> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://herm.liftaris.dev/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Eikon avatars: terminal personas for Herm

> Understand Herm's Eikon tab, avatar states, runtime files, rasterizers, and the boundary between Herm's UI and the Eikon package ecosystem.

Eikons are animated terminal avatars for the Herm chat sidebar. They give a Hermes Agent session a visual persona without changing the agent runtime.

Herm owns the native Eikon UI: **Gallery**, **Studio**, and **Marketplace**. The Eikon project owns the `.eikon` runtime format, package and catalog contracts, registry tools, shared CLI/library behavior, and the browser discovery gallery.

## Runtime format

A `.eikon` artifact contains line-delimited typed runtime records: a header, clip records, and frame records. Stored bytes may be plain UTF-8 NDJSON or gzip-compressed NDJSON. Herm decodes the artifact before playback.

Herm works with six standard avatar states:

| State       | When it appears             |
| ----------- | --------------------------- |
| `idle`      | Waiting for input           |
| `listening` | Voice or input capture      |
| `thinking`  | Model reasoning or planning |
| `speaking`  | Response playback           |
| `working`   | Tool or task execution      |
| `error`     | Failure state               |

## Rasterizers

Herm Studio renders source media into terminal frames through rasterizers.

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="chafa" icon="image">
    Uses the `chafa` command-line tool for color terminal art. Install `chafa` and keep it on `PATH` to use this renderer.
  </Card>

  <Card title="native" icon="terminal">
    Uses Herm's built-in renderer. It does not require `chafa`, but it still needs `ffmpeg` for media decoding.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

Plugins can register additional rasterizers through the Herm plugin API.

## The Eikon tab

Open the Eikon tab with **Alt+5** or jump to a sub-tab with a slash command.

<CardGroup cols={3}>
  <Card title="Gallery" icon="images" href="/eikon/gallery">
    Browse installed and bundled eikons, activate one, create one, install from a source, update, delete, or submit a local draft.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Studio" icon="paintbrush" href="/eikon/studio">
    Attach source media, tune rasterizer controls, render states, save drafts, and activate saved eikons.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Marketplace" icon="store" href="/eikon/marketplace">
    Browse the public catalog, inspect package status, install entries, download source when available, and activate installed entries.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

| Slash command  | Destination       |
| -------------- | ----------------- |
| `/gallery`     | Eikon Gallery     |
| `/studio`      | Eikon Studio      |
| `/marketplace` | Eikon Marketplace |

## Local file layout

User-created or installed eikons live under the active Hermes home:

```text theme={null}
~/.hermes/eikons/
└── <name>/
    ├── <name>.eikon
    ├── manifest.json   # package/catalog installs
    ├── studio.json      # local Studio drafts
    └── source/
```

The `.eikon` file is the portable runtime artifact. `manifest.json` records package/catalog identity when present. `studio.json` and `source/` are local authoring data.

Bundled eikons ship with Herm and may not have local source data until you create a draft.

## Browser discovery

The browser gallery at [eikon.liftaris.dev](https://eikon.liftaris.dev) is for discovery and preview. It gives install commands and catalog context. Install, activation, update, and removal happen in Herm or the Eikon CLI.

## Related docs

* [Gallery](/eikon/gallery)
* [Studio](/eikon/studio)
* [Marketplace](/eikon/marketplace)