diff --git a/hermes_cli/skills_hub.py b/hermes_cli/skills_hub.py
index dd0aae4686828..dd4c4e0d79b3c 100644
--- a/hermes_cli/skills_hub.py
+++ b/hermes_cli/skills_hub.py
@@ -1052,9 +1052,21 @@ def do_check(name: Optional[str] = None, console: Optional[Console] = None) -> N
     c.print(f"[dim]{update_count} update(s) available across {len(results)} checked skill(s)[/]\n")
 
 
-def do_update(name: Optional[str] = None, console: Optional[Console] = None) -> None:
-    """Update hub-installed skills with upstream changes."""
-    from tools.skills_hub import HubLockFile, check_for_skill_updates
+def do_update(name: Optional[str] = None, console: Optional[Console] = None,
+              force: bool = False) -> None:
+    """Update hub-installed skills with upstream changes.
+
+    Skills whose on-disk content no longer matches the hash recorded at
+    install time have been edited locally; updating them would silently
+    destroy the user's work (``do_install(force=True)`` rmtree-replaces the
+    directory). Those are skipped by default and only overwritten when
+    ``force=True``. Mirrors the user-modified protection bundled skills
+    already get from ``hermes update`` (ported from
+    paperclipai/paperclip#10978's explicit-merge-mode rule: destructive
+    replacement must be an explicit caller choice, never a rerun default).
+    """
+    from tools.skills_hub import SKILLS_DIR, HubLockFile, check_for_skill_updates
+    from tools.skills_guard import content_hash
 
     c = console or _console
     lock = HubLockFile()
@@ -1063,9 +1075,25 @@ def do_update(name: Optional[str] = None, console: Optional[Console] = None) ->
         c.print("[dim]No updates available.[/]\n")
         return
 
+    skipped_local: list[str] = []
     for entry in updates:
         installed = lock.get_installed(entry["name"])
         category = _derive_category_from_install_path(installed.get("install_path", "")) if installed else ""
+        if installed and not force:
+            recorded_hash = installed.get("content_hash", "")
+            skill_path = SKILLS_DIR / installed.get("install_path", "")
+            if recorded_hash and skill_path.is_dir():
+                try:
+                    disk_hash = content_hash(skill_path)
+                except OSError:
+                    disk_hash = recorded_hash
+                if disk_hash != recorded_hash:
+                    skipped_local.append(entry["name"])
+                    c.print(
+                        f"[yellow]Skipping:[/] {entry['name']} — you have local edits "
+                        "(update would overwrite them)."
+                    )
+                    continue
         c.print(f"[bold]Updating:[/] {entry['name']}")
         # Pin the update to the source registry recorded in the lockfile.
         # Without this, a bare (slash-less) identifier such as "reddit" falls
@@ -1082,7 +1110,15 @@ def do_update(name: Optional[str] = None, console: Optional[Console] = None) ->
             source_id=entry.get("source", "") or None,
         )
 
-    c.print(f"[bold green]Updated {len(updates)} skill(s).[/]\n")
+    updated_count = len(updates) - len(skipped_local)
+    if updated_count:
+        c.print(f"[bold green]Updated {updated_count} skill(s).[/]\n")
+    if skipped_local:
+        c.print(
+            f"[dim]{len(skipped_local)} skill(s) kept your local edits: "
+            f"{', '.join(sorted(skipped_local))}.[/]"
+        )
+        c.print("[dim]Overwrite with: hermes skills update <name> --force[/]\n")
 
 
 def do_audit(name: Optional[str] = None, console: Optional[Console] = None,
@@ -1745,7 +1781,8 @@ def skills_command(args) -> None:
     elif action == "check":
         do_check(name=getattr(args, "name", None))
     elif action == "update":
-        do_update(name=getattr(args, "name", None))
+        do_update(name=getattr(args, "name", None),
+                  force=getattr(args, "force", False))
     elif action == "audit":
         do_audit(name=getattr(args, "name", None),
                  deep=getattr(args, "deep", False))
@@ -1929,8 +1966,10 @@ def handle_skills_slash(cmd: str, console: Optional[Console] = None) -> None:
         do_check(name=name, console=c)
 
     elif action == "update":
-        name = args[0] if args else None
-        do_update(name=name, console=c)
+        force = "--force" in args
+        pos = [a for a in args if not a.startswith("--")]
+        name = pos[0] if pos else None
+        do_update(name=name, console=c, force=force)
 
     elif action == "audit":
         name = args[0] if args and not args[0].startswith("--") else None
diff --git a/hermes_cli/subcommands/skills.py b/hermes_cli/subcommands/skills.py
index 4eb68a01b1c7a..1f016b2f5b571 100644
--- a/hermes_cli/subcommands/skills.py
+++ b/hermes_cli/subcommands/skills.py
@@ -139,6 +139,11 @@ def build_skills_parser(subparsers, *, cmd_skills: Callable) -> None:
         nargs="?",
         help="Specific skill to update (default: all outdated skills)",
     )
+    skills_update.add_argument(
+        "--force",
+        action="store_true",
+        help="Overwrite skills you have edited locally (they are skipped by default)",
+    )
 
