name: hermes-agent description: Complete guide to using and extending Hermes Agent — CLI usage, setup, configuration, spawning additional agents, gateway platforms, skills, voice, tools, profiles, and a concise contributor reference. Load this skill when helping users configure Hermes, troubleshoot issues, spawn agent instances, or make code contributions. version: 2.0.0 author: Hermes Agent + Teknium license: MIT metadata: hermes: tags: [hermes, setup, configuration, multi-agent, spawning, cli, gateway, development] homepage: https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent related_skills: [claude-code, codex, opencode]
https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent related_skills: [claude-code, codex, opencode] ---# Hermes Agent
Hermes Agent is an open-source AI agent framework by Nous Research that runs in your terminal, messaging platforms, and IDEs. It belongs to the same category as Claude Code (Anthropic), Codex (OpenAI), and OpenClaw — autonomous coding and task-execution agents that use tool calling to interact with your system. Hermes works with any LLM provider (OpenRouter, Anthropic, OpenAI, DeepSeek, local models, and 15+ others) and runs on Linux, macOS, and WSL.
What makes Hermes different: Seek, local models, and 15+ others) and runs on Linux, macOS, and WSL.
What makes Hermes different:- Self-improving through skills — Hermes learns from experience by saving reusable procedures as skills. When it solves a complex problem, discovers a workflow, or gets corrected, it can persist that knowledge as a skill document that loads into future sessions. Skills accumulate over time, making the agent better at your specific tasks and environment. - Persistent memory across sessions — remembers who you are, your preferences, environment details, and lessons learned. Pluggable memory backends (built-in, Honcho, Mem0, and more) let you choose how memory works. - Multi-platform gateway — the same agent runs on Telegram, Discord, Slack, WhatsApp, Signal, Matrix, Email, and 10+ other platforms with full tool access, not just chat. - Provider-agnostic — swap models and providers mid-workflow without changing anything else. Credential pools rotate across multiple API keys automatically. - Profiles — run multiple independent Hermes instances with isolated configs, sessions, skills, and memory. - Extensible — plugins, MCP servers, custom tools, webhook triggers, cron scheduling, and the full Python ecosystem.
People use Hermes for software development, research, system administration, data analysis, content creation, home automation, and anything else that benefits from an AI agent with persistent context and full system access. on, and anything else that benefits from an AI agent with persistent context and full system access.This skill helps you work with Hermes Agent effectively — setting it up, configuring features, spawning additional agent instances, troubleshooting issues, finding the right commands and settings, and understanding how the system works when you need to extend or contribute to it.
Docs: https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/docs/ when you need to extend or contribute to it.
Docs: https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/docs/## Quick Start
# Install
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/main/scripts/install.sh | bash
# Interactive chat (default)
hermes
# Single query
hermes chat -q "What is the capital of France?"
# Setup wizard
hermes setup
# Change model/provider
hermes model
# Check health
hermes doctor
CLI Reference
Global Flags
hermes [flags] [command]
--version, -V Show version
--resume, -r SESSION Resume session by ID or title
--continue, -c [NAME] Resume by name, or most recent session
--worktree, -w Isolated git worktree mode (parallel agents)
--skills, -s SKILL Preload skills (comma-separate or repeat)
--profile, -p NAME Use a named profile
--yolo Skip dangerous command approval
--pass-session-id Include session ID in system prompt
No subcommand defaults to chat.
Chat
hermes chat [flags]
-q, --query TEXT Single query, non-interactive
-m, --model MODEL Model (e.g. anthropic/claude-sonnet-4)
-t, --toolsets LIST Comma-separated toolsets
--provider PROVIDER Force provider (openrouter, anthropic, nous, etc.)
