Hermes Agent ⚕

The fully open-source AI agent that grows with you. Install it on a machine, give it your messaging accounts, and it becomes a persistent personal agent — learning your projects, building its own skills, running tasks on a schedule, and reaching you wherever you are. An autonomous agent that lives on your server, remembers what it learns, and gets more capable the longer it runs.

Use any model you want — log in with a Nous Portal subscription for zero-config access, connect an OpenRouter key for 200+ models, or point it at your own VLLM/SGLang endpoint. Switch with hermes model — no code changes, no lock-in.

Built by Nous Research. Under the hood, the same architecture powers batch data generation and RL training environments for training the next generation of tool-calling models.

Quick Install

Linux/macOS:

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/main/scripts/install.sh | bash

Windows (PowerShell):

irm https://raw.githubusercontent.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/main/scripts/install.ps1 | iex

The installer will:

• Install uv (fast Python package manager) if not present
• Install Python 3.11 via uv if not already available (no sudo needed)
• Clone to ~/.hermes/hermes-agent (with submodules: mini-swe-agent, tinker-atropos)
• Create a virtual environment with Python 3.11
• Install all dependencies and submodule packages
• Symlink hermes into ~/.local/bin so it works globally (no venv activation needed)
• Run the interactive setup wizard

After installation, reload your shell and run:

source ~/.bashrc   # or: source ~/.zshrc
hermes setup       # Configure API keys (if you skipped during install)
hermes             # Start chatting!

Getting Started

The installer (hermes setup) walks you through selecting a provider and model. Once that's done:

hermes          # Start chatting!
hermes model    # Switch provider or model interactively
hermes tools    # See all available tools

This lets you switch between Nous Portal (subscription), OpenRouter (200+ models, pay-per-use), or a custom endpoint (VLLM, SGLang, any OpenAI-compatible API) at any time.

🔒 Recommended: Run with a Sandboxed Terminal

By default, Hermes runs commands directly on your machine (local backend). For safer use we recommend running with a sandboxed terminal backend so the agent cannot access its own code, config, or API keys:

# Option A: SSH into a separate machine (recommended for production)
hermes config set terminal.backend ssh
hermes config set TERMINAL_SSH_HOST my-server.example.com
hermes config set TERMINAL_SSH_USER myuser

# Option B: Docker container (good for local isolation)
hermes config set terminal.backend docker

# Option C: Modal cloud sandbox (serverless, no infra to manage)
hermes config set terminal.backend modal

All container/remote backends support persistent workspaces — installed packages, files, and state survive across sessions. The agent gets a full working environment but can't read ~/.hermes/.env, modify its own source code, or access your host filesystem.

See Terminal & Process Management for full configuration options.

Updating

hermes update    # Update to latest version (prompts for new config)

Uninstalling:

hermes uninstall          # Uninstall (can keep configs for later reinstall)

Or manually:

rm -f ~/.local/bin/hermes
rm -rf /path/to/hermes-agent
rm -rf ~/.hermes            # Optional — keep if you plan to reinstall

Inference Providers

You need at least one way to connect to an LLM. Use hermes model to switch providers and models interactively, or configure directly:

Note: Even when using Nous Portal or a custom endpoint, some tools (vision, web summarization, MoA) use OpenRouter independently. An OPENROUTER_API_KEY enables these tools.

Configuration

All your settings are stored in ~/.hermes/ for easy access:

~/.hermes/
├── config.yaml     # Settings (model, terminal, TTS, compression, etc.)
├── .env            # API keys and secrets
├── auth.json       # OAuth provider credentials (Nous Portal, etc.)
├── SOUL.md         # Optional: global persona (agent embodies this personality)
├── memories/       # Persistent memory (MEMORY.md, USER.md)
├── skills/         # Agent-created skills (managed via skill_manage tool)
├── cron/           # Scheduled jobs
├── sessions/       # Gateway sessions
└── logs/           # Logs

Managing Configuration

hermes config              # View current configuration
hermes config edit         # Open config.yaml in your editor
hermes config set KEY VAL  # Set a specific value
hermes config check        # Check for missing options (after updates)
hermes config migrate      # Interactively add missing options

# Examples:
hermes config set model anthropic/claude-opus-4
hermes config set terminal.backend docker
hermes config set OPENROUTER_API_KEY sk-or-...  # Saves to .env

Optional API Keys

Messaging Gateway

Chat with Hermes from Telegram, Discord, Slack, or WhatsApp. The gateway is a single background process that connects to all your configured platforms, handles sessions, runs cron jobs, and delivers voice messages.

Starting the Gateway

hermes gateway              # Run in foreground
hermes gateway install      # Install as systemd service (Linux)
hermes gateway start        # Start the systemd service
hermes gateway stop         # Stop the systemd service
hermes gateway status       # Check service status

The installer will offer to set this up automatically if it detects a bot token.

