Hermes Agent + xCloud

Speed up a slow site with Hermes Agent on xCloud

Speeding up a slow site with Hermes Agent means messaging an agent that stays running, has memory and a scheduler, and lets it read xCloud's measurements for the slow site, remember what normal looked like and report back when numbers move.

Skill: xcloud:performance
Toolsets: pagespeed, sites, servers, broken-links
Free with every xCloud account

Set up Hermes Agent All Hermes Agent guides

YouThe shop is crawling again. Check the usual things.

sites_monitoring_historyread-only

sites_cacheSettingsread-only

AgentLast week you told me the mobile PageSpeed score was fine. Page cache is still on, but the server's CPU has sat above 90 percent since Tuesday and the access log shows one client hitting /cart/ every second. Caching will not fix that. Want me to look at the firewall options?

YouYes, but only tell me what you would do.

Last updated: October 2026. Keep a human in the loop: xCloud stops and asks before anything that creates, deploys, updates, reboots, deletes or buys.

Setup

How Do You Set Up Hermes Agent to Speed up a slow site on xCloud?

Connect Hermes Agent once; every job on this account uses the same connection. Then ask in plain words.

1
Add the xCloud MCP server
Add this under mcp_servers in ~/.hermes/config.yaml. If the file already has an mcp_servers block, add only the xcloud entry. Then start a new Hermes session, or run /reload-mcp in the one that is open.
YAML
```
mcp_servers:
  xcloud:
    url: "https://app.xcloud.host/mcp"
    auth: oauth
```
2
Authorize xCloud
On first connect Hermes prints an authorize URL and waits for the sign-in. Run this command to start it yourself or to re-authorize later. On the xCloud approval screen tick the teams and choose Read-only or Full access. Hermes caches the tokens in ~/.hermes/mcp-tokens/xcloud.json and reuses them on later runs.
Terminal
```
hermes mcp login xcloud
```
3
No browser? Use an API key
For a server with no browser, create a token with the mcp:invoke scope plus the read abilities for the areas it will use (read:servers and read:sites, with read:billing and read:addons for billing and add-on tools) and the matching write: abilities if it should change things in Settings, Developers, API Tokens and send it as a header in place of auth: oauth. Keep ~/.hermes/config.yaml out of version control when it holds a token.
YAML
```
mcp_servers:
  xcloud:
    url: "https://app.xcloud.host/mcp"
    headers:
      Authorization: "Bearer YOUR_TOKEN"
```

Check it worked

Then ask Hermes Agent for the job itself, for example:

Prompt

The shop is crawling again. Check the usual things and tell me what changed since last time.

In practice

How Does Performance Work from Hermes Agent?

Hermes is the one agent in this set that is usually already running when the problem starts. You are likely in Telegram or Slack, talking to the Hermes gateway from your phone, and you send a plain message: the shop is crawling again, check the usual things. Hermes calls xCloud for the site and its server, reads the monitoring history, the cache settings, the latest PageSpeed result, the access log, the services on the server and the PHP version, then answers in the same chat. There is no terminal to open and no dashboard tab to find. The reply is a finding with its numbers, and when the fix is a dashboard switch, such as turning on page cache under Site, WordPress, Caching, you get the path and the site's link as a tappable message.

Memory is what changes this job. Tell Hermes once that shop.example.com is the slow one and that it shares the Frankfurt server with the blog, and a later request can start from that. Ask it to remember the PageSpeed numbers from a good day and the next report can say what moved, instead of handing you a score with no context. That does not replace measuring, so the agent still reads fresh data every time. It just stops you from re-explaining the setup each week.

The scheduler is the other half. A Hermes cron job runs in a fresh session and delivers its result to a chat, so a daily read of the latest PageSpeed result and the server's disk can land in your Slack channel with nobody asking. Because that run has no one watching, write the prompt as reads only. Say that it must not start a scan and must not purge, and have it name the site in the prompt itself, since a fresh session does not carry what you said in chat the day before.

Hermes Agent specific: Hermes cron jobs run in fresh agent sessions, so a scheduled performance check only knows what its own prompt says. Name the site, the metrics and the plain instruction to report only, and sign in once with hermes mcp login xcloud so the run reuses the cached tokens. On a free plan, the history reads come back as a plan limit, and the scheduled report should say that in one line instead of listing it as missing data.

What xCloud does for performance

xCloud reads the site's and the server's CPU, RAM and disk samples, which cache layers are on, the latest PageSpeed result, traffic in the access log, service health and the site's PHP version. The agent names the cause from that data, then hands you the switches that only the dashboard can flip.

Resolve the site and its server. The agent looks up the site and the server it runs on, because the answer often comes from both. A slow site is frequently slow because a neighbour on the same server is.
Check status and monitoring history. A site that is mid-deploy or failed explains slowness without any measurement. Otherwise the agent reads the site's and the server's samples, and a 24-hour or 7-day series to tell whether the slowdown is new. Disk comes early: a nearly full disk slows everything, the database first.
Read the cache layers. The agent reads the cache settings before saying anything about caching: whether page cache, Redis or Object Cache Pro object cache and Cloudflare edge cache are on, and which server stack the site runs. It never reports that no cache configuration is readable without calling it.
Read PageSpeed and traffic. The latest completed PageSpeed run is free to read. A new scan is worth starting only when there is no result or the site changed since, and the agent tells you it is spending a scan. The access log shows spikes, a crawl or one client hammering a path.
Check services and PHP. The agent checks that PHP, the web server, Redis and the database are running, and reads the site's PHP version and pending updates. A stopped Redis next to an object cache that reads as on is a found answer.
Name the cause and hand off. You get the most likely cause with its numbers. The fix is either something the agent can do, such as a purge after you agree, or a dashboard switch it names with the path and the site's dashboard link. If every number looks normal, it says so instead of inventing a cause.

