c6dba918b3
* fix(tests): mock is_safe_url in tests that use example.com Tests using example.com URLs were failing because is_safe_url does a real DNS lookup which fails in environments where example.com doesn't resolve, causing the request to be blocked before reaching the already-mocked HTTP client. This should fix around 17 failing tests. These tests test logic, caching, etc. so mocking this method should not modify them in any way. TestMattermostSendUrlAsFile was already doing this so we follow the same pattern. * fix(test): use case-insensitive lookup for model context length check DEFAULT_CONTEXT_LENGTHS uses inconsistent casing (MiniMax keys are lowercase, Qwen keys are mixed-case) so the test was broken in some cases since it couldn't find the model. * fix(test): patch is_linux in systemd gateway restart test The test only patched is_macos to False but didn't patch is_linux to True. On macOS hosts, is_linux() returns False and the systemd restart code path is skipped entirely, making the assertion fail. * fix(test): use non-blocklisted env var in docker forward_env tests GITHUB_TOKEN is in api_key_env_vars and thus in _HERMES_PROVIDER_ENV_BLOCKLIST so the env var is silently dropped, we replace it with a non-blocked one like DATABASE_URL so the tests actually work. * fix(test): fully isolate _has_any_provider_configured from host env _has_any_provider_configured() checks all env vars from PROVIDER_REGISTRY (not just the 5 the tests were clearing) and also calls get_auth_status() which detects gh auth token for Copilot. On machines with any of these set, the function returns True before reaching the code path under test. Clear all registry vars and mock get_auth_status so host credentials don't interfere. * fix(test): correct path to hermes_base_env.py in tool parser tests Path(__file__).parent.parent resolved to tests/, not the project root. The file lives at environments/hermes_base_env.py so we need one more parent level. * fix(test): accept optional HTML fields in Matrix send payload _send_matrix sometimes adds format and formatted_body when the markdown library is installed. The test was doing an exact dict equality check which broke. Check required fields instead. * fix(test): add config.yaml to codex vision requirements test The test only wrote auth.json but not config.yaml, so _read_main_provider() returned empty and vision auto-detect never tried the codex provider. Add a config.yaml pointing at openai-codex so the fallback path actually resolves the client. * fix(test): clear OPENROUTER_API_KEY in _isolate_hermes_home run_agent.py calls load_hermes_dotenv() at import time, which injects API keys from ~/.hermes/.env into os.environ before any test fixture runs. This caused test_agent_loop_tool_calling to make real API calls instead of skipping, which ends up making some tests fail. * fix(test): add get_rate_limit_state to agent mock in usage report tests _show_usage now calls agent.get_rate_limit_state() for rate limit display. The SimpleNamespace mock was missing this method. * fix(test): update expected Camofox config version from 12 to 13 * fix(test): mock _get_enabled_platforms in nous managed defaults test Importing gateway.run leaks DISCORD_BOT_TOKEN into os.environ, which makes _get_enabled_platforms() return ["cli", "discord"] instead of just ["cli"]. tools_command loops per platform, so apply_nous_managed_defaults runs twice: the first call sets config values, the second sees them as already configured and returns an empty set, causing the assertion to fail.
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), z.ai/GLM, Kimi/Moonshot, MiniMax, 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, 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. |
| Research-ready | Batch trajectory generation, Atropos RL environments, trajectory compression for training the next generation of tool-calling models. |
Quick Install
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 and run the command above.
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
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> |
/skills or /<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:
git clone 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]"
python -m pytest tests/ -q
RL Training (optional): To work on the RL/Tinker-Atropos integration:
git submodule update --init tinker-atropos uv pip install -e "./tinker-atropos"
Community
- 💬 Discord
- 📚 Skills Hub
- 🐛 Issues
- 💡 Discussions
License
MIT — see LICENSE.
Built by Nous Research.