Telegram Setup

1. Create a bot: Message @BotFather on Telegram, use /newbot
2. Get your user ID: Message @userinfobot — it replies with your numeric ID
3. Configure:

# Add to ~/.hermes/.env:
TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN=123456:ABC-DEF...
TELEGRAM_ALLOWED_USERS=YOUR_USER_ID    # Comma-separated for multiple users

4. Start the gateway: hermes gateway

Discord Setup

1. Create a bot: Go to Discord Developer Portal
2. Enable intents: Bot → Privileged Gateway Intents → enable Message Content Intent
3. Get your user ID: Enable Developer Mode in Discord settings, right-click your name → Copy ID
4. Invite to your server: OAuth2 → URL Generator → scopes: bot, applications.commands → permissions: Send Messages, Read Message History, Attach Files
5. Configure:

# Add to ~/.hermes/.env:
DISCORD_BOT_TOKEN=MTIz...
DISCORD_ALLOWED_USERS=YOUR_USER_ID

Slack Setup

1. Create an app: Go to Slack API, create a new app
2. Enable Socket Mode: In app settings → Socket Mode → Enable
3. Get tokens:
   • Bot Token (xoxb-...): OAuth & Permissions → Install to Workspace
   • App Token (xapp-...): Basic Information → App-Level Tokens → Generate
4. Configure:

# Add to ~/.hermes/.env:
SLACK_BOT_TOKEN=xoxb-...
SLACK_APP_TOKEN=xapp-...
SLACK_ALLOWED_USERS=U01234ABCDE    # Comma-separated Slack user IDs

WhatsApp Setup

WhatsApp doesn't have a simple bot API like Telegram or Discord. Hermes includes a built-in bridge using Baileys that connects via WhatsApp Web. The agent links to your WhatsApp account and responds to incoming messages.

1. Run the setup command:

hermes whatsapp

This will:

• Enable WhatsApp in your config
• Ask for your phone number (for the allowlist)
• Install bridge dependencies (Node.js required)
• Display a QR code — scan it with your phone (WhatsApp → Settings → Linked Devices → Link a Device)
• Exit automatically once paired

2. Start the gateway:

hermes gateway            # Foreground
hermes gateway install    # Or install as a system service (Linux)

The gateway starts the WhatsApp bridge automatically using the saved session.

Note: WhatsApp Web sessions can disconnect if WhatsApp updates their protocol. The gateway reconnects automatically. If you see persistent failures, re-pair with hermes whatsapp. Agent responses are prefixed with "⚕ Hermes Agent" so you can distinguish them from your own messages in self-chat.

See docs/messaging.md for advanced WhatsApp configuration.

Gateway Commands (inside chat)

DM Pairing (Alternative to Allowlists)

Instead of manually configuring user IDs in allowlists, you can use the pairing system. When an unknown user DMs your bot, they receive a one-time pairing code:

# The user sees: "Pairing code: XKGH5N7P"
# You approve them with:
hermes pairing approve telegram XKGH5N7P

# Other pairing commands:
hermes pairing list          # View pending + approved users
hermes pairing revoke telegram 123456789  # Remove access

Pairing codes expire after 1 hour, are rate-limited, and use cryptographic randomness.

Security

By default, the gateway denies all users who are not in an allowlist or paired via DM. This is the safe default for a bot with terminal access.

# Restrict to specific users (recommended):
TELEGRAM_ALLOWED_USERS=123456789,987654321
DISCORD_ALLOWED_USERS=123456789012345678

# Or explicitly allow all users (NOT recommended for bots with terminal access):
GATEWAY_ALLOW_ALL_USERS=true

Working Directory

Override the terminal working directory for any backend:

# In ~/.hermes/.env or ~/.hermes/config.yaml:
MESSAGING_CWD=/home/myuser/projects    # Gateway sessions
TERMINAL_CWD=/workspace                # All terminal sessions (local or container)

Tool Progress Notifications

Control how much tool activity is displayed. Set in ~/.hermes/config.yaml:

display:
  tool_progress: all    # off | new | all | verbose

Toggle at runtime in the CLI with /verbose (cycles through all four modes).

Commands

# Chat
hermes                    # Interactive chat (default)
hermes chat -q "Hello"    # Single query mode
hermes --continue         # Resume the most recent session (-c)
hermes --resume <id>      # Resume a specific session (-r)

# Provider & model management
hermes model              # Switch provider and model interactively
hermes login              # Authenticate with Nous Portal (OAuth)
hermes logout             # Clear stored OAuth credentials

# Configuration
hermes setup              # Full setup wizard (provider, terminal, messaging, etc.)
hermes config             # View/edit configuration
hermes config check       # Check for missing config (useful after updates)
hermes config migrate     # Interactively add missing options
hermes status             # Show configuration status (incl. auth)
hermes doctor             # Diagnose issues

# Maintenance
hermes update             # Update to latest version
hermes uninstall          # Uninstall (can keep configs for later reinstall)

# Gateway (messaging + cron scheduler)
hermes gateway            # Run gateway in foreground
hermes gateway install    # Install as system service (messaging + cron)
hermes gateway status     # Check service status
hermes whatsapp           # Pair WhatsApp via QR code

# Skills, cron, misc
hermes skills search k8s  # Search skill registries
hermes skills install ... # Install a skill (with security scan)
hermes skills list        # List installed skills
hermes cron list          # View scheduled jobs
hermes cron status        # Check if cron scheduler is running
hermes pairing list       # View/manage DM pairing codes
hermes version            # Show version info

CLI Commands (inside chat)

Type / to see an autocomplete dropdown of all commands.

