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What are formatting modes?

Formatting modes let you customize how Hermes formats your dictation based on which app you’re using. Each mode has its own style—casual for Slack, formal for email, minimal for code. Hermes includes built-in modes, and you can create your own.

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Built-in modes

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Web apps

Modes work with web apps too. When you’re in a browser, Hermes detects the website:
  • mail.google.com → Email mode
  • slack.com → Messaging mode
  • github.com → Coding mode
  • notion.so → Writing mode
  • chat.openai.com → AI Assistants mode

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Formatting styles

Each mode has a formatting style that controls how aggressively Hermes formats your speech: You can set a style when creating or editing a mode. If you choose Custom, your custom instructions define the formatting behavior entirely.

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Creating a custom mode

1

Open Formatting Modes

Go to Settings → AI Formatting → Modes.
2

Click Add Mode

Click + or Add Mode.
3

Name your mode

Give it a descriptive name like “Work Slack” or “Personal Notes”.
4

Add apps

Add the apps or websites that should use this mode:
  • For native apps: Select from the app list
  • For web apps: Enter the domain (e.g., mycompany.slack.com)
5

Choose a formatting style

Pick Casual, Semi-Casual, Formal, or Custom.
6

Add instructions (optional)

Write specific formatting rules for this mode. Required if you chose Custom as your style.

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Instructions

You can add specific rules to any mode. These are natural language instructions that Hermes follows when formatting.

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Examples

For Email mode:
For Slack mode:
For Coding mode:

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Where to add instructions

Go to the Instructions section in Hermes to add rules for specific modes.

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Editing built-in modes

You can modify the built-in modes:
  • Add or remove apps — Customize which apps use each mode
  • Add instructions — Layer your own rules on top
Changes only affect your account. The original defaults remain available.

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The Disabled mode

The Disabled mode skips all AI formatting. Use it for apps where you want raw transcription. To disable formatting for an app:
  1. Go to Settings → AI Formatting → Modes → Disabled
  2. Add the app to this mode
  3. Dictation in that app will be unformatted

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Mode priority

If an app matches multiple modes, Hermes uses the most specific match:
  1. Custom URL match — mycompany.slack.com beats slack.com
  2. Custom mode — Your modes take priority over built-in ones
  3. Built-in mode — Default modes as fallback

AI Formatting

How context detection and formatting works.

AI Formatting Settings

All AI formatting options.