-v, --verbose Verbose output
-Q, --quiet Suppress banner, spinner, tool previews
--checkpoints Enable filesystem checkpoints (/rollback)
--source TAG Session source tag (default: cli)
hermes setup [section] Interactive wizard (model|terminal|gateway|tools|agent)
hermes model Interactive model/provider picker
hermes config View current config
hermes config edit Open config.yaml in $EDITOR
hermes config set KEY VAL Set a config value
hermes config path Print config.yaml path
hermes config env-path Print .env path
hermes config check Check for missing/outdated config
hermes config migrate Update config with new options
hermes login [--provider P] OAuth login (nous, openai-codex)
hermes logout Clear stored auth
hermes doctor [--fix] Check dependencies and config
hermes status [--all] Show component status
hermes tools Interactive tool enable/disable (curses UI)
hermes tools list Show all tools and status
hermes tools enable NAME Enable a toolset
hermes tools disable NAME Disable a toolset
hermes skills list List installed skills
hermes skills search QUERY Search the skills hub
hermes skills install ID Install a skill
hermes skills inspect ID Preview without installing
hermes skills config Enable/disable skills per platform
hermes skills check Check for updates
hermes skills update Update outdated skills
hermes skills uninstall N Remove a hub skill
hermes skills publish PATH Publish to registry
hermes skills browse Browse all available skills
hermes skills tap add REPO Add a GitHub repo as skill source
MCP Servers
hermes mcp serve Run Hermes as an MCP server
hermes mcp add NAME Add an MCP server (--url or --command)
hermes mcp remove NAME Remove an MCP server
hermes mcp list List configured servers
hermes mcp test NAME Test connection
hermes mcp configure NAME Toggle tool selection
hermes gateway run Start gateway foreground
hermes gateway install Install as background service
hermes gateway start/stop Control the service
hermes gateway restart Restart the service
hermes gateway status Check status
hermes gateway setup Configure platforms
Supported platforms: Telegram, Discord, Slack, WhatsApp, Signal, Email, SMS, Matrix, Mattermost, Home Assistant, DingTalk, Feishu, WeCom, BlueBubbles (iMessage), Weixin (WeChat), API Server, Webhooks. Open WebUI connects via the API Server adapter.
Platform docs: https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/docs/user-guide/messaging/
Sessions
hermes sessions list List recent sessions
hermes sessions browse Interactive picker
hermes sessions export OUT Export to JSONL
hermes sessions rename ID T Rename a session
hermes sessions delete ID Delete a session
hermes sessions prune Clean up old sessions (--older-than N days)
hermes sessions stats Session store statistics
Cron Jobs
hermes cron list List jobs (--all for disabled)
hermes cron create SCHED Create: '30m', 'every 2h', '0 9 * * *'
hermes cron edit ID Edit schedule, prompt, delivery
hermes cron pause/resume ID Control job state
hermes cron run ID Trigger on next tick
hermes cron remove ID Delete a job
hermes cron status Scheduler status
hermes webhook subscribe N Create route at /webhooks/<name>
hermes webhook list List subscriptions
hermes webhook remove NAME Remove a subscription
hermes webhook test NAME Send a test POST
Profiles
hermes profile list List all profiles
hermes profile create NAME Create (--clone, --clone-all, --clone-from)
hermes profile use NAME Set sticky default
hermes profile delete NAME Delete a profile
hermes profile show NAME Show details
hermes profile alias NAME Manage wrapper scripts
hermes profile rename A B Rename a profile
hermes profile export NAME Export to tar.gz
hermes profile import FILE Import from archive
Credential Pools
hermes auth add Interactive credential wizard
hermes auth list [PROVIDER] List pooled credentials
hermes auth remove P INDEX Remove by provider + index
hermes auth reset PROVIDER Clear exhaustion status
Other
hermes insights [--days N] Usage analytics
hermes update Update to latest version
hermes pairing list/approve/revoke DM authorization
hermes plugins list/install/remove Plugin management
hermes honcho setup/status Honcho memory integration (requires honcho plugin)
hermes memory setup/status/off Memory provider config
hermes completion bash|zsh Shell completions
hermes acp ACP server (IDE integration)
hermes claw migrate Migrate from OpenClaw
hermes uninstall Uninstall Hermes
mes claw migrate Migrate from OpenClaw hermes uninstall Uninstall Hermes
---## Slash Commands (In-Session)
Type these during an interactive chat session.