Keybindings:

• Enter — send message
• Alt+Enter or Ctrl+J — new line (multi-line input)
• Ctrl+C — interrupt agent (double-press to force exit)
• Ctrl+D — exit

Interrupting the Agent

CLI:

• Type a message + Enter while the agent is working to interrupt and send new instructions
• Ctrl+C to interrupt (press twice within 2s to force exit)
• In-progress terminal commands are killed immediately (SIGTERM, then SIGKILL after 1s if the process resists)
• Multiple messages typed during interrupt are combined into one prompt

Messaging Platforms (Telegram, Discord, Slack):

• Send any message while the agent is working to interrupt
• Use /stop to interrupt without queuing a follow-up message
• Multiple messages sent during interrupt are combined into one prompt
• Interrupt signals are processed with highest priority (before command parsing)

Features

🛠️ Tools & Toolsets

Tools are organized into logical toolsets:

# Use specific toolsets
hermes --toolsets "web,terminal"

# Configure tools per platform (interactive)
hermes tools

Available toolsets: web, terminal, file, browser, vision, image_gen, moa, skills, tts, todo, memory, session_search, cronjob, code_execution, delegation, clarify, and more.

🖥️ Terminal & Process Management

The terminal tool can execute commands in different environments, with full background process management via the process tool:

Background processes: Start with terminal(command="...", background=true), then use process(action="poll/wait/log/kill/write") to monitor, wait for completion, read output, terminate, or send input. The wait action blocks until the process finishes -- no polling loops needed. PTY mode (pty=true) enables interactive CLI tools like Codex and Claude Code.

Execution environments:

Configure in ~/.hermes/config.yaml:

terminal:
  backend: local    # or: docker, ssh, singularity, modal
  cwd: "."          # Working directory ("." = current dir)
  timeout: 180      # Command timeout in seconds

Docker Backend:

terminal:
  backend: docker
  docker_image: python:3.11-slim

SSH Backend (recommended for security - agent can't modify its own code):

terminal:
  backend: ssh

# Set credentials in ~/.hermes/.env
TERMINAL_SSH_HOST=my-server.example.com
TERMINAL_SSH_USER=myuser
TERMINAL_SSH_KEY=~/.ssh/id_rsa

Singularity/Apptainer (for HPC clusters):

# Pre-build SIF for parallel workers
apptainer build ~/python.sif docker://python:3.11-slim

# Configure
hermes config set terminal.backend singularity
hermes config set terminal.singularity_image ~/python.sif

Modal (serverless cloud):

uv pip install "swe-rex[modal]"   # Installs swe-rex + modal + boto3
modal setup                    # Authenticate with Modal
hermes config set terminal.backend modal

Sudo Support: If a command needs sudo, you'll be prompted for your password (cached for the session). Or set SUDO_PASSWORD in ~/.hermes/.env.

Container Security (Docker, Singularity, Modal): All container backends run with security hardening by default:

• Read-only root filesystem (Docker)
• All Linux capabilities dropped
• No privilege escalation (--security-opt no-new-privileges)
• PID limits (256 processes)
• Full namespace isolation (--containall for Singularity)
• Persistent workspace via volumes, not writable root layer

Container Resources: Configure CPU, memory, disk, and persistence for all container backends:

# In ~/.hermes/config.yaml under terminal:
terminal:
  backend: docker  # or singularity, modal
  container_cpu: 1              # CPU cores (default: 1)
  container_memory: 5120        # Memory in MB (default: 5GB)
  container_disk: 51200         # Disk in MB (default: 50GB)
  container_persistent: true    # Persist filesystem across sessions (default: true)

When container_persistent: true, the sandbox state (installed packages, files, config) survives across sessions. Docker uses bind mounts, Singularity uses persistent overlays, and Modal uses filesystem snapshots. All persistent data is stored under TERMINAL_SANDBOX_DIR (default: ~/.hermes/sandboxes/):

# Override where Docker workspaces and Singularity overlays/SIF cache are stored
TERMINAL_SANDBOX_DIR=/mnt/fast-ssd/hermes-sandboxes

🧠 Persistent Memory

Bounded curated memory that persists across sessions:

• MEMORY.md — agent's personal notes (environment facts, conventions, things learned). ~800 token budget.
• USER.md — user profile (preferences, communication style, expectations). ~500 token budget.

Both are injected into the system prompt as a frozen snapshot at session start. The agent manages its own memory via the memory tool (add/replace/remove/read). Character limits keep memory focused — when full, the agent consolidates or replaces entries.

Configure in ~/.hermes/config.yaml:

memory:
  memory_enabled: true
  user_profile_enabled: true
  memory_char_limit: 2200   # ~800 tokens
  user_char_limit: 1375     # ~500 tokens

🔗 Honcho Integration (Cross-Session User Modeling)

Optional cloud-based user modeling via Honcho by Plastic Labs. While MEMORY.md and USER.md are local file-based memory, Honcho builds a deeper, AI-generated understanding of the user that persists across sessions and works across tools (Claude Code, Cursor, Hermes, etc.).

