aeb992d343
When operators ran `docker exec <c> hermes login` (or anything else that wrote under $HERMES_HOME) they defaulted to root, leaving /opt/data/auth.json root:root mode 0600. The supervised gateway (UID 10000) then couldn't read its own credentials and returned "Provider authentication failed: Hermes is not logged into Nous Portal" on every Telegram/Discord/etc. message — even though `docker exec <c> hermes chat -q ping` (also root) succeeded because root could read its own root-owned file. _load_auth_store swallowed PermissionError as a parse failure and copied the file aside as auth.json.corrupt, making the diagnostic more misleading. Fix: install a privilege-drop shim at /opt/hermes/bin/hermes, prepended ahead of the venv on PATH. When invoked as root the shim exec's the real venv binary via `s6-setuidgid hermes` — so any file the docker-exec session writes is uid-aligned with the supervised processes. Non-root callers (the supervised processes themselves, `docker exec --user hermes`, kanban subagents, anything inside the container that's not coming through docker-exec) hit a single exec to the absolute venv path with no privilege change. Recursion is impossible: the shim exec's the venv binary by absolute path (/opt/hermes/.venv/bin/hermes), so the second hop cannot re-enter the shim regardless of PATH state. No sentinel env var needed (unlike #33583's gateway-run redirect which DOES need HERMES_S6_SUPERVISED_CHILD because there's no absolute-path equivalent for the s6 dispatch). Opt-out: `docker exec -e HERMES_DOCKER_EXEC_AS_ROOT=1 …` for diagnostic sessions where the operator deliberately wants root. Strict truthiness (1/true/yes case-insensitive); typos like `=0` do not silently opt out, mirroring HERMES_GATEWAY_NO_SUPERVISE in #33583. If `s6-setuidgid` is missing (someone stripped s6-overlay in a downstream fork), the shim exits 126 with a remediation message pointing at `--user hermes` and the opt-out — never silently runs as root. Test plan: - tests/docker/test_docker_exec_privilege_drop.py — 11 tests - shim drops root to hermes uid (file ownership check) - shim short-circuits for non-root docker exec - HERMES_DOCKER_EXEC_AS_ROOT=1 keeps root - strict-truthiness parametrization (5 falsy values reject) - main CMD path unaffected (recursion guard) - E2E: every file written by docker-exec is readable by uid 10000 - Full tests/docker/ harness: 32/32 pass against fresh image build - shellcheck --severity=error: clean - hadolint: clean - Manual: reproduced the original symptom (root-owned auth.json) by bypassing the shim; confirmed default docker-exec produces hermes-owned files; confirmed opt-out env keeps root semantics. Known follow-up: this prevents NEW instances of the bug. Volumes that already have root:root /opt/data/auth.json from a pre-shim image need a one-time `chown hermes:hermes` before rebooting onto the new image. A stage2-hook chown sweep can self-heal that, but is deferred per scope decision.
Hermes Agent ☤
The self-improving AI agent built by Nous Research. It's the only agent with a built-in learning loop — 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. Run it on a $5 VPS, a GPU cluster, or serverless infrastructure that costs nearly nothing when idle. It's not tied to your laptop — talk to it from Telegram while it works on a cloud VM.
Use any model you want — Nous Portal, OpenRouter (200+ models), NovitaAI (AI-native cloud for Model API, Agent Sandbox, and GPU Cloud), NVIDIA NIM (Nemotron), Xiaomi MiMo, z.ai/GLM, Kimi/Moonshot, MiniMax, Hugging Face, OpenAI, or your own endpoint. Switch with hermes model — no code changes, no lock-in.