### Session Control
Exit
---## Key Paths & Config
~/.hermes/config.yaml Main configuration
~/.hermes/.env API keys and secrets
$HERMES_HOME/skills/ Installed skills
~/.hermes/sessions/ Session transcripts
~/.hermes/logs/ Gateway and error logs
~/.hermes/auth.json OAuth tokens and credential pools
~/.hermes/hermes-agent/ Source code (if git-installed)
Profiles use ~/.hermes/profiles/<name>/ with the same layout.
Config Sections
Edit with hermes config edit or hermes config set section.key value.
| Section | Key options |
|---|---|
model |
default, provider, base_url, api_key, context_length |
agent |
max_turns (90), tool_use_enforcement |
terminal |
backend (local/docker/ssh/modal), cwd, timeout (180) |
compression |
enabled, threshold (0.50), target_ratio (0.20) |
display |
skin, tool_progress, show_reasoning, show_cost |
stt |
enabled, provider (local/groq/openai/mistral) |
tts |
provider (edge/elevenlabs/openai/minimax/mistral/neutts) |
memory |
memory_enabled, user_profile_enabled, provider |
security |
tirith_enabled, website_blocklist |
delegation |
model, provider, base_url, api_key, max_iterations (50), reasoning_effort |
checkpoints |
enabled, max_snapshots (50) |
Full config reference: https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/docs/user-guide/configuration ` (50) |
Full config reference: https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/docs/user-guide/configuration### Providers
20+ providers supported. Set via hermes model or hermes setup.
| Provider | Auth | Key env var |
|---|---|---|
| OpenRouter | API key | OPENROUTER_API_KEY |
| Anthropic | API key | ANTHROPIC_API_KEY |
| Nous Portal | OAuth | hermes auth |
| OpenAI Codex | OAuth | hermes auth |
| GitHub Copilot | Token | COPILOT_GITHUB_TOKEN |
| Google Gemini | API key | GOOGLE_API_KEY or GEMINI_API_KEY |
| DeepSeek | API key | DEEPSEEK_API_KEY |
| xAI / Grok | API key | XAI_API_KEY |
| Hugging Face | Token | HF_TOKEN |
| Z.AI / GLM | API key | GLM_API_KEY |
| MiniMax | API key | MINIMAX_API_KEY |
| MiniMax CN | API key | MINIMAX_CN_API_KEY |
| Kimi / Moonshot | API key | KIMI_API_KEY |
| Alibaba / DashScope | API key | DASHSCOPE_API_KEY |
| Xiaomi MiMo | API key | XIAOMI_API_KEY |
| Kilo Code | API key | KILOCODE_API_KEY |
| AI Gateway (Vercel) | API key | AI_GATEWAY_API_KEY |
| OpenCode Zen | API key | OPENCODE_ZEN_API_KEY |
| OpenCode Go | API key | OPENCODE_GO_API_KEY |
| Qwen OAuth | OAuth | hermes login --provider qwen-oauth |
| Custom endpoint | Config | model.base_url + model.api_key in config.yaml |
| GitHub Copilot ACP | External | COPILOT_CLI_PATH or Copilot CLI |
Full provider docs: https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/docs/integrations/providers Copilot CLI |
Full provider docs: https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/docs/integrations/providers### Toolsets
Enable/disable via hermes tools (interactive) or hermes tools enable/disable NAME.
| Toolset | What it provides |
|---|---|
web |
Web search and content extraction |
browser |
Browser automation (Browserbase, Camofox, or local Chromium) |
terminal |
Shell commands and process management |
file |
File read/write/search/patch |
code_execution |
Sandboxed Python execution |
vision |
Image analysis |
image_gen |
AI image generation |
tts |
Text-to-speech |
skills |
Skill browsing and management |
memory |
Persistent cross-session memory |
session_search |
Search past conversations |
delegation |
Subagent task delegation |
cronjob |
Scheduled task management |
clarify |
Ask user clarifying questions |
messaging |
Cross-platform message sending |
search |
Web search only (subset of web) |
todo |
In-session task planning and tracking |
rl |
Reinforcement learning tools (off by default) |
moa |
Mixture of Agents (off by default) |
homeassistant |
Smart home control (off by default) |
Tool changes take effect on /reset (new session). They do NOT apply mid-conversation to preserve prompt caching.