When enabled, Honcho runs alongside existing memory — USER.md stays as-is, and Honcho adds an additional layer of user context:

• Prefetch: Each turn, Honcho's user representation is fetched and injected into the system prompt
• Sync: After each conversation, messages are synced to Honcho for ongoing user modeling
• Query tool: The agent can actively query its understanding of the user via query_user_context

Setup:

# 1. Install the optional dependency
uv pip install honcho-ai

# 2. Get an API key from https://app.honcho.dev

# 3. Create ~/.honcho/config.json (shared with other Honcho-enabled tools)
cat > ~/.honcho/config.json << 'EOF'
{
  "enabled": true,
  "apiKey": "your-honcho-api-key",
  "peerName": "your-name",
  "hosts": {
    "hermes": {
      "workspace": "hermes"
    }
  }
}
EOF

Or configure via environment variable:

hermes config set HONCHO_API_KEY your-key

Fully opt-in — zero behavior change when disabled or unconfigured. All Honcho calls are non-fatal; if the service is unreachable, the agent continues normally.

📄 Context Files (SOUL.md, AGENTS.md, .cursorrules)

Drop these files in your project directory and the agent automatically picks them up:

• AGENTS.md is hierarchical: if subdirectories also have AGENTS.md, all are combined (like Codex/Cline).
• SOUL.md checks cwd first, then ~/.hermes/SOUL.md as a global fallback.
• All context files are capped at 20,000 characters with smart truncation.

🗜️ Context Compression

Long conversations are automatically summarized when approaching context limits:

# In ~/.hermes/config.yaml
compression:
  enabled: true
  threshold: 0.85    # Compress at 85% of limit

🧠 Reasoning Effort

Control how much "thinking" the model does before responding. This works with models that support extended thinking on OpenRouter and Nous Portal.

# In ~/.hermes/config.yaml under agent:
agent:
  reasoning_effort: "xhigh"   # xhigh (max), high, medium, low, minimal, none

Higher reasoning effort gives better results on complex tasks (multi-step planning, debugging, research) at the cost of more tokens and latency. Set to "none" to disable extended thinking entirely.

🗄️ Session Store

All CLI and messaging sessions are stored in a SQLite database (~/.hermes/state.db) with full-text search:

• Full message history stored per-session with model config and system prompt snapshots
• FTS5 search via the session_search tool -- search past conversations with Gemini Flash summarization
• Compression-triggered session splitting -- when context is compressed, a new session is created linked to the parent, giving clean trajectories
• Source tagging -- each session is tagged with its origin (cli, telegram, discord, etc.)
• Session resume -- pick up where you left off with hermes --continue (most recent) or hermes --resume <id> (specific session)
• Batch runner and RL trajectories are NOT stored here (separate systems)

When you exit a CLI session, the resume command is printed automatically:

Resume this session with:
  hermes --resume 20260225_143052_a1b2c3

Session:        20260225_143052_a1b2c3
Duration:       12m 34s
Messages:       28 (5 user, 18 tool calls)

Use hermes sessions list to browse past sessions and find IDs to resume.

📝 Session Logging

Every conversation is logged to ~/.hermes/sessions/ for debugging:

sessions/
├── session_20260201_143052_a1b2c3.json
└── ...

⏰ Scheduled Tasks (Cron)

Schedule tasks to run automatically:

# In the CLI (/cron slash commands)
/cron add 30m "Remind me to check the build"
/cron add "every 2h" "Check server status"
/cron add "0 9 * * *" "Morning briefing"
/cron list
/cron remove <job_id>

The agent can also self-schedule using the schedule_cronjob tool from any platform (CLI, Telegram, Discord, etc.).

Cron execution is handled by the gateway daemon. The gateway ticks the scheduler every 60 seconds, running any due jobs in isolated agent sessions:

hermes gateway install     # Install as system service (recommended)
hermes gateway             # Or run in foreground

hermes cron list           # View scheduled jobs
hermes cron status         # Check if gateway is running

Even if no messaging platforms are configured, the gateway stays running for cron. A file lock prevents duplicate execution if multiple processes overlap.

🛡️ Exec Approval (Messaging Platforms)

When the agent tries to run a potentially dangerous command (rm -rf, chmod 777, etc.) on Telegram/Discord/WhatsApp, instead of blocking it silently, it asks the user for approval:

⚠️ This command is potentially dangerous (recursive delete). Reply "yes" to approve.

Reply "yes"/"y" to approve or "no"/"n" to deny. In CLI mode, the existing interactive approval prompt (once/session/always/deny) is preserved.

🔒 Security Hardening

Hermes includes multiple layers of security beyond sandboxed terminals and exec approval:

For sandboxed terminal options, see Terminal & Process Management.

🔊 Text-to-Speech

Convert text to speech with three providers:

On Telegram, audio plays as native voice bubbles (the round, inline-playable kind). On Discord/WhatsApp, sent as audio file attachments. In CLI mode, saved to ~/voice-memos/.

Configure in ~/.hermes/config.yaml:

tts:
  provider: "edge"              # "edge" | "elevenlabs" | "openai"
  edge:
    voice: "en-US-AriaNeural"   # 322 voices, 74 languages
  elevenlabs:
    voice_id: "pNInz6obpgDQGcFmaJgB"  # Adam
    model_id: "eleven_multilingual_v2"
  openai:
    model: "gpt-4o-mini-tts"
    voice: "alloy"              # alloy, echo, fable, onyx, nova, shimmer

Telegram voice bubbles & ffmpeg:

Telegram voice bubbles require Opus/OGG audio format. OpenAI and ElevenLabs produce Opus natively — no extra dependencies needed. Edge TTS (the default free provider) outputs MP3 and needs ffmpeg to convert to Opus:

# Ubuntu/Debian
sudo apt install ffmpeg

# macOS
brew install ffmpeg

# Fedora
sudo dnf install ffmpeg

Without ffmpeg, Edge TTS audio is sent as a regular audio file (playable, but shows as a rectangular player instead of a voice bubble). If you want voice bubbles without installing ffmpeg, switch to the OpenAI or ElevenLabs provider.

