diff --git a/hermes_constants.py b/hermes_constants.py
index 13df867f5c..a988fc5fda 100644
--- a/hermes_constants.py
+++ b/hermes_constants.py
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ without risk of circular imports.
 """
 
 import os
+import sysconfig
 from contextvars import ContextVar, Token
 from pathlib import Path
 
@@ -139,6 +140,23 @@ def get_default_hermes_root() -> Path:
     return env_path
 
 
+def _get_packaged_data_dir(name: str) -> Path | None:
+    """Return an installed data-files directory if one exists.
+
+    Used to discover bundled skills/optional-skills when Hermes is installed
+    from a wheel that emitted them via setuptools data_files.
+    """
+    candidates = []
+    for scheme in ("data", "purelib", "platlib"):
+        raw = sysconfig.get_path(scheme)
+        if raw:
+            candidates.append(Path(raw) / name)
+    for candidate in candidates:
+        if candidate.exists():
+            return candidate
+    return None
+
+
 def get_optional_skills_dir(default: Path | None = None) -> Path:
     """Return the optional-skills directory, honoring package-manager wrappers.
 
@@ -148,11 +166,34 @@ def get_optional_skills_dir(default: Path | None = None) -> Path:
     override = os.getenv("HERMES_OPTIONAL_SKILLS", "").strip()
     if override:
         return Path(override)
+    packaged = _get_packaged_data_dir("optional-skills")
+    if packaged is not None:
+        return packaged
     if default is not None:
         return default
     return get_hermes_home() / "optional-skills"
 
 
+def get_bundled_skills_dir(default: Path | None = None) -> Path:
+    """Return the bundled skills directory for source and packaged installs.
+
+    Resolution order:
+        1. ``HERMES_BUNDLED_SKILLS`` env var (Nix wrapper / explicit override)
+        2. Wheel-installed ``<sysconfig data>/skills`` (pip install path)
+        3. Caller-supplied ``default`` (typically the source-checkout path)
+        4. ``<HERMES_HOME>/skills`` last-resort
+    """
+    override = os.getenv("HERMES_BUNDLED_SKILLS", "").strip()
+    if override:
+        return Path(override)
+    packaged = _get_packaged_data_dir("skills")
+    if packaged is not None:
+        return packaged
+    if default is not None:
+        return default
+    return get_hermes_home() / "skills"
+
+
 def get_hermes_dir(new_subpath: str, old_name: str) -> Path:
     """Resolve a Hermes subdirectory with backward compatibility.
 
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..8487f76e86
--- /dev/null
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -0,0 +1,28 @@
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+from collections import defaultdict
+from pathlib import Path
+
+from setuptools import setup
+
+
+REPO_ROOT = Path(__file__).parent.resolve()
+
+
+def _data_file_tree(root_name: str) -> list[tuple[str, list[str]]]:
+    root = REPO_ROOT / root_name
+    grouped: defaultdict[str, list[str]] = defaultdict(list)
+    for path in sorted(root.rglob("*")):
+        if not path.is_file():
+            continue
+        rel_path = path.relative_to(REPO_ROOT)
+        grouped[str(rel_path.parent)].append(str(rel_path))
+    return sorted(grouped.items())
+
+
+setup(
+    data_files=[
+        *_data_file_tree("skills"),
+        *_data_file_tree("optional-skills"),
+    ]
+)
diff --git a/tools/skills_sync.py b/tools/skills_sync.py
index 0c65b6281c..3c2baef076 100644
--- a/tools/skills_sync.py
+++ b/tools/skills_sync.py
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ import logging
 import os
 import shutil
 from pathlib import Path
-from hermes_constants import get_hermes_home
+from hermes_constants import get_bundled_skills_dir, get_hermes_home
 from typing import Dict, List, Tuple
 from utils import atomic_replace
 
@@ -42,12 +42,10 @@ def _get_bundled_dir() -> Path:
     """Locate the bundled skills/ directory.
 
     Checks HERMES_BUNDLED_SKILLS env var first (set by Nix wrapper),
-    then falls back to the relative path from this source file.
+    then a wheel-installed data dir, then falls back to the relative
+    path from this source file.
     """
-    env_override = os.getenv("HERMES_BUNDLED_SKILLS")
-    if env_override:
-        return Path(env_override)
-    return Path(__file__).parent.parent / "skills"
+    return get_bundled_skills_dir(Path(__file__).parent.parent / "skills")
 
 
 def _read_manifest() -> Dict[str, str]: