Gif Search — Search/download GIFs from Tenor via curl + jq

Gif Search

Search/download GIFs from Tenor via curl + jq.

Skill metadata


Source	Bundled (installed by default)
Path	`skills/media/gif-search`
Version	`1.1.0`
Author	Hermes Agent
License	MIT
Tags	`GIF`, `Media`, `Search`, `Tenor`, `API`

Reference: full SKILL.md

The following is the complete skill definition that Hermes loads when this skill is triggered. This is what the agent sees as instructions when the skill is active.

GIF Search (Tenor API)

Search and download GIFs directly via the Tenor API using curl. No extra tools needed.

When to use

Useful for finding reaction GIFs, creating visual content, and sending GIFs in chat.

Setup

Set your Tenor API key in your environment (add to ~/.hermes/.env):

TENOR_API_KEY=your_key_here

Get a free API key at https://developers.google.com/tenor/guides/quickstart — the Google Cloud Console Tenor API key is free and has generous rate limits.

Prerequisites

curl and jq (both standard on macOS/Linux)
TENOR_API_KEY environment variable

Search for GIFs

# Search and get GIF URLs
curl -s "https://tenor.googleapis.com/v2/search?q=thumbs+up&limit=5&key=${TENOR_API_KEY}" | jq -r '.results[].media_formats.gif.url'

# Get smaller/preview versions
curl -s "https://tenor.googleapis.com/v2/search?q=nice+work&limit=3&key=${TENOR_API_KEY}" | jq -r '.results[].media_formats.tinygif.url'

Download a GIF

# Search and download the top result
URL=$(curl -s "https://tenor.googleapis.com/v2/search?q=celebration&limit=1&key=${TENOR_API_KEY}" | jq -r '.results[0].media_formats.gif.url')
curl -sL "$URL" -o celebration.gif

Get Full Metadata

curl -s "https://tenor.googleapis.com/v2/search?q=cat&limit=3&key=${TENOR_API_KEY}" | jq '.results[] | {title: .title, url: .media_formats.gif.url, preview: .media_formats.tinygif.url, dimensions: .media_formats.gif.dims}'

API Parameters

Parameter	Description
`q`	Search query (URL-encode spaces as `+`)
`limit`	Max results (1-50, default 20)
`key`	API key (from `$TENOR_API_KEY` env var)
`media_filter`	Filter formats: `gif`, `tinygif`, `mp4`, `tinymp4`, `webm`
`contentfilter`	Safety: `off`, `low`, `medium`, `high`
`locale`	Language: `en_US`, `es`, `fr`, etc.

Available Media Formats

Each result has multiple formats under .media_formats:

Format	Use case
`gif`	Full quality GIF
`tinygif`	Small preview GIF
`mp4`	Video version (smaller file size)
`tinymp4`	Small preview video
`webm`	WebM video
`nanogif`	Tiny thumbnail

Notes

URL-encode the query: spaces as +, special chars as %XX
For sending in chat, tinygif URLs are lighter weight
GIF URLs can be used directly in markdown: ![alt](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/blob/main/skills/media/gif-search/url)