🎙️ Voice Message Transcription

Voice messages sent on Telegram, Discord, WhatsApp, or Slack are automatically transcribed using OpenAI's Whisper API and injected as text into the conversation. The agent sees the transcript as normal text -- no special handling needed.

Requires OPENAI_API_KEY in ~/.hermes/.env. Configure the model in ~/.hermes/config.yaml:

stt:
  enabled: true
  model: "whisper-1"

🌐 Browser Automation

Browser tools let the agent navigate websites, fill forms, click buttons, and extract content using Browserbase.

Setup:

# 1. Get credentials from browserbase.com
hermes config set BROWSERBASE_API_KEY your_api_key
hermes config set BROWSERBASE_PROJECT_ID your_project_id

# 2. Install Node.js dependencies (if not already)
cd ~/.hermes-agent && npm install

Available tools: browser_navigate, browser_snapshot, browser_click, browser_type, browser_scroll, browser_back, browser_press, browser_close, browser_get_images

Example:

hermes --toolsets browser -q "Go to amazon.com and find the price of the latest Kindle"

📚 Skills System

Skills are on-demand knowledge documents the agent can load when needed. They follow a progressive disclosure pattern to minimize token usage and are compatible with the agentskills.io open standard.

All skills live in ~/.hermes/skills/ -- a single directory that is the source of truth. On fresh install, bundled skills are copied there from the repo. Hub-installed skills and agent-created skills also go here. The agent can modify or delete any skill. hermes update adds only genuinely new bundled skills (via a manifest) without overwriting your changes or re-adding skills you deleted.

Using Skills:

hermes --toolsets skills -q "What skills do you have?"
hermes --toolsets skills -q "Show me the axolotl skill"

Agent-Managed Skills (skill_manage tool):

The agent can create, update, and delete its own skills via the skill_manage tool. This is the agent's procedural memory -- when it figures out a non-trivial workflow, it can save the approach as a skill for future reuse.

The agent is encouraged to create skills when:

• It completed a complex task (5+ tool calls) successfully
• It hit errors or dead ends and found the working path
• The user corrected its approach and the corrected version worked
• It discovered a non-trivial workflow (deployment, data pipeline, configuration)

The agent is encouraged to update skills when:

• Instructions were stale or incorrect (outdated API, changed behavior)
• Steps didn't work on the current OS or environment
• Missing critical steps or pitfalls discovered during use

Actions:

The patch action uses the same old_string/new_string pattern as the patch file tool -- find a unique string and replace it. This is more token-efficient than edit for small fixes (updating a command, adding a pitfall, fixing a version) because the model doesn't need to rewrite the entire skill. When patching SKILL.md, frontmatter integrity is validated after the replacement. The patch action also works on supporting files via the file_path parameter.

User-created skills are stored in ~/.hermes/skills/ and can optionally be organized into categories (subdirectories). Each skill has a SKILL.md file and may include supporting files under references/, templates/, scripts/, and assets/.

The skill_manage tool is enabled by default in CLI and all messaging platforms. It is not included in batch_runner or RL training environments.

Skills Hub — Search, install, and manage skills from online registries:

hermes skills search kubernetes          # Search all sources (GitHub, ClawHub, LobeHub)
hermes skills install openai/skills/k8s  # Install with security scan
hermes skills inspect openai/skills/k8s  # Preview before installing
hermes skills list --source hub          # List hub-installed skills
hermes skills audit                      # Re-scan all hub skills
hermes skills uninstall k8s              # Remove a hub skill
hermes skills publish skills/my-skill --to github --repo owner/repo
hermes skills snapshot export setup.json # Export skill config
hermes skills tap add myorg/skills-repo  # Add a custom source

All hub-installed skills go through a security scanner that checks for data exfiltration, prompt injection, destructive commands, and other threats. Trust levels: builtin (ships with Hermes), trusted (openai/skills, anthropics/skills), community (everything else — any findings = blocked unless --force).

SKILL.md Format:

---
name: my-skill
description: Brief description of what this skill does
version: 1.0.0
metadata:
  hermes:
    tags: [python, automation]
    category: devops
---

# Skill Title

## When to Use
Trigger conditions for this skill.

## Procedure
1. Step one
2. Step two

## Pitfalls
- Known failure modes and fixes

## Verification
How to confirm it worked.

Skill Directory Structure:

~/.hermes/skills/                  # Single source of truth for all skills
├── mlops/                         # Category directory
│   ├── axolotl/
│   │   ├── SKILL.md               # Main instructions (required)
│   │   ├── references/            # Additional docs
│   │   ├── templates/             # Output formats
│   │   └── assets/                # Supplementary files (agentskills.io standard)
│   └── vllm/
│       └── SKILL.md
├── devops/
│   └── deploy-k8s/                # Agent-created skill
│       ├── SKILL.md
│       └── references/
├── .hub/                          # Skills Hub state
│   ├── lock.json                  # Installed skill provenance
│   ├── quarantine/                # Pending security review
│   └── audit.log                  # Security scan history
└── .bundled_manifest              # Tracks which bundled skills have been offered

🐍 Code Execution (Programmatic Tool Calling)

The execute_code tool lets the agent write Python scripts that call Hermes tools programmatically, collapsing multi-step workflows into a single LLM turn. The script runs in a sandboxed child process on the agent host, communicating with the parent via Unix domain socket RPC.