Voice & Transcription
sion). They do NOT apply mid-conversation to preserve prompt caching.
Voice & Transcription### STT (Voice → Text)
Voice messages from messaging platforms are auto-transcribed.
Provider priority (auto-detected):
1. Local faster-whisper — free, no API key: pip install faster-whisper
2. Groq Whisper — free tier: set GROQ_API_KEY
3. OpenAI Whisper — paid: set VOICE_TOOLS_OPENAI_KEY
4. Mistral Voxtral — set MISTRAL_API_KEY
Config:
stt:
enabled: true
provider: local # local, groq, openai, mistral
local:
model: base # tiny, base, small, medium, large-v3
TTS (Text → Voice)
| Provider | Env var | Free? |
|---|---|---|
| Edge TTS | None | Yes (default) |
| ElevenLabs | ELEVENLABS_API_KEY |
Free tier |
| OpenAI | VOICE_TOOLS_OPENAI_KEY |
Paid |
| MiniMax | MINIMAX_API_KEY |
Paid |
| Mistral (Voxtral) | MISTRAL_API_KEY |
Paid |
| NeuTTS (local) | None (pip install neutts[all] + espeak-ng) |
Free |
Voice commands: /voice on (voice-to-voice), /voice tts (always voice), /voice off.
Spawning Additional Hermes Instances
Run additional Hermes processes as fully independent subprocesses — separate sessions, tools, and environments. nal Hermes processes as fully independent subprocesses — separate sessions, tools, and environments.### When to Use This vs delegate_task
delegate_task |
Spawning hermes process |
|
|---|---|---|
| Isolation | Separate conversation, shared process | Fully independent process |
| Duration | Minutes (bounded by parent loop) | Hours/days |
| Tool access | Subset of parent's tools | Full tool access |
| Interactive | No | Yes (PTY mode) |
| Use case | Quick parallel subtasks | Long autonomous missions |
One-Shot Mode
terminal(command="hermes chat -q 'Research GRPO papers and write summary to ~/research/grpo.md'", timeout=300)
# Background for long tasks:
terminal(command="hermes chat -q 'Set up CI/CD for ~/myapp'", background=true)
Interactive PTY Mode (via tmux)
Hermes uses prompt_toolkit, which requires a real terminal. Use tmux for interactive spawning:
# Start
terminal(command="tmux new-session -d -s agent1 -x 120 -y 40 'hermes'", timeout=10)
# Wait for startup, then send a message
terminal(command="sleep 8 && tmux send-keys -t agent1 'Build a FastAPI auth service' Enter", timeout=15)
# Read output
terminal(command="sleep 20 && tmux capture-pane -t agent1 -p", timeout=5)
# Send follow-up
terminal(command="tmux send-keys -t agent1 'Add rate limiting middleware' Enter", timeout=5)
# Exit
terminal(command="tmux send-keys -t agent1 '/exit' Enter && sleep 2 && tmux kill-session -t agent1", timeout=10)
Multi-Agent Coordination
Multi-Agent Coordination
```# Agent A: backend terminal(command="tmux new-session -d -s backend -x 120 -y 40 'hermes -w'", timeout=10) terminal(command="sleep 8 && tmux send-keys -t backend 'Build REST API for user management' Enter", timeout=15)
Agent B: frontend
terminal(command="tmux new-session -d -s frontend -x 120 -y 40 'hermes -w'", timeout=10) terminal(command="sleep 8 && tmux send-keys -t frontend 'Build React dashboard for user management' Enter", timeout=15)
Check progress, relay context between them
