2026-03-05 05:24:55 -08:00
---
slug: /
sidebar_position: 0
title: "Hermes Agent Documentation"
docs: rebrand messaging — 'the self-improving AI agent'
- Lead with the learning loop: autonomous skill creation, skill
self-improvement, memory nudges, FTS5 session search, Honcho
dialectic user modeling
- 'Runs anywhere' angle: 6 backends, serverless persistence with
Daytona/Modal, not tied to your laptop
- 'Built by model trainers' replaces 'model-agnostic'
- Updated README tagline, feature table, subtitle
- Updated docs landing page hero, description, key features
- Updated docusaurus tagline and pyproject.toml description
2026-03-06 04:34:06 -08:00
description: "The self-improving AI agent built by Nous Research. A built-in learning loop that creates skills from experience, improves them during use, and remembers across sessions."
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hide_table_of_contents: true
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displayed_sidebar: docs
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---
# Hermes Agent
docs: rebrand messaging — 'the self-improving AI agent'
- Lead with the learning loop: autonomous skill creation, skill
self-improvement, memory nudges, FTS5 session search, Honcho
dialectic user modeling
- 'Runs anywhere' angle: 6 backends, serverless persistence with
Daytona/Modal, not tied to your laptop
- 'Built by model trainers' replaces 'model-agnostic'
- Updated README tagline, feature table, subtitle
- Updated docs landing page hero, description, key features
- Updated docusaurus tagline and pyproject.toml description
2026-03-06 04:34:06 -08:00
The self-improving AI agent built by [Nous Research ](https://nousresearch.com ). The only agent with a built-in learning loop — it creates skills from experience, improves them during use, nudges itself to persist knowledge, and builds a deepening model of who you are across sessions.
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<div style={{display: 'flex', gap: '1rem', marginBottom: '2rem', flexWrap: 'wrap'}}>
<a href="/docs/getting-started/installation" style={{display: 'inline-block', padding: '0.6rem 1.2rem', backgroundColor: '#FFD700 ', color: '#07070d ', borderRadius: '8px', fontWeight: 600, textDecoration: 'none'}}>Get Started →</a>
<a href="https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent" style={{display: 'inline-block', padding: '0.6rem 1.2rem', border: '1px solid rgba(255,215,0,0.2)', borderRadius: '8px', textDecoration: 'none'}}>View on GitHub</a>
</div>
## What is Hermes Agent?
docs: rebrand messaging — 'the self-improving AI agent'
- Lead with the learning loop: autonomous skill creation, skill
self-improvement, memory nudges, FTS5 session search, Honcho
dialectic user modeling
- 'Runs anywhere' angle: 6 backends, serverless persistence with
Daytona/Modal, not tied to your laptop
- 'Built by model trainers' replaces 'model-agnostic'
- Updated README tagline, feature table, subtitle
- Updated docs landing page hero, description, key features
- Updated docusaurus tagline and pyproject.toml description
2026-03-06 04:34:06 -08:00
It's not a coding copilot tethered to an IDE or a chatbot wrapper around a single API. It's an **autonomous agent ** that gets more capable the longer it runs. It lives wherever you put it — a $5 VPS, a GPU cluster, or serverless infrastructure (Daytona, Modal) that costs nearly nothing when idle. Talk to it from Telegram while it works on a cloud VM you never SSH into yourself. It's not tied to your laptop.
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## Quick Links
| | |
|---|---|
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| 🚀 * * [Installation ](/docs/getting-started/installation )** | Install in 60 seconds on Linux, macOS, or WSL2 |
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| 📖 * * [Quickstart Tutorial ](/docs/getting-started/quickstart )** | Your first conversation and key features to try |
docs: add Guides & Tutorials section, restructure sidebar
New documentation pages (1,823 lines):
- getting-started/learning-path.md: 3-tier learning path table
(beginner/intermediate/advanced) + use-case-based navigation
- guides/tips.md: Tips & Best Practices quick-wins collection
covering prompting, CLI power user tips, context files, memory,
performance/cost, messaging, and security
- guides/daily-briefing-bot.md: End-to-end tutorial building an
automated daily news briefing with cron + web search + messaging
- guides/team-telegram-assistant.md: Full walkthrough setting up
a team Telegram bot with BotFather, gateway, DM pairing, and
production deployment
- guides/python-library.md: Guide to using AIAgent as a Python
library — basic usage, multi-turn conversations, toolset config,
trajectories, custom prompts, and integration examples (FastAPI,
Discord bot, CI/CD)
- reference/faq.md: Centralized FAQ (8 questions) + troubleshooting
guide (6 categories, 18 specific issues) with problem/cause/solution
format
Sidebar restructure:
- Added 'Guides & Tutorials' as new top-level section
- Reorganized flat Features list (17 items) into 5 subcategories:
Core Features, Automation, Web & Media, Integrations, Advanced
- Added FAQ to Reference section
- Updated index.md quick links table
Docusaurus build verified clean.