     skills_audit = skills_subparsers.add_parser(
         "audit", help="Re-scan installed hub skills"
diff --git a/tests/hermes_cli/test_skills_hub.py b/tests/hermes_cli/test_skills_hub.py
index 8e087e2758fb4..9507fb9c6b563 100644
--- a/tests/hermes_cli/test_skills_hub.py
+++ b/tests/hermes_cli/test_skills_hub.py
@@ -313,3 +313,84 @@ def test_do_search_json_flag_emits_full_identifiers(capsys):
     # Table render must be suppressed — sink should be empty (no "Searching for:" header).
     assert "Searching for:" not in sink.getvalue()
 
+
+
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# Local-edit protection in do_update (ported from paperclipai/paperclip#10978)
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+
+def _update_env(monkeypatch, tmp_path, *, edit_after_install: bool):
+    """Install a fake hub skill on disk, optionally edit it, and wire mocks.
+
+    Returns (console_sink, installs_list).
+    """
+    import hermes_cli.skills_hub as cli_hub
+    import tools.skills_hub as hub
+    from tools.skills_guard import content_hash
+
+    skills_dir = tmp_path / "skills"
+    skill_dir = skills_dir / "category" / "hub-skill"
+    skill_dir.mkdir(parents=True)
+    (skill_dir / "SKILL.md").write_text("# hub-skill\noriginal\n")
+
+    recorded = content_hash(skill_dir)
+    if edit_after_install:
+        (skill_dir / "SKILL.md").write_text("# hub-skill\nuser edited\n")
+
+    monkeypatch.setattr(hub, "SKILLS_DIR", skills_dir)
+    monkeypatch.setattr(hub, "check_for_skill_updates", lambda **_kwargs: [{
+        "name": "hub-skill",
+        "identifier": "someone/hub-skill",
+        "source": "github",
+        "status": "update_available",
+    }])
+    monkeypatch.setattr(hub, "HubLockFile", lambda: type("L", (), {
+        "get_installed": lambda self, name: {
+            "install_path": "category/hub-skill",
+            "content_hash": recorded,
+        }
+    })())
+
+    installs = []
+    monkeypatch.setattr(
+        cli_hub, "do_install",
+        lambda identifier, category="", force=False, console=None, source_id=None:
+            installs.append(identifier),
+    )
+
+    sink = StringIO()
+    console = Console(file=sink, force_terminal=False, color_system=None)
+    return console, sink, installs
+
+
+def test_do_update_skips_locally_edited_skill(monkeypatch, tmp_path):
+    """A hub skill whose on-disk hash drifted from the lockfile is skipped."""
+    console, sink, installs = _update_env(monkeypatch, tmp_path, edit_after_install=True)
+
+    do_update(console=console)
+
+    assert installs == []
+    out = sink.getvalue()
+    assert "local edits" in out
+    assert "--force" in out
+
+
+def test_do_update_force_overwrites_local_edits(monkeypatch, tmp_path):
+    """--force restores the destructive replace for edited skills."""
+    console, sink, installs = _update_env(monkeypatch, tmp_path, edit_after_install=True)
+
+    do_update(console=console, force=True)
+
+    assert installs == ["someone/hub-skill"]
+    assert "local edits" not in sink.getvalue()
+
+
+def test_do_update_unmodified_skill_updates_normally(monkeypatch, tmp_path):
+    """No local drift -> the update proceeds without --force."""
+    console, sink, installs = _update_env(monkeypatch, tmp_path, edit_after_install=False)
+
+    do_update(console=console)
+
+    assert installs == ["someone/hub-skill"]
+    assert "Updated 1 skill(s)" in sink.getvalue()
diff --git a/website/docs/user-guide/features/skills.md b/website/docs/user-guide/features/skills.md
index 40bf6d33dcdc0..129277dfe0155 100644
--- a/website/docs/user-guide/features/skills.md
+++ b/website/docs/user-guide/features/skills.md
@@ -754,10 +754,13 @@ The hub now tracks enough provenance to re-check upstream copies of installed sk
 hermes skills check          # Report which installed hub skills changed upstream
 hermes skills update         # Reinstall only the skills with updates available
 hermes skills update react   # Update one specific installed hub skill
+hermes skills update react --force   # Overwrite a skill you've edited locally
 ```
 
 This uses the stored source identifier plus the current upstream bundle content hash to detect drift.
 
+Skills you have edited locally (the on-disk content no longer matches the hash recorded at install time) are **skipped** by `hermes skills update` so your changes are never silently overwritten. Pass `--force` to replace them with the upstream version anyway.
+
 :::tip GitHub rate limits
 Skills hub operations use the GitHub API, which has a rate limit of 60 requests/hour for unauthenticated users. If you see rate-limit errors during install or search, set `GITHUB_TOKEN` in your `.env` file to increase the limit to 5,000 requests/hour. The error message includes an actionable hint when this happens.
 :::