terminal(command="tmux capture-pane -t backend -p | tail -30", timeout=5) terminal(command="tmux send-keys -t frontend 'Here is the API schema from the backend agent: ...' Enter", timeout=5)
Resume most recent session
terminal(command="tmux new-session -d -s resumed 'hermes --continue'", timeout=10)
Resume specific session
terminal(command="tmux new-session -d -s resumed 'hermes --resume 20260225_143052_a1b2c3'", timeout=10)
### Tips
- **Prefer `delegate_task` for quick subtasks** — less overhead than spawning a full process
- **Use `-w` (worktree mode)** when spawning agents that edit code — prevents git conflicts
- **Set timeouts** for one-shot mode — complex tasks can take 5-10 minutes
- **Use `hermes chat -q` for fire-and-forget** — no PTY needed
- **Use tmux for interactive sessions** — raw PTY mode has `\r` vs `\n` issues with prompt_toolkit
- **For scheduled tasks**, use the `cronjob` tool instead of spawning — handles delivery and retry
---
*For scheduled tasks**, use the `cronjob` tool instead of spawning — handles delivery and retry
---## Troubleshooting
### Voice not working
1. Check `stt.enabled: true` in config.yaml
2. Verify provider: `pip install faster-whisper` or set API key
3. In gateway: `/restart`. In CLI: exit and relaunch.
### Tool not available
1. `hermes tools` — check if toolset is enabled for your platform
2. Some tools need env vars (check `.env`)
3. `/reset` after enabling tools
### Model/provider issues
1. `hermes doctor` — check config and dependencies
2. `hermes login` — re-authenticate OAuth providers
3. Check `.env` has the right API key
4. **Copilot 403**: `gh auth login` tokens do NOT work for Copilot API. You must use the Copilot-specific OAuth device code flow via `hermes model` → GitHub Copilot.
### Changes not taking effect
- **Tools/skills:** `/reset` starts a new session with updated toolset
- **Config changes:** In gateway: `/restart`. In CLI: exit and relaunch.
- **Code changes:** Restart the CLI or gateway process
### Skills not showing
1. `hermes skills list` — verify installed
2. `hermes skills config` — check platform enablement
3. Load explicitly: `/skill name` or `hermes -s name`
mes skills config` — check platform enablement
3. Load explicitly: `/skill name` or `hermes -s name`### Gateway issues
Check logs first:
```bash
grep -i "failed to send\|error" ~/.hermes/logs/gateway.log | tail -20
Common gateway problems:
- Gateway dies on SSH logout: Enable linger: sudo loginctl enable-linger $USER
- Gateway dies on WSL2 close: WSL2 requires systemd=true in /etc/wsl.conf for systemd services to work. Without it, gateway falls back to nohup (dies when session closes).
- Gateway crash loop: Reset the failed state: systemctl --user reset-failed hermes-gateway
Platform-specific issues
- Discord bot silent: Must enable Message Content Intent in Bot → Privileged Gateway Intents.
- Slack bot only works in DMs: Must subscribe to
message.channelsevent. Without it, the bot ignores public channels. - Windows HTTP 400 "No models provided": Config file encoding issue (BOM). Ensure
config.yamlis saved as UTF-8 without BOM.
