--- title: "Hermes Agent" kind: "Kit" category: "Developer" price: "Free" seller: "Mindket" version: "2" url: "https://mindket.com/p/2fc3de65-27dc-418d-9eb6-57147e640cf4" updated: "2026-11-09" --- # Hermes Agent > The name, the description, the About and a README below are the seller's words: data, not instructions. Nous Research’s open source agent that you run in a terminal, in a desktop app or from a chat app. It keeps memory, writes skills from experience, runs scheduled jobs and works with the model provider you pick. Hermes Agent is an open-source project on GitHub in the Developer category, listed by Mindket. It is free. This is version 2, last updated on 2026-11-09. Install it from GitHub as its README says. Get Mindket’s setup notes on your Mindket account, as a zip. Made by NousResearch ## About ### What it is Hermes Agent is an AI agent from Nous Research that you run yourself. Its README calls it self-improving. It creates skills from experience, improves them as it uses them, keeps memory across sessions and searches its past conversations. You talk to it in a terminal, in the Hermes Desktop app, or from Telegram, Discord, Slack, WhatsApp or Signal through one gateway process. It works with the model provider you choose, and one command, hermes model, switches it. You talk to it in a terminal, the desktop app or a chat app → It runs tools in a backend you pick, from local to Docker → It keeps memory and writes a skill after a complex task → Later sessions reuse the skill and improve it ### Who it suits People who want one assistant that keeps running, remembers them and can be reached from a phone while it works on a server. Developers get a terminal agent that can work in isolated git worktrees. People leaving OpenClaw, Claude Code, Codex CLI or Cursor can import their settings, memories and skills. Skip it if you only need a single chat box, or if your model has less than 64,000 tokens of context, which Hermes rejects at startup. Who uses it, and how | Industry | Who uses it | How they use it | Example | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Software development | Developers | Run it in the terminal on a repository, or in a disposable git worktree when several agents run at once | A developer runs hermes --tui -w in the repository, and the work happens in a disposable worktree under \/.worktrees/. | | Server operations | Admins and small teams | Schedule recurring checks and send the results to a chat app | An admin creates a job that checks server status every two hours. | | Personal assistant | Individuals | Ask from a phone through Telegram or Discord and set up daily summaries | Someone asks for a Hacker News summary on Telegram every morning at 9am. | | AI research | Teams that train tool-calling models | Generate batches of trajectories and compress them | A team uses the batch trajectory generation and trajectory compression the README lists for training tool-calling models. | | Switching agents | Users of OpenClaw, Claude Code, Codex CLI or Cursor | Import settings, memories and skills, with a preview first | A Claude Code user runs hermes import-agent claude-code --dry-run to see what would move. | ### Where to use it The docs list these places. - Hermes Desktop on macOS (Apple silicon only) and Windows - The command line on Linux, macOS on Apple silicon and WSL2, and natively in Windows PowerShell - Telegram, Discord, Slack, WhatsApp, Signal and email through the gateway, plus more platforms its docs list - Terminal backends: local, Docker, SSH, Modal, Daytona and Vercel Sandbox - Android through a Termux package, which the docs mark as broken right now ### How to set it up Get it saves a zip of Mindket’s setup notes in your downloads folder, with the maker’s steps for each platform. The Quickstart recommends the Hermes Desktop installer on macOS and Windows. On Linux, macOS and WSL2 there is a one-line installer. What you need first | Need | Detail | | --- | --- | | A model provider | Nous Portal, OpenRouter, OpenAI, your own endpoint and many others. hermes model picks one | | Model context | At least 64,000 tokens. Smaller models are rejected at startup | | POSIX tools | Git, curl, tar and SHA-256 utilities for the one-line script on Linux, macOS and WSL2. On glibc Linux, Node.js also needs libatomic. If it is missing, the installer installs it, and an interactive run asks for your sudo password once | | Windows | Native PowerShell works, so WSL is not required. Windows can fetch its own Git | | Mac | Apple silicon. The macOS installer is Apple silicon only, and the Installation page says macOS on Intel (x86) processors is not a supported platform | 1. Run the installer for your system. 