# The agent can write scripts like:
from hermes_tools import web_search, web_extract
results = web_search("Python 3.13 features", limit=5)
for r in results["data"]["web"]:
    content = web_extract([r["url"]])
    # ... filter and process ...
print(summary)

Available tools in sandbox: web_search, web_extract, read_file, write_file, search, patch, terminal (foreground only).

When the agent uses this: 3+ tool calls with processing logic between them, bulk data filtering, conditional branching, loops. The intermediate tool results never enter the context window -- only the final print() output comes back.

Security: The child process runs with a minimal environment -- only safe system variables (PATH, HOME, LANG, etc.) are passed through. API keys, tokens, and credentials are stripped entirely. The script accesses tools exclusively via the RPC channel; it cannot read secrets from environment variables.

Configure via ~/.hermes/config.yaml:

code_execution:
  timeout: 300       # Max seconds per script (default: 300)
  max_tool_calls: 50 # Max tool calls per execution (default: 50)

🔀 Subagents (Task Delegation)

The delegate_task tool spawns child AIAgent instances with isolated context, restricted toolsets, and their own terminal sessions. Each child gets a fresh conversation and works independently -- only its final summary enters the parent's context.

Single task:

delegate_task(goal="Debug why tests fail", context="Error: assertion in test_foo.py line 42", toolsets=["terminal", "file"])

Parallel batch (up to 3 concurrent):

delegate_task(tasks=[
    {"goal": "Research topic A", "toolsets": ["web"]},
    {"goal": "Research topic B", "toolsets": ["web"]},
    {"goal": "Fix the build", "toolsets": ["terminal", "file"]}
])

Key properties:

• Each subagent gets its own terminal session (separate from the parent)
• Depth limit of 2 (no grandchildren)
• Subagents cannot call: delegate_task, clarify, memory, send_message, execute_code
• Interrupt propagation: interrupting the parent interrupts all active children

Configure via ~/.hermes/config.yaml:

delegation:
  max_iterations: 25                        # Max turns per child (default: 25)
  default_toolsets: ["terminal", "file", "web"]  # Default toolsets

🤖 RL Training (Tinker + Atropos)

⚠️ In Development — RL training integration is not yet functional. The tools and environments below are under active development.

Train language models with reinforcement learning using the Tinker API and Atropos framework.

Requirements

1. API Keys: Add to ~/.hermes/.env:

TINKER_API_KEY=your-tinker-key      # Get from https://tinker-console.thinkingmachines.ai/keys
WANDB_API_KEY=your-wandb-key        # Get from https://wandb.ai/authorize
OPENROUTER_API_KEY=your-key         # Optional: for rl_test_inference

3. That's it! tinker-atropos is included as a submodule — the installer handles it automatically.

Using RL Tools

The agent can now use RL training tools:

You: Start training on GSM8k with group_size=16

Agent: I'll set up an RL training run on the GSM8k environment...
[Uses rl_list_environments, rl_select_environment, rl_edit_config, rl_start_training]

Available RL Tools

Dedicated RL CLI

For extended RL workflows with longer timeouts:

python rl_cli.py --model "anthropic/claude-sonnet-4-20250514"

🧪 Atropos RL Environments

Hermes Agent integrates with the Atropos RL framework through a layered environment system. This allows training models with reinforcement learning on agentic tasks using Hermes Agent's tools.

Architecture

The integration has three layers:

Two-Phase Operation

• Phase 1 (OpenAI server type): Works with any OpenAI-compatible endpoint (VLLM, SGLang, OpenRouter, OpenAI API). The server handles tool call parsing natively. Good for SFT data generation, verifier testing, and evaluation.
• Phase 2 (VLLM server type): Uses ManagedServer for exact token IDs + logprobs via /generate. Client-side tool call parser registry reconstructs structured tool_calls from raw output. Required for full RL training.

Quick Start

# 1. Launch VLLM with tool parser
vllm serve YourModel --tool-parser hermes

# 2. Start the Atropos API server
run-api

# 3. Run an environment
python environments/terminal_test_env.py serve \
    --openai.base_url http://localhost:8000/v1 \
    --openai.model_name YourModel \
    --openai.server_type openai

ToolContext (Reward Functions)

Reward functions receive a ToolContext with unrestricted access to all hermes-agent tools, scoped to the rollout's sandbox:

async def compute_reward(self, item, result, ctx: ToolContext) -> float:
    # Run tests in the model's terminal sandbox
    test = ctx.terminal("pytest -v")
    if test["exit_code"] == 0:
        return 1.0
    # Or check a file, search the web, navigate a browser...
    return 0.0

