How to connect Hermes to your LinkedIn messages
For consultants, advisers and small agencies, LinkedIn messages are where good work starts: a past client asking if you have capacity, someone who read your post, a referral. They are also easy to lose under recruiter pitches and sales sequences. Hermes Agent runs all the time on a machine you control, so with Spaces connected it can read your LinkedIn inbox overnight, sort it, and have a short digest and a set of draft replies waiting for you in the morning. This guide covers the setup, a morning digest you can copy, a worked example from an independent HR consultant, how to handle invitations, and the LinkedIn rules that make conversations, not campaigns, the right use.
What you need
- Hermes Agent installed and working on a computer or small server.
- A Spaces account. The Free plan starts when you connect a chat account, with no card needed.
- Your own LinkedIn profile, and a few minutes to sign in to it through Spaces.
- A short note on the work you take on, the people you want to hear from, and what you never want said.
- A machine that stays on overnight, if you want the digest ready each morning.
Step 1: connect your LinkedIn account to Spaces
You sign in to LinkedIn through a secure link and approve the connection. Your account stays yours, and you keep using it on your phone as normal.
Once it is connected, the account shows in your Spaces dashboard. Connecting does not send anything. It only means Spaces can read and send on that account when an AI agent you have added asks it to.
Connect your own profile. A LinkedIn profile belongs to one person, so if colleagues want the same help, each of them connects their own. LinkedIn restricts automation on profiles, so read the note at the top of this page before you connect.
Step 2: add Spaces to Hermes
- Add the block below to ~/.hermes/config.yaml.
- Run hermes mcp login spaces and sign in to Spaces in the browser.
mcp_servers:
spaces:
url: "https://api.spacesos.com/mcp"
auth: oauthTo check it worked: Run /reload-mcp, then hermes mcp test spaces. The tools appear as mcp_spaces_….
Prefer an API key? Use a header instead of auth: oauth.
mcp_servers:
spaces:
url: "https://api.spacesos.com/mcp"
headers:
Authorization: "Bearer spc_live_…"You sign in on Spaces' own page during this step, so Hermes never sees your LinkedIn login or your Spaces password. If Spaces does not show up:
- Check the address is exactly https://api.spacesos.com/mcp, with nothing added at the end.
- Run the sign-in step again, in case the first sign-in in the browser did not finish.
- Restart Hermes so it reads the new settings.
- If it still does not appear, the Hermes Agent MCP docs have the current steps, and our Hermes setup page has ours.
Step 3: try it
Start Hermes and ask in plain words. Start with requests that only read:
- List my Spaces accounts and tell me which one is LinkedIn.
- Summarise the LinkedIn messages from the last 48 hours, newest first.
- Which of these are from people I have worked with before?
- Draft replies to the two enquiries using my notes, and do not send anything.
Start with a question that only reads, like the first one. It shows you that Hermes can see your LinkedIn messages before you let it send anything. Then try a draft, read it carefully, and only then let it send.
Good to know
Hermes keeps running, so it can do the reading and sorting while you sleep. On LinkedIn the most useful thing it does is often not sending at all: it tells you who wrote, what they want and what it would say, and you send the replies that matter yourself.
LinkedIn conversations are relationships. Even once you trust Hermes's drafts, many people prefer to approve each LinkedIn reply rather than let anything go out on its own. That is a perfectly good way to use it.
A Spaces routine is another option for set replies, such as a short thank-you when someone writes while you are away. A routine is not an AI. It sends text you wrote in advance.
What fits LinkedIn and what does not
| Use | Fits? | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Replying to people who wrote to you | Yes | Replies to people who wrote in have no daily limit in Spaces |
| A morning digest of your inbox | Yes | Reading only, nothing sent |
| Drafting replies for you to approve | Yes | The safest way to start |
| Accepting invitations from people you know | Yes, in moderation | Follows, accepted invitations and withdrawals: 100 a day |
| Connection requests to strangers from a search | No | Cold outreach at scale is what LinkedIn restricts |
| The same message to many people | No | Spaces does not send bulk unsolicited messages |
A normal message goes to a 1st-degree connection. Anyone else needs a connection request or an InMail.
A morning digest you can copy
Give Hermes standing instructions like these, and change the details to fit your work:
Every morning at 7am, read my LinkedIn messages from the last 24 hours. Send nothing.
Read the Spaces business brief first.
Sort messages into: past clients, new enquiries, referrals, recruiters and sales pitches.
For past clients and new enquiries: write a one-line summary and a draft reply.
For recruiters and pitches: one line each. No drafts.
List new invitations, and say which are from people I have messaged before.
Never send a connection request. Never send InMail. Never message anyone who did not write to me.
Hold every draft for my approval.Hermes's own docs explain how to run something on a schedule. Between digests, Hermes can listen for anything urgent. Ask it to call wait_for_events, which waits until something new arrives and returns it at once, and to tell you straight away if a past client writes.
A worked example: an HR consultant's Monday
Here is how a Monday morning might start for an independent HR consultant who works with small firms. Names and details are examples.
| Who | Message |
|---|---|
| Hermes, the morning digest | Seven new messages. Past client: Priya at Northgate Dental asks if you can help with a new staff handbook. New enquiry: Tom, operations manager at a 40-person printer, asks about your day rate for a restructure. Referral: Alex says a friend's firm needs help with a grievance. Four recruiter and software pitches. Two invitations, one from Tom. |
| You, to Hermes | Show me the drafts for Priya and Tom. |
| Hermes | Priya: "Hi Priya, lovely to hear from you. Yes, I can help with the handbook. Could we have a 20-minute call this week to go through what has changed?" Tom: "Hi Tom, thanks for getting in touch. I usually start restructure work with a short call to understand the business. Would Thursday or Friday suit you?" |
| You | Approve Priya's. For Tom, add that my day rate is in the brief and I will send a proposal after the call. Accept Tom's invitation. |
| Hermes | Priya's reply is sent. Tom's updated draft is held for you, and his invitation is accepted. I have left Alex's referral for you, as the notes say grievances come to you. |
Hermes did the sorting and the first drafts overnight. You spent five minutes on the messages that matter and never opened the pitches.
Invitations: accept, decline, and leave the sending to you
Invitations you receive are where Hermes is most useful and least risky. It can list them, tell you whether you have spoken to the person before, and accept or decline the ones you choose. When someone accepts an invitation you sent, Spaces tells Hermes too, although LinkedIn can report it hours later.
Sending connection requests is different. Spaces allows them within LinkedIn's limits (100 a day and 150 a week on a free account, 100 a day and 200 a week on Premium, Sales Navigator or Recruiter, spaced at random during working hours (22 a day on days 1 to 3, then 40, 60 and 85 a day on a paid account)), but sending them automatically from a list is exactly what LinkedIn restricts. Keep them as something you do by hand, for people you have a reason to know.
LinkedIn rules that shape the set-up
- InMail: 30 a day on a free account, 50 on Premium and 50 on Sales Navigator or Recruiter (about 800 a month), at least a minute apart. Keep it a manual choice.
- Restrictions: if LinkedIn restricts the account or asks for a security check, sending stays paused until you reconnect. A refused invitation is only that invitation.
- Messages to connections go at least 20 seconds apart, up to 100 a day once the account has settled in.
- Replies to people who wrote in go out from the first day. Invitations and new conversations start lower and warm up over four weeks.
Drafts first
Ask your AI agent to hold replies as drafts, and nothing goes out until you approve it. Hermes turns it on with set_approvals and shows you what is waiting with list_approvals; you approve or reject each one. On LinkedIn, many people simply leave it on.
If you need everything to stop, pause all sending in Spaces under Settings, then Pause everything. Hermes can still read and prepare the digest while sending is paused.
What if...
- LinkedIn asks for a security check? Do it yourself in LinkedIn. Spaces pauses what Hermes sends from that profile and tells you.
- A recruiter keeps writing? Ask Hermes to leave that person alone. It will not reply to them again unless you say so.
- A colleague wants the same digest? They connect their own profile. Each profile is its own account in Spaces, with its own limits.
- You want to follow up with people who went quiet? Workflows in Spaces send a sequence that stops when the person replies. Check /pricing for which plans include them, and keep them for people you know.
Common mistakes to avoid
- Turning Hermes into an outreach machine. Keep to people who wrote to you.
- Letting replies to past clients go out unread. Those are the ones to approve personally.
- Connecting a colleague's profile from your own device. Each person signs in themselves.
- Forgetting to update the brief when your day rate or availability changes.
- Asking Hermes to check the inbox every minute instead of using wait_for_events.
Summing up
With Spaces, Hermes can turn your LinkedIn inbox into a short morning digest with draft replies ready to approve. Keep to conversations people start with you, leave connection requests and InMail as manual choices, hold drafts for approval, and let Spaces keep the profile inside LinkedIn's limits.
How Spaces keeps your account safe
Whatever you ask, Spaces keeps your LinkedIn account inside safe limits: at least 20 seconds between messages, up to 100 a day, and 100 new conversations a day at most, with a gentler start for a newly connected account. If your AI tries to go faster, Spaces holds the message and says when it can try again.
New conversations warm up over the first weeks after you connect:
| Since connecting | New chats an hour | New chats a day |
|---|---|---|
| First 3 days | 3 | 22 |
| Rest of week 1 | 6 | 40 |
| Week 2 | 9 | 60 |
| Weeks 3 and 4 | 12 | 85 |
| After that | 15 | 100 |
A normal message goes to a 1st-degree connection. Anyone else needs a connection request or an InMail.
These are Spaces' own limits. They lower the risk of a restriction, but they cannot remove it, because LinkedIn makes its own decisions about accounts. Read the note at the top of this page before you connect.
Pricing
FAQ
Is it safe to connect Hermes to LinkedIn?
LinkedIn restricts automation on profiles, so there is always some risk, and Spaces lowers it rather than removing it. Reading, drafting and replying to people who wrote to you is the gentlest use. Read the note at the top of this page before you connect.
Can Hermes send connection requests for me?
Spaces allows them within LinkedIn's limits, but automatic connection requests to strangers are what LinkedIn restricts. Keep them as something you do by hand.
Does this use LinkedIn's Messages API?
No. That API is for approved partners. Spaces signs in to your own profile, so LinkedIn's User Agreement applies to you.
Can Hermes accept invitations?
Yes, the ones you choose. Accepting, following and withdrawing share a limit of 100 a day. Ask Hermes to tell you whether you know the person first.
What happens if LinkedIn restricts my profile?
If LinkedIn restricts the account or asks for a security check, sending stays paused until you reconnect. A refused invitation is only that invitation. Sort it out in LinkedIn itself, then let Hermes carry on with reading and drafts.
Can Hermes run the digest while I sleep?
Yes, if the machine it runs on stays on overnight. Hermes's own docs explain how to schedule a task, and the digest only reads, so nothing is sent.
Does a free LinkedIn account work?
Yes. Spaces reads the plan from the profile and uses the right limits for it. Free profiles have lower limits for invitations and InMail, which matters little if you keep to replies.