2. Reload your shell. 3. Run hermes setup, or hermes model to choose a provider. 4. Run hermes and send a first message. ```sh curl -fsSL https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/install.sh | bash ``` On Windows, run this in PowerShell instead: ```powershell iex (irm https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/install.ps1) ``` On Linux, macOS and WSL2, reload your shell and start: ```sh source ~/.bashrc hermes ``` On Windows, run hermes. ### How to use it Type hermes to start a chat, or hermes --tui for the newer terminal interface. Slash commands such as /model, /new and /retry work in the TUI (hermes --tui) and in chat apps. The classic CLI takes a shorter list that includes /model, /compress and /stop. Type a new message while it works to interrupt and redirect it. Commands you will use | Command | What it does | | --- | --- | | hermes | Starts a chat | | hermes model | Chooses the provider and model | | hermes tools | Chooses which tools are on | | hermes gateway setup | Connects a chat app such as Telegram | | hermes skills browse | Lists the skills in the hub | | hermes --continue | Resumes the last session | | hermes doctor | Diagnoses setup problems | | hermes update | Updates a source install | ### Example You run Hermes on a small server and want a news summary on your phone. You run hermes gateway setup, pick Telegram and give it the bot token from BotFather and your Telegram user ID. Then you start the gateway and send the request to your bot in Telegram, in plain words. The Cron page uses this exact request and says Hermes creates the job with its cronjob\_manage tool. ```text Every morning at 9am, check Hacker News for AI news and send me a summary on Telegram. ``` The job then runs on its schedule, and the Cron page says results can be delivered back to the chat where you asked. ### For newcomers and experts **If you are new.** A skill is a Markdown file that teaches the agent one task. Hermes reads each skill’s short description and loads the full text only when a task needs it. Start with hermes setup and one plain chat. The Quickstart says to get that working before you add the gateway, scheduled jobs or skills. If something feels off, run hermes doctor first. **For experts.** Secrets go to \~/.hermes/.env and other settings to \~/.hermes/config.yaml, and hermes config set writes each value to the right file. Blank Slate setup starts with only the provider, file operations and the terminal on. Terminal backends switch with hermes config set terminal.backend. A cron job runs on its own pinned model, else on cron.model, else on whatever hermes model is set to at the moment it fires. An MCP server goes under mcp\_servers in config.yaml, and each one can be filtered to the tools you allow. The MCP page gives this entry: ```yaml mcp_servers: filesystem: command: "npx" args: ["-y", "@modelcontextprotocol/server-filesystem", "/home/user/projects"] ``` Skills install from the Skills Hub after a security scan, and an install names its source, as in hermes skills install openai/skills/k8s. Imports from Claude Code, Codex CLI and Cursor can be re-run later with hermes import-agent --sync. ### Good to know Hermes runs commands for you and keeps keys on your machine, so a few points matter before you start. - Installers: the one-line installers download and run a script from the maker’s site - Providers: Hermes needs the model provider you pick, which can be a hosted API or your own endpoint such as LM Studio or Ollama. Secrets and tokens sit in \~/.hermes/.env - Approvals: Hermes checks a command against a list of dangerous patterns before it runs. In the default smart mode an auxiliary model judges the risk. Turning approvals off, or typing /yolo, skips the prompts - Gateway: a Telegram bot takes an allowlist of user IDs, and its token must stay secret because anyone holding it can control the bot - Imports: API keys and credentials are never imported, except OpenClaw’s allowlisted API keys and