Hermes Agent

Hermes Agent is an AI agent built by Nous Research.

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Core facts

Read by a script from the official API, not rewritten by a model.

License
MIT
Languages
Python
Maintainer
NousResearch
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What it is

The project describes Hermes Agent as a self-improving AI agent built by Nous Research. The project is licensed under MIT. Hermes has two entry points: the terminal UI, or the gateway used from Telegram, Discord, Slack, WhatsApp, Signal, or Email.

Main features

  1. Hermes Agent provides a full TUI with multiline editing, slash-command autocomplete, conversation history, interrupt-and-redirect, and streaming tool output.

  2. It can be reached from Telegram, Discord, Slack, WhatsApp, Signal, and CLI through a single gateway process, and voice memo transcription and cross-platform conversation continuity are also listed.

  3. The project lists agent-curated memory with periodic nudges, autonomous skill creation after complex tasks, skills that self-improve during use, and FTS5 session search with LLM summarization for cross-session recall.

  4. It can spawn isolated subagents for parallel workstreams.

  5. It has six built-in terminal backends, namely local, Docker, SSH, Modal, Daytona, and Vercel Sandbox, plus plugin backends such as Singularity/Apptainer.

  6. It supports scheduled automations written in natural language and running unattended, such as daily reports, nightly backups, and weekly audits.

Getting started

  1. Linux, macOS and WSL2 use the first bash install command, while native Windows runs the second command in PowerShell; pick one by platform.

  2. On Windows, those who prefer WSL2 use the same command as Linux and macOS.

  3. Once in a conversation, many slash commands are shared across both interfaces.

  4. In Desktop, the provider, model, and limits of subagents are chosen under Settings → Model → Subagents, then the complete route is applied.

  5. Hermes can import settings, memories and skills from OpenClaw, Claude Code, Codex CLI or Cursor, and for OpenClaw it can also import API keys when asked.

  6. The import from OpenClaw covers the approval patterns of the command allowlist.

  7. The import from OpenClaw also covers messaging settings, meaning platform configs, allowed users, and working directory.

  8. The import from OpenClaw covers TTS assets as well, meaning workspace audio files.

From the README · bash
curl -fsSL https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/install.sh | bash
From the README · powershell
iex (irm https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/install.ps1)
From the README · bash
hermes              # Interactive CLI — start a conversation
hermes model        # Choose your LLM provider and model
hermes tools        # Configure which tools are enabled
hermes config set   # Set individual config values
hermes config get   # Print individual config values
hermes gateway      # Start the messaging gateway (Telegram, Discord, etc.)
hermes setup        # Run the full setup wizard (configures everything at once)
hermes update       # Update to the latest version
hermes doctor       # Diagnose any issues
From the README · bash
hermes plugins install agent-importers          # once per profile
hermes import-agent openclaw                    # interactive migration (full preset)
hermes import-agent openclaw --dry-run          # preview what would be migrated
hermes import-agent openclaw --migrate-secrets  # also bring allowlisted API keys
hermes import-agent claude-code                 # or codex / cursor

Who it is for

The project says it can run on a $5 VPS, a GPU cluster, or serverless infrastructure that costs nearly nothing when idle. The project says it is not tied to a laptop: it can be talked to from Telegram while it works on a cloud VM. The project says Daytona and Modal offer serverless persistence, where the agent's environment hibernates when idle and wakes on demand, costing nearly nothing between sessions.

Native Windows runs Hermes without WSL, and the CLI, gateway, TUI, and tools all work natively. On Windows, the source installer does not replace the system Git. On Windows, if Git is absent, the installer stages the verified Git for Windows archive in the Hermes tool store.

For Android / Termux, a signed APT repository is available for aarch64 devices, with a stable channel (tagged releases) and a prerelease canary channel. The Android / Termux package includes Python, Node.js, and the TUI. On Android / Termux, the Termux guide is to be used, not the desktop/server installer script.

The project also lists batch trajectory generation and trajectory compression for training the next generation of tool-calling models.

Sources

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