hermes-agent/README.md

<p align="center">
  <img src="assets/banner.png" alt="Hermes Agent" width="100%">
</p>

# Hermes Agent ⚕

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  <a href="https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/docs/"><img src="https://img.shields.io/badge/Docs-hermes--agent.nousresearch.com-FFD700?style=for-the-badge" alt="Documentation"></a>
  <a href="https://discord.gg/NousResearch"><img src="https://img.shields.io/badge/Discord-5865F2?style=for-the-badge&logo=discord&logoColor=white" alt="Discord"></a>
  <a href="https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/blob/main/LICENSE"><img src="https://img.shields.io/badge/License-MIT-green?style=for-the-badge" alt="License: MIT"></a>
  <a href="https://nousresearch.com"><img src="https://img.shields.io/badge/Built%20by-Nous%20Research-blueviolet?style=for-the-badge" alt="Built by Nous Research"></a>
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**The self-improving AI agent built by [Nous Research](https://nousresearch.com).** 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](https://portal.nousresearch.com), [OpenRouter](https://openrouter.ai) (200+ models), [z.ai/GLM](https://z.ai), [Kimi/Moonshot](https://platform.moonshot.ai), [MiniMax](https://www.minimax.io), OpenAI, or your own endpoint. Switch with `hermes model` — no code changes, no lock-in.

<table>
<tr><td><b>A real terminal interface</b></td><td>Full TUI with multiline editing, slash-command autocomplete, conversation history, interrupt-and-redirect, and streaming tool output.</td></tr>
<tr><td><b>Lives where you do</b></td><td>Telegram, Discord, Slack, WhatsApp, Signal, and CLI — all from a single gateway process. Voice memo transcription, cross-platform conversation continuity.</td></tr>
<tr><td><b>A closed learning loop</b></td><td>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. <a href="https://github.com/plastic-labs/honcho">Honcho</a> dialectic user modeling. Compatible with the <a href="https://agentskills.io">agentskills.io</a> open standard.</td></tr>
<tr><td><b>Scheduled automations</b></td><td>Built-in cron scheduler with delivery to any platform. Daily reports, nightly backups, weekly audits — all in natural language, running unattended.</td></tr>
<tr><td><b>Delegates and parallelizes</b></td><td>Spawn isolated subagents for parallel workstreams. Write Python scripts that call tools via RPC, collapsing multi-step pipelines into zero-context-cost turns.</td></tr>
<tr><td><b>Runs anywhere, not just your laptop</b></td><td>Six terminal backends — local, Docker, SSH, Daytona, Singularity, and Modal. 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.</td></tr>
<tr><td><b>Research-ready</b></td><td>Batch trajectory generation, Atropos RL environments, trajectory compression for training the next generation of tool-calling models.</td></tr>
</table>

---

## Quick Install

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

Works on Linux, macOS, and WSL2. The installer handles everything — Python, Node.js, dependencies, and the `hermes` command. No prerequisites except git.

> **Windows:** Native Windows is not supported. Please install [WSL2](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/wsl/install) and run the command above.

After installation:

```bash
source ~/.bashrc    # reload shell (or: source ~/.zshrc)
hermes              # start chatting!
```

---

## Getting Started

```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 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
```

📖 **[Full documentation →](https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/docs/)**

---

## Documentation

All documentation lives at **[hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/docs](https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/docs/)**:

| Section | What's Covered |
|---------|---------------|
| [Quickstart](https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/docs/getting-started/quickstart) | Install → setup → first conversation in 2 minutes |
| [CLI Usage](https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/docs/user-guide/cli) | Commands, keybindings, personalities, sessions |
| [Configuration](https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/docs/user-guide/configuration) | Config file, providers, models, all options |
| [Messaging Gateway](https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/docs/user-guide/messaging) | Telegram, Discord, Slack, WhatsApp, Signal, Home Assistant |
| [Security](https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/docs/user-guide/security) | Command approval, DM pairing, container isolation |
| [Tools & Toolsets](https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/docs/user-guide/features/tools) | 40+ tools, toolset system, terminal backends |
| [Skills System](https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/docs/user-guide/features/skills) | Procedural memory, Skills Hub, creating skills |
| [Memory](https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/docs/user-guide/features/memory) | Persistent memory, user profiles, best practices |
| [MCP Integration](https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/docs/user-guide/features/mcp) | Connect any MCP server for extended capabilities |
| [Cron Scheduling](https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/docs/user-guide/features/cron) | Scheduled tasks with platform delivery |
| [Context Files](https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/docs/user-guide/features/context-files) | Project context that shapes every conversation |
| [Architecture](https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/docs/developer-guide/architecture) | Project structure, agent loop, key classes |
| [Contributing](https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/docs/developer-guide/contributing) | Development setup, PR process, code style |
| [CLI Reference](https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/docs/reference/cli-commands) | All commands and flags |
| [Environment Variables](https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/docs/reference/environment-variables) | Complete env var reference |

---

## Contributing

We welcome contributions! See the [Contributing Guide](https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/docs/developer-guide/contributing) for development setup, code style, and PR process.

Quick start for contributors:

```bash
git clone --recurse-submodules https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent.git
cd hermes-agent
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]"
uv pip install -e "./mini-swe-agent"
python -m pytest tests/ -q
```

---

## Community

- 💬 [Discord](https://discord.gg/NousResearch)
- 📚 [Skills Hub](https://agentskills.io)
- 🐛 [Issues](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/issues)
- 💡 [Discussions](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/discussions)

---

## License

MIT — see [LICENSE](LICENSE).

Built by [Nous Research](https://nousresearch.com).