Creating Custom Environments

Subclass HermesAgentBaseEnv and implement 5 methods:

from environments.hermes_base_env import HermesAgentBaseEnv

class MyEnv(HermesAgentBaseEnv):
    name = "my-env"
    async def setup(self): ...            # Load data
    async def get_next_item(self): ...    # Return next item
    def format_prompt(self, item): ...    # Item -> prompt string
    async def compute_reward(self, item, result, ctx): ...  # Score with ToolContext
    async def evaluate(self, *args, **kwargs): ...          # Periodic eval

if __name__ == "__main__":
    MyEnv.cli()

Toolset Distributions

Configure which tools are available per group, either explicitly or probabilistically:

# Explicit toolsets
--env.enabled_toolsets '["terminal","file","web"]'

# Probabilistic distribution (sampled per group)
--env.distribution development

Tool Call Parsers (Phase 2)

For VLLM server type, a parser registry extracts structured tool_calls from raw model output. Supported parsers: hermes, mistral, llama3_json, qwen, deepseek_v3, deepseek_v3_1, kimi_k2, longcat, glm45, glm47, qwen3_coder.

--env.tool_call_parser hermes  # Match your VLLM --tool-parser flag

Manual Installation

If you prefer full control over the installation process (or the quick-install script doesn't suit your environment), follow these steps to set everything up by hand.

Prerequisites

Note: Python and pip are not prerequisites. The installer uses uv to provision Python 3.11 automatically (no sudo needed). If you already have Python 3.11+ installed, uv will use it.

sudo apt update && sudo apt install git
# Optional:
sudo apt install ripgrep nodejs npm

brew install git
# Optional:
brew install ripgrep node

Step 1: Clone the Repository

Clone with --recurse-submodules to pull the required submodules (mini-swe-agent for the terminal tool backend and tinker-atropos for RL training):

git clone --recurse-submodules https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent.git
cd hermes-agent

If you already cloned without --recurse-submodules, initialize them manually:

git submodule update --init --recursive

Step 2: Install uv & Create Virtual Environment

uv is a fast Python package manager that can also provision Python itself. Install it and create the venv in one go:

# Install uv (if not already installed)
curl -LsSf https://astral.sh/uv/install.sh | sh

# Create venv with Python 3.11 (uv downloads it if not present — no sudo needed)
uv venv venv --python 3.11

Tip: You do not need to activate the venv to use hermes. The entry point has a hardcoded shebang pointing to the venv Python, so it works globally once symlinked (see Step 8). For installing packages, uv can target the venv directly via VIRTUAL_ENV.

Step 3: Install Python Dependencies

Install the main package in editable mode with all optional extras (messaging, cron, CLI menus, modal):

# Tell uv which venv to install into
export VIRTUAL_ENV="$(pwd)/venv"

# Install with all extras
uv pip install -e ".[all]"

If you only want the core agent (no Telegram/Discord/cron support):

uv pip install -e "."

Step 4: Install Submodule Packages

These are local packages checked out as Git submodules. Install them in editable mode:

# Terminal tool backend (required for the terminal/command-execution tool)
uv pip install -e "./mini-swe-agent"

# RL training backend
uv pip install -e "./tinker-atropos"

Both are optional — if you skip them, the corresponding toolsets simply won't be available.

Step 5: Install Node.js Dependencies (Optional)

Only needed if you plan to use the browser automation toolset (Browserbase-powered):

npm install

This installs the agent-browser package defined in package.json. Skip this step if you don't need browser tools.

Step 6: Create the Configuration Directory

Hermes stores all user configuration in ~/.hermes/:

# Create the directory structure
mkdir -p ~/.hermes/{cron,sessions,logs,memories,skills}

# Copy the example config file
cp cli-config.yaml.example ~/.hermes/config.yaml

# Create an empty .env file for API keys
touch ~/.hermes/.env

Your ~/.hermes/ directory should now look like:

~/.hermes/
├── config.yaml     # Agent settings (model, terminal, toolsets, compression, etc.)
├── .env            # API keys and secrets (one per line: KEY=value)
├── memories/       # Persistent memory (MEMORY.md, USER.md)
├── skills/         # Agent-created skills (auto-created on first use)
├── cron/           # Scheduled job data
├── sessions/       # Messaging gateway sessions
└── logs/           # Conversation logs

Step 7: Add Your API Keys

Open ~/.hermes/.env in your editor and add at minimum an LLM provider key:

# Required — at least one LLM provider:
OPENROUTER_API_KEY=sk-or-v1-your-key-here

# Optional — enable additional tools:
FIRECRAWL_API_KEY=fc-your-key          # Web search & scraping
BROWSERBASE_API_KEY=bb-your-key        # Browser automation
BROWSERBASE_PROJECT_ID=your-project-id # Browser automation
FAL_KEY=your-fal-key                   # Image generation (FLUX)
TINKER_API_KEY=your-tinker-key         # RL training
WANDB_API_KEY=your-wandb-key           # RL training metrics

# Optional — messaging gateway:
TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN=123456:ABC-DEF      # From @BotFather
TELEGRAM_ALLOWED_USERS=your-user-id    # Comma-separated
DISCORD_BOT_TOKEN=MTIz...              # From Developer Portal
DISCORD_ALLOWED_USERS=your-user-id     # Comma-separated

