Integrations are what let an Agent do things, not only write text. It can search the web, keep files between runs, or reach into an app you use like Slack or Stripe. Skills are instructions you write once and reuse across Agents.
Go to Agent → open an Agent → Build → Integrations. Skills live on Build → Knowledge.
What built-in tools can I turn on?
Each one is a toolkit (a group of tools that switch on together), so you don't have to pick tools one by one.
| Toolkit | What it does |
|---|---|
| Web | Search the web and read the full pages it finds |
| File workspace | Read and write files that stick around between runs |
| Subagents | Hand part of a task to a helper Agent that works with the same tools |
How do I add an integration?
Click Add integration to open the catalog. It has three kinds of entry:
- Built-in tools: the ones in the table above, with no setup needed
- Apps: things like Slack or Stripe, which you connect once and then use
- Custom: services you added yourself
Filter by Popular, All, Added, Made by Hercules, or by category. Searching looks beyond Popular automatically, so you can find anything by name.
Can I control which parts of an app the Agent uses?
Yes. Expand an integration on the Integrations page to see its tools. Each app is in one of three modes:
- All tools: every tool, including any the app adds later
- Read only: only tools that read data, including any added later
- Custom: exactly the tools you check. Checking or unchecking a tool switches to this mode and freezes the list, so tools added later stay off until you check them
Built-in tools expand the same way to show what each tool does.
What happens when an integration stops working?
An app can stop accepting the sign-in you saved for it, because the sign-in expired or someone revoked it in the app. Runs still start, but the Agent can't use that app until you sign in again. Hercules tells you in two places:
- The integration shows Needs reconnecting on the Integrations page, with when its sign-in stopped working and how many runs have started since
- Integrations in the Agent's sidebar gets a dot, so you see it from any page of the Agent
Click Reconnect on the integration and sign in again. The notice and the dot clear as soon as the sign-in goes through.
This covers apps you sign in to. Hercules can't tell when a token or key you pasted stops working, so that integration shows no notice.
What is a skill?
A skill is a set of instructions saved in your Organization's skill library and shared across Agents. Write a process once instead of copying it into every Agent.
Go to Build → Knowledge → Skills. Click Add skill, then Write a skill to write one there, or From the library to add one from your library or the marketplace.
The Agent goes by When to use to decide whether a task calls for the skill, so say when to use the skill and when not to. The steps go in Instructions, and any extra files sit under Files on the same page. The Agent is given all of it at the start of every run, so keep a skill short. The ? beside each part says what it is for.
A skill belongs to your Organization, not to one Agent. Saving it changes it for every Agent that uses it right away, without a publish.
What if the app I need is missing?
Click Suggest an integration in the catalog and tell us which one you need.
Additional FAQ
Do these changes go live straight away?
No. They're part of the Agent, so they save into a draft and go live when you Publish. See Versions. Removing an app is the exception: it takes effect at once.
How do I remove an integration?
Hover it on the Integrations page and click the X. For an app, Hercules asks you to confirm first: the Agent stops using the app straight away, the sign-in saved for it is deleted, and this can't be undone. Removing a built-in tool doesn't ask, because it's an edit to your draft like any other. The catalog works the same way: open an added integration's ⋯ menu and click Remove.
How many integrations should I add?
Only the ones the Agent needs. Every extra tool is one more thing it has to choose between, and more choices usually means worse decisions.
Can I limit what an integration is allowed to do?
Yes, with Guardrails. A guardrail set to Integration input is checked before the Agent uses an integration, and can stop it. You can point it at specific integrations or apply it to all of them.
Do integrations cost credits?
Using a tool during a run adds to what that run costs, and shows up in the run's cost on Analytics. See Costs and limits.
Are these the same as Chat Integrations or App Integrations?
Same apps, connected for a different reason. Chat Integrations let Hercules reach your tools while you chat and build. App Integrations let your published app reach them. Agent integrations let your own Agent reach them while it runs. Each is a separate connection.
What happened to Read PDF, Image search, and Image generation?
They were retired. All three were App Builder tools that needed a chat attachment, or saved things nowhere else in an Agent run could read. If an Agent still lists one, it's ignored. Older versions still show it in their history.