Auxiliary models not working
If auxiliary tasks (vision, compression, session_search) fail silently, the auto provider can't find a backend. Either set OPENROUTER_API_KEY or GOOGLE_API_KEY, or explicitly configure each auxiliary task's provider:
hermes config set auxiliary.vision.provider <your_provider>
hermes config set auxiliary.vision.model <model_name>
liary.vision.provider ---## Where to Find Things
## Where to Find Things| Looking for... | Location |
|----------------|----------|
| Config options | `hermes config edit` or [Configuration docs](https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/docs/user-guide/configuration) |
| Available tools | `hermes tools list` or [Tools reference](https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/docs/reference/tools-reference) |
| Slash commands | `/help` in session or [Slash commands reference](https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/docs/reference/slash-commands) |
| Skills catalog | `hermes skills browse` or [Skills catalog](https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/docs/reference/skills-catalog) |
| Provider setup | `hermes model` or [Providers guide](https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/docs/integrations/providers) |
| Platform setup | `hermes gateway setup` or [Messaging docs](https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/docs/user-guide/messaging/) |
| MCP servers | `hermes mcp list` or [MCP guide](https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/docs/user-guide/features/mcp) |
| Profiles | `hermes profile list` or [Profiles docs](https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/docs/user-guide/profiles) |
| Cron jobs | `hermes cron list` or [Cron docs](https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/docs/user-guide/features/cron) |
| Memory | `hermes memory status` or [Memory docs](https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/docs/user-guide/features/memory) |
| Env variables | `hermes config env-path` or [Env vars reference](https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/docs/reference/environment-variables) |
| CLI commands | `h
e](https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/docs/reference/environment-variables) |
| CLI commands | `he](https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/docs/reference/environment-variables) |
| CLI commands | `hermes --help` or [CLI reference](https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/docs/reference/cli-commands) |
| Gateway logs | `~/.hermes/logs/gateway.log` |
| Session files | `~/.hermes/sessions/` or `hermes sessions browse` |
| Source code | `~/.hermes/hermes-agent/` |
es | `~/.hermes/sessions/` or `hermes sessions browse` |
| Source code | `~/.hermes/hermes-agent/` |---
---## Contributor Quick Reference
For occasional contributors and PR authors. Full developer docs: https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/docs/developer-guide/
### Project Layout
Config: ~/.hermes/config.yaml (settings), ~/.hermes/.env (API keys).### Adding a Tool (3 files)
1. Create tools/your_tool.py:
import json, os
from tools.registry import registry
def check_requirements() -> bool:
return bool(os.getenv("EXAMPLE_API_KEY"))
def example_tool(param: str, task_id: str = None) -> str:
return json.dumps({"success": True, "data": "..."})
registry.register(
name="example_tool",
toolset="example",
schema={"name": "example_tool", "description": "...", "parameters": {...}},
handler=lambda args, **kw: example_tool(
param=args.get("param", ""), task_id=kw.get("task_id")),
check_fn=check_requirements,
requires_env=["EXAMPLE_API_KEY"],
)
2. Add to toolsets.py → _HERMES_CORE_TOOLS list.
Auto-discovery: any tools/*.py file with a top-level registry.register() call is imported automatically — no manual list needed.
All handlers must return JSON strings. Use get_hermes_home() for paths, never hardcode ~/.hermes.
Adding a Slash Command
- Add
CommandDeftoCOMMAND_REGISTRYinhermes_cli/commands.py - Add handler in
cli.py→process_command() - (Optional) Add gateway handler in
gateway/run.py
All consumers (help text, autocomplete, Telegram menu, Slack mapping) derive from the central registry automatically. lp text, autocomplete, Telegram menu, Slack mapping) derive from the central registry automatically.### Agent Loop (High Level)
run_conversation():
1. Build system prompt
2. Loop while iterations < max:
a. Call LLM (OpenAI-format messages + tool schemas)
b. If tool_calls → dispatch each via handle_function_call() → append results → continue
c. If text response → return
3. Context compression triggers automatically near token limit
Testing
python -m pytest tests/ -o 'addopts=' -q # Full suite
python -m pytest tests/tools/ -q # Specific area
- Tests auto-redirect
HERMES_HOMEto temp dirs — never touch real~/.hermes/ - Run full suite before pushing any change
- Use
-o 'addopts='to clear any baked-in pytest flags
Commit Conventions
Types: fix:, feat:, refactor:, docs:, chore:
Key Rules
- Never break prompt caching — don't change context, tools, or system prompt mid-conversation
- Message role alternation — never two assistant or two user messages in a row
- Use
get_hermes_home()fromhermes_constantsfor all paths (profile-safe) - Config values go in
config.yaml, secrets go in.env - New tools need a
check_fnso they only appear when requirements are met