Or set them one at a time via the CLI:

hermes config set OPENROUTER_API_KEY sk-or-v1-your-key-here

Step 8: Add hermes to Your PATH

The hermes entry point at venv/bin/hermes has a hardcoded shebang pointing to the venv's Python, so it works without activating the venv. The recommended approach is a symlink into ~/.local/bin (most distributions already have this on PATH):

mkdir -p ~/.local/bin
ln -sf "$(pwd)/venv/bin/hermes" ~/.local/bin/hermes

If ~/.local/bin isn't on your PATH yet, add it:

Bash (~/.bashrc):

echo '' >> ~/.bashrc
echo '# Hermes Agent' >> ~/.bashrc
echo 'export PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH"' >> ~/.bashrc
source ~/.bashrc

Zsh (~/.zshrc):

echo '' >> ~/.zshrc
echo '# Hermes Agent' >> ~/.zshrc
echo 'export PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH"' >> ~/.zshrc
source ~/.zshrc

Fish (~/.config/fish/config.fish):

fish_add_path $HOME/.local/bin

Step 9: Run the Setup Wizard (Optional)

The interactive setup wizard walks you through configuring your API keys and preferences:

hermes setup

This is optional if you already configured ~/.hermes/.env and ~/.hermes/config.yaml manually in the steps above.

Step 10: Verify the Installation

# Check that the command is available
hermes version

# Run diagnostics to verify everything is working
hermes doctor

# Check your configuration
hermes status

# Test with a quick query
hermes chat -q "Hello! What tools do you have available?"

If hermes doctor reports issues, it will tell you exactly what's missing and how to fix it.

Quick-Reference: Manual Install (Condensed)

For those who just want the commands without the explanations:

# Install uv (if not already installed)
curl -LsSf https://astral.sh/uv/install.sh | sh

# Clone & enter
git clone --recurse-submodules https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent.git
cd hermes-agent

# Create venv with Python 3.11 (uv downloads it if needed)
uv venv venv --python 3.11
export VIRTUAL_ENV="$(pwd)/venv"

# Install everything
uv pip install -e ".[all]"
uv pip install -e "./mini-swe-agent"
uv pip install -e "./tinker-atropos"
npm install  # optional, for browser tools

# Configure
mkdir -p ~/.hermes/{cron,sessions,logs,memories,skills}
cp cli-config.yaml.example ~/.hermes/config.yaml
touch ~/.hermes/.env
echo 'OPENROUTER_API_KEY=sk-or-v1-your-key' >> ~/.hermes/.env

# Make hermes available globally (no venv activation needed)
mkdir -p ~/.local/bin
ln -sf "$(pwd)/venv/bin/hermes" ~/.local/bin/hermes

# Verify
hermes doctor
hermes

Manual Update

If you installed manually (not via hermes update):

cd /path/to/hermes-agent
export VIRTUAL_ENV="$(pwd)/venv"

# Pull latest code and submodules
git pull origin main
git submodule update --init --recursive

# Reinstall (picks up new dependencies)
uv pip install -e ".[all]"
uv pip install -e "./mini-swe-agent"
uv pip install -e "./tinker-atropos"

# Check for new config options added since your last update
hermes config check
hermes config migrate   # Interactively add any missing options

Batch Processing

Process multiple prompts in parallel with automatic checkpointing:

python batch_runner.py \
  --dataset_file=prompts.jsonl \
  --batch_size=20 \
  --run_name=my_run \
  --num_workers=4 \
  --distribution=default

Key Options:

Output: data/<run_name>/trajectories.jsonl

Trajectory Compression

Compress trajectories to fit token budgets for training:

# Compress a directory
python trajectory_compressor.py --input=data/my_run

# Compress with sampling
python trajectory_compressor.py --input=data/my_run --sample_percent=15

# Custom token target
python trajectory_compressor.py --input=data/my_run --target_max_tokens=16000

Features:

• Protects first/last turns
• Summarizes middle turns via LLM
• Configurable via configs/trajectory_compression.yaml

Python API

from run_agent import AIAgent

agent = AIAgent(
    model="anthropic/claude-sonnet-4",
    enabled_toolsets=["web", "terminal"]
)

result = agent.run_conversation("Search for the latest Python news")
print(result["final_response"])

Environment Variables Reference

All variables go in ~/.hermes/.env. Run hermes config set VAR value to set them.

LLM Providers:

Provider Auth (OAuth):

Tool APIs:

Terminal Backend:

SSH Backend:

Messaging:

Container Resources (Docker, Singularity, Modal):

Agent Behavior:

Context Compression:

File Structure

Troubleshooting

hermes doctor    # Run diagnostics
hermes status    # Check configuration
hermes config    # View current settings

Common issues:

• "API key not set": Run hermes setup or hermes config set OPENROUTER_API_KEY your_key
• "hermes: command not found": Reload your shell (source ~/.bashrc) or check PATH
• "Run hermes login to re-authenticate": Your Nous Portal session expired. Run hermes login to refresh.
• "No active paid subscription": Your Nous Portal account needs an active subscription for inference.
• Gateway won't start: Check hermes gateway status and logs
• Missing config after update: Run hermes config check to see what's new, then hermes config migrate to add missing options
• Provider auto-detection wrong: Force a provider with hermes chat --provider openrouter or set HERMES_INFERENCE_PROVIDER in .env

Contributing

1. Fork the repository
2. Create a feature branch
3. Make your changes
4. Submit a pull request

License

MIT License - see LICENSE for details.