I wanted Hermes to take a PDF that showed up as email and hand me three bullets I could use. A utility bill. A neighborhood newsletter. Something short enough that I did not have to open the whole file.
There are a few different ways to do this… you can actually setup your Hermes bot with it’s own email inbox but I’m going to assume for simplicity’s sake we will just upload it to Hermes. So our steps are: get the PDF onto Hermes, open Chat, and ask for exactly three bullet points. That is the path I am teaching here.
What we’re doing
This is one job only: put a PDF where Hermes can read it, then ask Chat for exactly three clear bullets.
Hermes is running on a NameHero VPS for this, so it stays on when my laptop sleeps.
What you’ll need
- Hermes already running on a NameHero VPS, with a working AI key so Chat can think. If you are still on the first hello, start with Your first conversation with Hermes.
- A browser open to the Hermes dashboard
- A PDF Hermes can reach. Use the FILES page Upload / Drop / Choose files UI, or put the file under a path like
/opt/data/…on the server.
Walk through it
First, get the PDF onto Hermes. On the left of the dashboard, open FILES. You should see Upload, Drop files, and Choose files for the working folder (ours showed /opt/data). That is the beginner attach path when Chat does not offer a paperclip.
Then open Chat. If the first load says session not found, click New chat. You should see a ready status and your model badge live.
I typed this prompt with the bill path at the end:
Summarize /opt/data/day8/sample-utility-bill.pdf in exactly 3 bullet points.
Chat showed a short tool trail. It searched for the bill file, then read it. Status came back ready in about fourteen seconds with exactly three bullets.
What Hermes produced
Here is what Chat gave me.
Here’s the summary in exactly 3 bullet points:
- Account & Period: Bill for Jordan Lee from Sample City Utilities, covering August 1–31, 2026.
- Charges: Electric (86.40), Water (24.15), Sewer (18.90), and Stormwater (4.50).
- Total Due: $133.95, due by September 25, 2026 — no previous balance owed.
What I learned
A PDF summarize ask is plain English: tell Hermes which file, and ask for exactly three bullet points. Hermes reads the document and hands you a short recap you can act on, like who the bill is for, what the charges are, and when it is due.
How you do it: upload the PDF on the FILES page (or place it under a path Hermes can see), open Chat, start a New chat if you need one, and paste a prompt that names the file and says exactly 3 bullet points. Wait for the reply in the chat window.
One gotcha: Hermes has to be able to reach the file. If the PDF is only in your email inbox and Email is not configured, Chat cannot pull it from there yet. Put the file on the server first. Live inbox wiring (skills like email-inbox-triage / himalaya) is a separate setup, and it was not demoed on this box.
Hermes Agent Hosting comes with Hermes preinstalled on a NameHero VPS. NameHero support is available by live chat if you get stuck.
John is the COO of NameHero and is an entrepreneurial, data-driven digital marketer and business operator with +16 years of experience across many different marketing channels, industries and strategies (B2C & B2B).
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