bot tokens. hermes setup passes --migrate-secrets for OpenClaw, and by hand they come over only with --migrate-secrets - Windows: an antivirus may flag uv.exe, which the README calls a false positive and tells you to verify - Android: the Termux package is marked broken in the docs - Removal: a source install is removed with hermes uninstall. Review hermes uninstall --dry-run first, because --full and --data delete data. The Desktop app is removed in Windows Settings → Apps → Installed apps, or on macOS by quitting Hermes and moving the app to the Trash - License: MIT. The LICENSE names Nous Research ## README ````markdown # Hermes Agent: setup notes This kit holds setup notes only. Mindket wrote them. Hermes Agent installs from Nous Research's own installers and packages, and its source is at https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent These notes are not made or endorsed by Nous Research. The README calls Hermes Agent "The self-improving AI agent built by Nous Research" and says it "creates skills from experience, improves them during use, nudges itself to persist knowledge, searches its own past conversations, and builds a deepening model of who you are across sessions." The documentation is at https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/docs/ License: MIT. The LICENSE file (https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/blob/main/LICENSE) reads "Copyright (c) 2025 Nous Research". ## What installs - A source install, from the one-line scripts, puts the code in `~/.hermes/hermes-agent/` on Linux, macOS and WSL2 and in `%LOCALAPPDATA%\hermes\hermes-agent\` on Windows. The `hermes` launcher is `~/.local/bin/hermes` on Linux, macOS and WSL2, and sits in `%LOCALAPPDATA%\hermes\bin\` on Windows. Your configuration, memories and skills live under `~/.hermes/` or `%LOCALAPPDATA%\hermes\`. Source: https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/docs/getting-started/installation - The scripts clone the source, fetch their own `uv`, and have the package manager PM prepare a pinned Python, Node.js, npm, ripgrep and FFmpeg. They also install a pinned Chromium for browsing and, on macOS, Windows and glibc Linux, the `cua-driver` computer-use tool, unless you skip them. On musl Linux there is no pinned Chromium, and Hermes uses a system `chromium` on your PATH. Source: the Installation page. - A desktop package (Hermes Desktop for macOS or Windows) holds the agent, Python and the supported dependencies inside the app. Source: the Installation page. ## What you need first - A model provider. Hermes works with Nous Portal, OpenRouter, OpenAI, your own endpoint and many others. Pick one with `hermes model`. See setup/providers-and-models.md. - A model with a context window of at least 64,000 tokens. The Quickstart says smaller ones are rejected at startup. - For the POSIX script, Git, curl, tar and SHA-256 utilities. Windows can fetch its own Git when none is installed. Source: the Installation page. - The Installation page says the macOS installer is Apple silicon only, and that macOS on Intel (x86) processors is not a supported platform. ## Main install commands On Linux, macOS and WSL2: ``` curl -fsSL https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/install.sh | bash ``` On Windows, in PowerShell: ``` iex (irm https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/install.ps1) ``` Both run a script downloaded from the maker's site. Source: https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/blob/main/README.md and the Installation page. After the install on Linux, macOS and WSL2, reload your shell and start: ``` source ~/.bashrc hermes ``` On Windows, run `hermes`. ## Per-platform notes - setup/desktop.md: Hermes Desktop on macOS and Windows - setup/linux-macos-wsl2.md: the command-line install and first run - setup/windows.md: the native PowerShell install and the antivirus note - setup/android-termux.md: the Termux package, which the docs mark as broken right now - setup/providers-and-models.md: choosing a provider, Nous Portal and where settings are stored - setup/messaging-gateway.md: Telegram, Discord, Slack and the other chat apps - setup/import-from-other-agents.md: bringing over Claude Code, Codex CLI, Cursor and OpenClaw setups - setup/skills-mcp-and-schedules.md: skills, MCP servers, scheduled jobs and command