Reference

Performance Settings and Limits on xCloud

The facts Hermes Agent works within when it speeds up a slow site. Where a row names the dashboard, that step stays yours to take there.

Setting or limit	What applies
Monitoring history	Site and server CPU, RAM and disk samples as a 24-hour or 7-day series. History is not available on the free plan, and the agent says that is a plan limit rather than reporting no data
Cache state	Read through sites.cacheSettings: page cache, object cache (Redis, Object Cache Pro) and Cloudflare edge cache. It returns settings only, never cache contents
Enabling a cache layer	Dashboard-only: Site, WordPress, Caching. The API reads the layers and purges them, and cannot switch one on for an existing site
Page cache details	Cache duration, URL and cookie exclusions and ignored query parameters are dashboard-only and are not returned by the cache settings read
PageSpeed	The latest mobile and desktop results and the history are read for free. One scan runs both strategies
Scan conflicts	A 409 while a scan is running means it is still pending or scanning. The agent polls it instead of starting another, and it is not a cooldown
Cache purge	Purging runs without a confirmation stop but throws away a warm cache, so the agent asks first on a live site and reports each layer as queued or skipped
Traffic	The access log shows spikes and bots. It is read over SSH, so the agent asks for a bounded window
PHP version	Read from the site's status. Changing one site's PHP version is a dashboard step: Site, Site Settings
Server PHP default	Changing the server default PHP changes only the command-line php and the version new sites get. It does not move any existing site
Broken links	A broken-link scan on a WordPress site returns findings grouped by source page, and a truncated scan is reported as partial

Rules Hermes Agent has to follow

The agent diagnoses from measurements, not guesses, and it calls the cache settings read before it says anything about caching.
It never offers to turn on Redis or any other cache layer itself. Enabling a layer is a dashboard step, and the agent gives you the path and the dashboard link.
It never presents a change of server PHP default as a substitute for changing one site's PHP version.
A cache purge on a live site, a new PageSpeed scan and any server-level PHP change are announced first. Server-level changes also need your explicit yes.
A site that errors rather than loads slowly goes to troubleshooting, and a failed deploy goes to deploy.

Example prompts

What Can You Ask Hermes Agent to Do for Performance?

Type these as written and swap in your own repository, site and server names. Reads and routine actions such as backups, cache purges, PageSpeed scans and vulnerability scans run straight away; creating, deploying, updating, rebooting, deleting, buying or starting a broken-link scan stops and asks first.

Prompt

The shop is crawling again. Check the usual things and tell me what changed since last time.

Prompt

Every weekday at 7am, read the latest PageSpeed result for shop.example.com and tell me if the mobile score dropped. Do not start a scan and change nothing.

Prompt

Remember that shop.example.com is the slow one, and that it shares the Frankfurt server with the blog.

Prompt

Why is shop.example.com slow? Check the cache, the server load and the latest PageSpeed result.

Prompt

Is Redis object cache on for the shop site? If it is off, tell me where to switch it on.

Prompt

Show CPU, RAM and disk for the shop site over the last 24 hours and tell me whether the slowdown is new.

Prompt

Run a PageSpeed scan on the shop site and compare the score with the previous scans.

Prompt

Look at the access log of the shop site for a traffic spike or a bot hammering one path.

Prompt

Which PHP version is the blog site running, and are there pending updates I should apply?

Prompt

Purge all caches on the shop site.

Prompt

Scan the shop site for broken links and list the pages with the most.

Hermes Agent and Performance: Frequently Asked Questions

What people ask before they let Hermes Agent speed up a slow site through xCloud.

Can Hermes Agent watch my site's speed without me asking?

Yes. A Hermes cron job can read the latest PageSpeed result, the cache settings and the server's disk on a timer and post the summary to your chat. Keep the prompt to reads, because a scan spends a PageSpeed run and a purge empties a warm cache.

Does Hermes Agent remember my site's normal speed?

It keeps memory across sessions, so you can tell it which site is slow and what a good score looked like, and later answers can compare against that. It still reads fresh measurements from xCloud each time, so the comparison uses real current numbers.

Can the agent turn on caching for my slow site?

No. It can read which cache layers are on and purge them, but switching page cache, Redis object cache or Cloudflare edge cache on for an existing site is a dashboard step under Site, WordPress, Caching. The agent tells you the path and gives you the site's dashboard link.

What does a 409 mean when the agent starts a PageSpeed scan?

It means a scan for that site is still pending or running. The agent polls the existing scan instead of starting another, and it is not a cooldown period. A new scan is only worth starting when there is no recent result or the site has changed.

Will changing the server's PHP default speed up my site?

No. The server default changes only the command-line php and the version new sites get, and it does not move any existing site. The PHP version of one site is changed in the dashboard under Site, Site Settings.

Why does the agent say monitoring history is unavailable?

Monitoring history is a paid-plan feature, so on the free plan the request is refused as a plan limit. The agent reports it that way rather than saying there is no data, and it falls back to the samples and measurements the plan does include.

Does purging the cache ask for my confirmation?

xCloud itself runs a purge without a confirmation stop, because it is a routine action. The agent still asks you first on a live site, since a purge throws away a warm cache and the next visitors wait while it rebuilds.

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