diff --git a/examples/hermes-plugin/CONFIGURATION.md b/examples/hermes-plugin/CONFIGURATION.md
index 05ed556fcd..3586deca05 100644
--- a/examples/hermes-plugin/CONFIGURATION.md
+++ b/examples/hermes-plugin/CONFIGURATION.md
@@ -23,6 +23,20 @@ OPENVIKING_ENDPOINT=http://127.0.0.1:1933
 The default profile uses `~/.hermes/.env`. A named profile uses
 `~/.hermes/profiles/<profile>/.env`. Start a new Hermes session after changing it.
 
+## Capture and explicit retrieval without automatic recall
+
+To keep conversation capture and explicit `viking_*` tools without injecting
+historical context automatically, run this in the profile you want to change:
+
+```bash
+hermes config set memory.openviking.auto_recall false
+```
+
+The profile-scoped environment override is `OPENVIKING_AUTO_RECALL=false`.
+This suppresses both session-start memory context and per-turn query recall
+before recall-related client or network I/O. Turn capture, memory commits,
+and explicit tools keep their existing behavior. The default is `true`.
+
 ## Quick Local model support
 
 Quick Local copies Hermes's language model settings into its own server config.
diff --git a/examples/hermes-plugin/__init__.py b/examples/hermes-plugin/__init__.py
index 2e338061cb..8440db5390 100644
--- a/examples/hermes-plugin/__init__.py
+++ b/examples/hermes-plugin/__init__.py
@@ -144,6 +144,7 @@ def _cfg_field(key: str, description: str, **extra) -> dict:
     _cfg_field("account", "Advanced local identity override (leave blank for user API keys)"),
     _cfg_field("user", "Advanced local user override (leave blank for user API keys)"),
     _cfg_field("agent", "Optional peer ID for separate assistant context. Uses user memory when no peer is configured.", default=_DEFAULT_AGENT),
+    _cfg_field("auto_recall", "Inject historical context automatically; capture and explicit tools remain available when disabled", type="boolean", default=True),
     _cfg_field("recall_scope", "Automatic recall: all peers (shared) or current sender (peer). Unset preserves existing behavior.",
                type="string", choices=["shared", "peer"], default=None),
     _cfg_field(
@@ -2001,6 +2002,9 @@ def system_prompt_block(self) -> str:
 
     def prefetch(self, query: str, *, session_id: str = "") -> str:
         """Session-start memory block (once per session) + query recall."""
+        cfg, env = self._profile_config_and_env()
+        if not self._setting("auto_recall", cfg, env=env):
+            return ""
         query_text = _derive_openviking_user_text(query).strip()
         if not self._ensure_client():
             return ""
diff --git a/examples/hermes-plugin/tests/test_standalone.py b/examples/hermes-plugin/tests/test_standalone.py
index 07450e44e4..610fa3b4e8 100644
--- a/examples/hermes-plugin/tests/test_standalone.py
+++ b/examples/hermes-plugin/tests/test_standalone.py
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
 import threading
 from contextlib import contextmanager
 from http.server import BaseHTTPRequestHandler, HTTPServer
+from unittest.mock import Mock
 
 import pytest
 
@@ -1354,3 +1355,51 @@ def test_runtime_spawn_uses_provider_home_under_another_profile(external_provide
     assert spawned[0]["OPENAI_API_KEY"] == "owner-key"
     assert (home_a / "logs/openviking-server.log").exists()
     assert not (home_b / "logs/openviking-server.log").exists()
+
+
+@pytest.mark.parametrize("query", ["", "Recall my preferences"])
+@pytest.mark.parametrize("source", ["config", "env"])
+def test_auto_recall_off_skips_all_prefetch_io(external_provider, monkeypatch, query, source):
+    home, provider, _, _ = external_provider("recall-off")
+    provider._hermes_home = str(home)
+    provider._hermes_home_bound = True
+    if source == "config":
+        provider.save_config({"auto_recall": False}, str(home))
+    else:
+        (home / ".env").write_text("OPENVIKING_AUTO_RECALL=false\n")
+    ensure_client = Mock(side_effect=AssertionError("automatic recall performed client I/O"))
+    monkeypatch.setattr(provider, "_ensure_client", ensure_client)
+    assert provider.prefetch(query, session_id="new-session") == ""
+    ensure_client.assert_not_called()
+
+
+def test_auto_recall_default_preserves_both_context_blocks(external_provider, monkeypatch):
+    home, provider, _, _ = external_provider("recall-default")
+    provider._hermes_home = str(home)
+    provider._hermes_home_bound = True
+    monkeypatch.setattr(provider, "_ensure_client", lambda: True)
+    startup = Mock(return_value="profile context")
+    recall = Mock(return_value="query context")
+    monkeypatch.setattr(provider, "_session_start_memory_context", startup)
+    monkeypatch.setattr(provider, "_search_prefetch_context", recall)
+    assert provider.prefetch("Recall preferences", session_id="session") == (
+        "## OpenViking Context\nprofile context\n\nquery context"
+    )
+    startup.assert_called_once_with("session")
+    recall.assert_called_once_with("Recall preferences", session_id="session")
+
+
+def test_auto_recall_off_preserves_explicit_tools_and_capture(external_provider, monkeypatch):
+    home, provider, _ = _live_provider(external_provider, monkeypatch, "capture-only")
+    schemas = provider.get_tool_schemas()
+    provider.save_config({"auto_recall": False}, str(home))
+    assert provider.prefetch("Remember preferences", session_id="live-sid") == ""
+    assert provider.get_tool_schemas() == schemas
+    provider._client.post.return_value = {"result": {"memories": [{"uri": "viking://user/test/memories/preference.md", "abstract": "A preference"}]}}
+    result = provider.handle_tool_call("viking_search", {"query": "preferences", "mode": "deep"})
+    assert json.loads(result)["results"][0]["abstract"] == "A preference"
+    assert any(c.args[0].endswith("/search") for c in provider._client.post.call_args_list)
+    _finish_turn(provider, user="A new preference")
+    captured = [c for c in provider._client.post.call_args_list if c.args[0].endswith("/messages/batch")]
+    assert captured
+    assert [m["role"] for m in captured[0].args[1]["messages"]] == ["user", "assistant"]