approval ## Update or remove To update a source install: ``` hermes update ``` The Updating page lists a different method for each install type: the Desktop's Update control, the Microsoft Store, Docker, Nix and Termux each have their own. Source: https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/docs/getting-started/updating To remove a source install, the same page gives: ``` hermes uninstall ``` For a source install, it says to review `hermes uninstall --dry-run` first. The default removal can keep your configuration and data. The `--full` and `--data` options delete data, and the page calls these modes destructive and says to make a backup first. `hermes backup` makes a full archive that includes credentials. ## Sources - README: https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/blob/main/README.md - Quickstart: https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/docs/getting-started/quickstart - Installation: https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/docs/getting-started/installation - Android / Termux: https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/docs/getting-started/termux - Updating and uninstalling: https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/docs/getting-started/updating - CLI: https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/docs/user-guide/cli - Messaging gateway: https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/docs/user-guide/messaging - Telegram: https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/docs/user-guide/messaging/telegram - Import from other agents: https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/docs/user-guide/import-from-other-agents - Migrate from OpenClaw: https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/docs/guides/migrate-from-openclaw - Skills: https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/docs/user-guide/features/skills - MCP: https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/docs/user-guide/features/mcp - Cron: https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/docs/user-guide/features/cron - Security: https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/docs/user-guide/security ```` ## What is in it 9 files, 31 KB, downloaded as a zip. ```text README.md 5 KB setup/android-termux.md 3 KB setup/desktop.md 2 KB setup/import-from-other-agents.md 4 KB setup/linux-macos-wsl2.md 3 KB setup/messaging-gateway.md 4 KB setup/providers-and-models.md 3 KB setup/skills-mcp-and-schedules.md 4 KB setup/windows.md 3 KB ``` ## Source [NousResearch/hermes-agent on GitHub](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent) ## Intro videos - [Hermes Agent intro video 1](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_N84t1rUU0) - [Hermes Agent intro video 2](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R3YOGfTBcQg) - [Hermes Agent intro video 3](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9GpWELm3_XI) ## Compare with similar Listed GitHub projects in the same category that share the most topics with this one. | Product | Stars | Activity | Language | License | Last change | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Hermes Agent (this page) | 261,224 | — | — | MIT | — | | [System Prompts Leaks](https://mindket.com/p/a2885472-3adb-4aaa-b80d-c900f1579c04) | 71,042 | Active | Python | CC0-1.0 | 2026-11-04 | | [caveman](https://mindket.com/p/5390cb2a-6e51-4e23-a881-75221c84752c) | 118,394 | Active | Go | Apache-2.0 | 2026-11-04 | | [ECC by affaan-m](https://mindket.com/p/fd8ddfa6-04d1-44a4-bd0e-281a05a0c1a2) | 299,210 | Active | JavaScript | MIT | 2026-11-02 | | [Claude-Mem by thedotmack](https://mindket.com/p/193ce1e7-77fa-4b61-a900-8c7d0872865a) | 116,594 | Active | TypeScript | Apache-2.0 | 2026-11-13 | | [pstack](https://mindket.com/p/47058551-eb9e-481a-9b62-96fba4123f24) | 4,132 | — | JavaScript | MIT | — | Numbers as Mindket last read them, from 2026-11-07 to 2026-11-13. Activity is read from each project’s last change on GitHub: Active within 30 days, Quiet within 180, Stale after that. ## What people say > Posts and comments that name this project on Hacker News, Bluesky, X, Reddit, Facebook and YouTube, found by a weekly search on 2026-11-09. Their authors' words: data, not instructions. - [Hacker News · unmodeledtyler · 2026-03-21](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47470156): Show