cf0852f92e
* feat(claw-migrate): harden OpenClaw import with plan-first apply, redaction, and pre-migration backup Adopts four design patterns from OpenClaw's reciprocal migrate-hermes importer so both migration paths have the same safety posture. - **Refuse-on-conflict apply.** 'hermes claw migrate' now refuses to execute when the plan has any conflict items, unless --overwrite is set. Previously the user could say 'yes, proceed' and end up with a silent partial migration that skipped every conflicting item. - **Engine-level secret redaction.** The report.json and summary.md written to disk (and --json stdout) run through a redactor that matches OpenClaw's key-name markers and value-shape patterns (sk-*, ghp_*, xox*-, AIza*, Bearer *). Prevents accidental API key leakage in bug reports and support channels. - **Pre-migration tarball snapshot.** Apply creates one timestamped restore-point archive of ~/.hermes/ at ~/.hermes/migration/pre-migration-backups/ before any mutation, excluding regenerable directories (sessions, logs, cache). Opt out with --no-backup. - **Blocked-by-earlier-conflict sequencing.** If a config.yaml write hits conflict/error mid-apply, subsequent config-mutating options are marked skipped with reason 'blocked by earlier apply conflict' rather than attempting partial writes. - **Structured warnings[] and next_steps[] on the report** — actionable guidance surfaces in both JSON output and summary.md. - **--json output mode** — emits the redacted report on stdout for CI. Also flips --preset full to NOT auto-enable --migrate-secrets. Users now have to opt in to secret import explicitly, mirroring OpenClaw's two-phase posture. Status/kind/action constants are defined (STATUS_MIGRATED etc) with values that match the existing strings the script emits, so the report schema is backward-compatible. ItemResult gains a 'sensitive' bool field that redaction and consumers can key off. Validation: 26 new unit tests + 1 updated test in tests/skills/ test_openclaw_migration_hardening.py and test_claw.py cover redaction (key markers, value patterns, recursion, on-disk), warnings/next_steps, blocked-by-earlier sequencing, --json mode, and the preset-flip. Manual E2E against a fake $HERMES_HOME with real-shaped secrets confirmed: (1) secrets never appear in stdout or on disk, (2) _cmd_migrate refuses apply when plan has conflicts, (3) --overwrite proceeds past the guard and the backup tarball is created, (4) --no-backup skips the archive. Related docs: website/docs/guides/migrate-from-openclaw.md and website/docs/reference/cli-commands.md updated to reflect the preset-flip and new --no-backup flag. * refactor(claw-migrate): reuse hermes backup system for pre-migration snapshot Drops the inline tarball in hermes_cli/claw.py in favor of hermes_cli.backup.create_pre_migration_backup(), which shares an implementation with create_pre_update_backup via a new _write_full_zip_backup helper. Benefits: - Consistent exclusion rules with hermes backup (_EXCLUDED_DIRS, _EXCLUDED_SUFFIXES, _EXCLUDED_NAMES — single source of truth). - SQLite safe-copy via _safe_copy_db (state.db restores cleanly). - Zip format restorable with 'hermes import <archive>'. - Lives under ~/.hermes/backups/pre-migration-*.zip alongside pre-update-*.zip — one place for all snapshot archives. - Auto-prune rotation with separate keep counters (pre-migration keeps 5, pre-update keeps 5, they don't touch each other's files). 7 new tests in tests/hermes_cli/test_backup.py lock the contract: directory location, shared exclusion rules, _validate_backup_zip acceptance (i.e. restorable with 'hermes import'), non-recursive into prior backups, rotation, missing-home handling, and the invariant that pre-migration rotation never touches pre-update backups. Help text and docs updated — the restore hint now says 'hermes import <name>' instead of 'tar -xzf <archive> -C ~/'. * chore(claw-migrate): use backup._format_size and drop duplicate output line Minor polish using another existing primitive from hermes_cli.backup: - Show backup archive size with _format_size (e.g. '(245 B)' or '(2.4 MB)') matching the format hermes backup already uses. - Drop the duplicate 'Pre-migration backup saved' line after Migration Results — the earlier 'Pre-migration backup: <path> (<size>)' line already surfaces the path before apply runs. --------- Co-authored-by: teknium1 <teknium@users.noreply.github.com>
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), 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, 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, WSL2, and Android via Termux. The installer handles the platform-specific setup for you.
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 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> |
/<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
RL Training (optional): The RL/Atropos integration (
environments/) ships via theatroposlibandtinkerdependencies pulled in by.[all,dev]— no submodule setup required.
Community
- 💬 Discord
- 📚 Skills Hub
- 🐛 Issues
- 🔌 HermesClaw — Community WeChat bridge: Run Hermes Agent and OpenClaw on the same WeChat account.
License
MIT — see LICENSE.
Built by Nous Research.