| A real terminal interface | Full TUI with multiline editing, slash-command autocomplete, conversation history, interrupt-and-redirect, and streaming tool output. |
| Lives where you do | Telegram, Discord, Slack, WhatsApp, Signal, and CLI — all from a single gateway process. Voice memo transcription, cross-platform conversation continuity. |
| A closed learning loop | Agent-curated memory with periodic nudges. Autonomous skill creation after complex tasks. Skills self-improve during use. FTS5 session search with LLM summarization for cross-session recall. Honcho dialectic user modeling. Compatible with the agentskills.io open standard. |
| Scheduled automations | Built-in cron scheduler with delivery to any platform. Daily reports, nightly backups, weekly audits — all in natural language, running unattended. |
| Delegates and parallelizes | Spawn isolated subagents for parallel workstreams. Write Python scripts that call tools via RPC, collapsing multi-step pipelines into zero-context-cost turns. |
| Runs anywhere, not just your laptop | Six terminal backends — local, Docker, SSH, Singularity, Modal, and Daytona. Daytona and Modal offer serverless persistence — your agent's environment hibernates when idle and wakes on demand, costing nearly nothing between sessions. Run it on a $5 VPS or a GPU cluster. |
| Research-ready | Batch trajectory generation, trajectory compression for training the next generation of tool-calling models. |
Quick Install
Linux, macOS, WSL2, Termux
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/main/scripts/install.sh | bash
Windows (native, PowerShell) — Early Beta
Heads up: Native Windows support is early beta. It installs and runs, but hasn't been road-tested as broadly as our Linux/macOS/WSL2 paths. Please file issues when you hit rough edges. For the most battle-tested Windows setup today, run the Linux/macOS one-liner above inside WSL2.
Run this in PowerShell:
iex (irm https://raw.githubusercontent.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/main/scripts/install.ps1)
The installer handles everything: uv, Python 3.11, Node.js, ripgrep, ffmpeg, and a portable Git Bash (MinGit, unpacked to %LOCALAPPDATA%\hermes\git — no admin required, completely isolated from any system Git install). Hermes uses this bundled Git Bash to run shell commands.
If you already have Git installed, the installer detects it and uses that instead. Otherwise a ~45MB MinGit download is all you need — it won't touch or interfere with any system Git.
Android / Termux: The tested manual path is documented in the Termux guide. On Termux, Hermes installs a curated
.[termux]extra because the full.[all]extra currently pulls Android-incompatible voice dependencies.Windows: Native Windows is supported as an early beta — the PowerShell one-liner above installs everything, but expect rough edges and please file issues when you hit them. If you'd rather use WSL2 (our most battle-tested Windows path), the Linux command works there too. Native Windows install lives under
%LOCALAPPDATA%\hermes; WSL2 installs under~/.hermesas on Linux. The only Hermes feature that currently needs WSL2 specifically is the browser-based dashboard chat pane (it uses a POSIX PTY — classic CLI and gateway both run natively).
After installation:
source ~/.bashrc # reload shell (or: source ~/.zshrc)
hermes # start chatting!
Getting Started
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 gateway # Start the messaging gateway (Telegram, Discord, etc.)
hermes setup # Run the full setup wizard (configures everything at once)
hermes claw migrate # Migrate from OpenClaw (if coming from OpenClaw)
hermes update # Update to the latest version
hermes doctor # Diagnose any issues
Skip the API-key collection — Nous Portal
Hermes works with whatever provider you want — that's not changing. But if you'd rather not collect five separate API keys for the model, web search, image generation, TTS, and a cloud browser, Nous Portal covers all of them under one subscription:
- 300+ models — pick any of them with
/model <name> - Tool Gateway — web search (Firecrawl), image generation (FAL), text-to-speech (OpenAI), cloud browser (Browser Use), all routed through your sub. No extra accounts.
One command from a fresh install:
hermes setup --portal
That logs you in via OAuth, sets Nous as your provider, and turns on the Tool Gateway. Check what's wired up any time with hermes portal status. Full details on the Tool Gateway docs page.
You can still bring your own keys per-tool whenever you want — the gateway is per-backend, not all-or-nothing.
