both ran, and that Semrush shows as connected in the dashboard. If most tools work and one name fails, the name is wrong rather than missing and the error lists the closest real ones. There is also a first-call timing case: schemas load on demand, so the opening Semrush call in a fresh session can arrive before the catalog and needs one retry. The frame most search results teach, a wrong config path in a client config file or a stale MCP session, does not apply to a hosted setup.

Ask the agent to diagnose it:

List the Semrush tools you actually have access to. If there are none, say so plainly and tell me whether Semrush shows as connected. Do not guess tool names.

Double-check that the API key for Semrush has the right scopes or account access. A valid key can still be too limited for some reads or writes.

Yes. ClawLink is the fastest way to connect Hermes to Semrush: link your Semrush account once in the browser and Hermes Agent can call the Semrush API through 37 ready-made tools — no custom code or token handling.

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 Semrush in the dashboard and Hermes can use it from the next message — no config files, and the Semrush key you paste is stored server-side instead of in your environment.

About two minutes. Sign in, click Connect next to Semrush in the dashboard, authenticate, and Hermes Agent can use it from the next chat message.

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 Semrush working from chat.

A Semrush API key from your Semrush profile, pasted once on the hosted setup page and held server-side. Search results teach that API access comes with the paid tiers and that creating a key means buying API units, so the key itself is the part of Semrush you cannot skip. If a tool call returns a permission or quota error, the first thing to check is the account's plan and unit balance rather than the connection: some endpoints sit behind higher tiers, and every call draws from the purchased unit pool. semrush_account_units_balance reads the unit balance directly, which makes it the natural first call in a fresh session.

Semrush's server is a hosted MCP endpoint included with paid plans, and the setup search results teach is pasting its URL into a client config. ClawLink also runs hosted, but you never touch the MCP layer: the key goes into the dashboard once, and Hermes gets 37 named tools it can reason about individually rather than one opaque endpoint. The official route is the right choice if you already use another MCP client and want Semrush there verbatim. This route is the right choice if Hermes is your agent and you want Semrush alongside every other connection, with one place to revoke it.

The research surface: organic and paid keyword positions, competitors in organic and paid search, domain versus domain comparisons, keyword overviews across one or all databases, keyword difficulty, phrase and question research, broad-match expansion, organic pages and subdomains, indexed pages, ads copies and history, backlinks and anchors, categories, and the account unit balance. It is a read-only surface: nothing in Semrush is written by the agent.

The safety answer search results give is that Semrush connections are generally secure through official channels, with the risks being a compromised token draining units and shared master keys. Here the key is stored server-side rather than in an environment file on your machine, it is never pasted into chat, and disconnecting Semrush in the dashboard revokes the agent's use of it immediately. The remaining consideration is unit burn: agent calls draw from the same purchased unit pool your own calls use, so a long audit prompt costs real units and it is worth telling the agent to check semrush_account_units_balance before a big sweep.

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.