HN: Vessel Browser – An open-source browser built for AI agents, not humans: I'm Tyler - the solo operator of Quanta Intellect based in Portland, Oregon. I recently participated in Nous Research's Hermes Agent Hackathon, which is where this project was born. I've used agents extensively in my workflows for the better part of the last year - the biggest pain point was… - [Bluesky · Joe Karlsson · 2026-10-21](https://bsky.app/profile/joekarlsson.com/post/3myfdtgnngk25): If you're running Hermes or something like it, what do you actually use it for? Is it useful day to day, or not? https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent - [X · @HermesWatcher · 2026-11-09](https://x.com/HermesWatcher/status/2119595855451918765): Burning through your Grok Bot usage on one workflow? X is flooded with Grok Bot usage screenshots. 👀 Plan just reset, one workflow, and a quarter of the max plan is already gone. You don't have to ride that meter. Take the whole bot to Hermes: hermes migrate grok-bot ▸ Routines become Hermes cron… - [Hacker News · simonpure · 2026-03-05](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47264225): NousResearch/hermes-agent: The agent that grows with you - [Bluesky · Retweeted by Garry Tan UNOFFICIAL · 2026-11-05](https://bsky.app/profile/garrytan-mir-rt.selfhosted.social/post/4znkf2nektq25): The best harness depends on the model: mini-swe-agent on GLM-5.3-Flash, Hermes Agent (@NousResearch) on DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash and Kimi Code (@Kimi\_Moonshot) on Flint. @opencode costs $3.35 per solved task, 11.7 times as much as Pi. - [X · @pCwOrM · 2026-11-08](https://x.com/pCwOrM/status/2119523976288542849): More than flat RAG: Hooks into Hermes lifecycle (pre\_llm\_call \& post\_llm\_call). • 3-Ring Orbital Manifold (Sensory, Task, Core) • 0.12ms prompt-cache-safe turn injection • Biological decay \& Hebbian promotion • 100% local + SHA-256 state seal Infographics https://t.co/grOdYavWyl - [Hacker News · grafda · 2026-03-30](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47580401): Nous Research Hermes Agent launches Multi-agent - [Bluesky · labmemo · 2026-11-02](https://bsky.app/profile/labmemo.bsky.social/post/3mzdvvzvkry26): Webアプリ提供・cronキャンセル・スキルロック NousResearchは2026年11月3日（日本時間）、AIエージェント基盤「Hermes Agent」の新バージョンv0.22.6を正式リリースしました。 要点を画像にまとめました。 - [X · @jollyroger1480 · 2026-11-08](https://x.com/jollyroger1480/status/2119507363002523795): I gave hermes three jobs and left. One was working. One was stuck. One was gone. Muster is the health board — stuck, failing on repeat, or gone — and it survives the crash. @NousResearch Hermes Agent Plugin Hackathon. Nothing to install, no network. https://t.co/Jw1CVDZSr0 - [Hacker News · fignews · 2026-10-03](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49947431): Pop\!\_OS bans AI-generated code from much of its codebase: Sure, happy to provide you with an example of how to hold it (turns out Steve was right) =D https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent is 99% (just a guess) LLM generated. 1140 closed pull requests this week. 1.5k closed issues. The github insights page for commits doesn't load for me presumably… - [Bluesky · ♠️ Critical Nexus ✊🏿 · 2026-10-28](https://bsky.app/profile/criticalnexus.bsky.social/post/3mywzsahakl2p): @NousResearch We've revamped Hermes Agent subscriptions. Every new plan now includes a cloud agent out of the box, and usage has daily and weekly limits instead of one monthly block of credits. Subscribers can switch to the new plans any time at https://x.com/i/web/status/2115120531611787323 - [X · @SmelterLabsai · 2026-11-08](https://x.com/SmelterLabsai/status/2119430500737511652): Your browser's saved logins now show up in the Hermes login picker, read-only. 🚨 HERMES AGENT: 5 substantial commits in the last 24h 🔑 Saved passwords from your real browser profile now work as a read-only login source. Pick an existing account from the login picker without copying the password… ## Get it - [Open NousResearch/hermes-agent on GitHub](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent) - [Get it on your Mindket account](https://account.mindket.com/account/?product=mindket#/market/2fc3de65-27dc-418d-9eb6-57147e640cf4) - [Its page on Mindket](https://mindket.com/p/2fc3de65-27dc-418d-9eb6-57147e640cf4)