CLI vs Messaging Quick Reference
Hermes has two entry points: start the terminal UI with hermes, or run the gateway and talk to it from Telegram, Discord, Slack, WhatsApp, Signal, or Email. Once you're in a conversation, many slash commands are shared across both interfaces.
| Action | CLI | Messaging platforms |
|---|---|---|
| Start chatting | hermes |
Run hermes gateway setup + hermes gateway start, then send the bot a message |
| Start fresh conversation | /new or /reset |
/new or /reset |
| Change model | /model [provider:model] |
/model [provider:model] |
| Set a personality | /personality [name] |
/personality [name] |
| Retry or undo the last turn | /retry, /undo |
/retry, /undo |
| Compress context / check usage | /compress, /usage, /insights [--days N] |
/compress, /usage, /insights [days] |
| Browse skills | /skills or /<skill-name> |
/<skill-name> |
| Interrupt current work | Ctrl+C or send a new message |
/stop or send a new message |
| Platform-specific status | /platforms |
/status, /sethome |
For the full command lists, see the CLI guide and the Messaging Gateway guide.
Documentation
All documentation lives at hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/docs:
| Section | What's Covered |
|---|---|
| Quickstart | Install → setup → first conversation in 2 minutes |
| CLI Usage | Commands, keybindings, personalities, sessions |
| Configuration | Config file, providers, models, all options |
| Messaging Gateway | Telegram, Discord, Slack, WhatsApp, Signal, Home Assistant |
| Security | Command approval, DM pairing, container isolation |
| Tools & Toolsets | 40+ tools, toolset system, terminal backends |
| Skills System | Procedural memory, Skills Hub, creating skills |
| Memory | Persistent memory, user profiles, best practices |
| MCP Integration | Connect any MCP server for extended capabilities |
| Cron Scheduling | Scheduled tasks with platform delivery |
| Context Files | Project context that shapes every conversation |
| Architecture | Project structure, agent loop, key classes |
| Contributing | Development setup, PR process, code style |
| CLI Reference | All commands and flags |
| Environment Variables | Complete env var reference |
Migrating from OpenClaw
If you're coming from OpenClaw, Hermes can automatically import your settings, memories, skills, and API keys.
During first-time setup: The setup wizard (hermes setup) automatically detects ~/.openclaw and offers to migrate before configuration begins.
Anytime after install:
hermes claw migrate # Interactive migration (full preset)
hermes claw migrate --dry-run # Preview what would be migrated
hermes claw migrate --preset user-data # Migrate without secrets
hermes claw migrate --overwrite # Overwrite existing conflicts
What gets imported:
- SOUL.md — persona file
- Memories — MEMORY.md and USER.md entries
- Skills — user-created skills →
~/.hermes/skills/openclaw-imports/ - Command allowlist — approval patterns
- Messaging settings — platform configs, allowed users, working directory
- API keys — allowlisted secrets (Telegram, OpenRouter, OpenAI, Anthropic, ElevenLabs)
- TTS assets — workspace audio files
- Workspace instructions — AGENTS.md (with
--workspace-target)
See hermes claw migrate --help for all options, or use the openclaw-migration skill for an interactive agent-guided migration with dry-run previews.
Contributing
We welcome contributions! See the Contributing Guide for development setup, code style, and PR process.
Quick start for contributors — clone and go with setup-hermes.sh:
git clone https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent.git
cd hermes-agent
./setup-hermes.sh # installs uv, creates venv, installs .[all], symlinks ~/.local/bin/hermes
./hermes # auto-detects the venv, no need to `source` first
Manual path (equivalent to the above):
curl -LsSf https://astral.sh/uv/install.sh | sh
uv venv .venv --python 3.11
source .venv/bin/activate
uv pip install -e ".[all,dev]"
scripts/run_tests.sh
Community
- 💬 Discord
- 📚 Skills Hub
- 🐛 Issues
- 🔌 computer-use-linux — Linux desktop-control MCP server for Hermes and other MCP hosts, with AT-SPI accessibility trees, Wayland/X11 input, screenshots, and compositor window targeting.
- 🔌 HermesClaw — Community WeChat bridge: Run Hermes Agent and OpenClaw on the same WeChat account.
License
MIT — see LICENSE.
Built by Nous Research.