<p align="center"> <img src="assets/banner.png" alt="Hermes Agent" width="100%"> </p> # Hermes Agent ☤ <p align="center"> <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> </p> **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 claw migrate # Migrate from OpenClaw (if coming from OpenClaw) hermes update # Update to the latest version hermes doctor # Diagnose any issues ``` 📖 **[Full documentation →](https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/docs/)** ## 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](https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/docs/user-guide/cli) and the [Messaging Gateway guide](https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/docs/user-guide/messaging). --- ## 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 | --- ## 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:** ```bash 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](https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/docs/developer-guide/contributing) for development setup, code style, and PR process. Quick start for contributors: ```bash 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: > ```bash > git submodule update --init tinker-atropos > uv pip install -e "./tinker-atropos" > ``` --- ## 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).