2026-03-08 19:37:34 -07:00
| 🗺️ * * [Learning Path ](/docs/getting-started/learning-path )** | Find the right docs for your experience level |
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| ⚙️ * * [Configuration ](/docs/user-guide/configuration )** | Config file, providers, models, and options |
| 💬 * * [Messaging Gateway ](/docs/user-guide/messaging )** | Set up Telegram, Discord, Slack, or WhatsApp |
docs: resync reference, user-guide, developer-guide, and messaging pages against code (#17738)
Broad drift audit against origin/main (b52b63396).
Reference pages (most user-visible drift):
- slash-commands: add /busy, /curator, /footer, /indicator, /redraw, /steer
that were missing; drop non-existent /terminal-setup; fix /q footnote
(resolves to /queue, not /quit); extend CLI-only list with all 24
CLI-only commands in the registry
- cli-commands: add dedicated sections for hermes curator / fallback /
hooks (new subcommands not previously documented); remove stale
hermes honcho standalone section (the plugin registers dynamically
via hermes memory); list curator/fallback/hooks in top-level table;
fix completion to include fish
- toolsets-reference: document the real 52-toolset count; split browser
vs browser-cdp; add discord / discord_admin / spotify / yuanbao;
correct hermes-cli tool count from 36 to 38; fix misleading claim
that hermes-homeassistant adds tools (it's identical to hermes-cli)
- tools-reference: bump tool count 55 -> 68; add 7 Spotify, 5 Yuanbao,
2 Discord toolsets; move browser_cdp/browser_dialog to their own
browser-cdp toolset section
- environment-variables: add 40+ user-facing HERMES_* vars that were
undocumented (--yolo, --accept-hooks, --ignore-*, inference model
override, agent/stream/checkpoint timeouts, OAuth trace, per-platform
batch tuning for Telegram/Discord/Matrix/Feishu/WeCom, cron knobs,
gateway restart/connect timeouts); dedupe the Cron Scheduler section;
replace stale QQ_SANDBOX with QQ_PORTAL_HOST
User-guide (top level):
- cli.md: compression preserves last 20 turns, not 4 (protect_last_n: 20)
- configuration.md: display.platforms is the canonical per-platform
override key; tool_progress_overrides is deprecated and auto-migrated
- profiles.md: model.default is the config key, not model.model
- sessions.md: CLI/TUI session IDs use 6-char hex, gateway uses 8
- checkpoints-and-rollback.md: destructive-command list now matches
_DESTRUCTIVE_PATTERNS (adds rmdir, cp, install, dd)
- docker.md: the container runs as non-root hermes (UID 10000) via
gosu; fix install command (uv pip); add missing --insecure on the
dashboard compose example (required for non-loopback bind)
- security.md: systemctl danger pattern also matches 'restart'
- index.md: built-in tool count 47 -> 68
- integrations/index.md: 6 STT providers, 8 memory providers
- integrations/providers.md: drop fictional dashscope/qwen aliases
Features:
- overview.md: 9 image models (not 8), 9 TTS providers (not 5),
8 memory providers (Supermemory was missing)
- tool-gateway.md: 9 image models
- tools.md: extend common-toolsets list with search / messaging /
spotify / discord / debugging / safe
- fallback-providers.md: add 6 real providers from PROVIDER_REGISTRY
(lmstudio, kimi-coding-cn, stepfun, alibaba-coding-plan,
tencent-tokenhub, azure-foundry)
- plugins.md: Available Hooks table now includes on_session_finalize,
on_session_reset, subagent_stop
- built-in-plugins.md: add the 7 bundled plugins the page didn't
mention (spotify, google_meet, three image_gen providers, two
dashboard examples)
- web-dashboard.md: add --insecure and --tui flags
- cron.md: hermes cron create takes positional schedule/prompt, not
flags
Messaging:
- telegram.md: TELEGRAM_WEBHOOK_SECRET is now REQUIRED when
TELEGRAM_WEBHOOK_URL is set (gateway refuses to start without it
per GHSA-3vpc-7q5r-276h). Biggest user-visible drift in the batch.
- discord.md: HERMES_DISCORD_TEXT_BATCH_SPLIT_DELAY_SECONDS default
is 2.0, not 0.1
- dingtalk.md: document DINGTALK_REQUIRE_MENTION /
FREE_RESPONSE_CHATS / MENTION_PATTERNS / HOME_CHANNEL /
ALLOW_ALL_USERS that the adapter supports
- bluebubbles.md: drop fictional BLUEBUBBLES_SEND_READ_RECEIPTS env
var; the setting lives in platforms.bluebubbles.extra only
- qqbot.md: drop dead QQ_SANDBOX; add real QQ_PORTAL_HOST and
QQ_GROUP_ALLOWED_USERS
- wecom-callback.md: replace 'hermes gateway start' (service-only)
with 'hermes gateway' for first-time setup
Developer-guide:
- architecture.md: refresh tool/toolset counts (61/52), terminal
backend count (7), line counts for run_agent.py (~13.7k), cli.py
(~11.5k), main.py (~10.4k), setup.py (~3.5k), gateway/run.py
(~12.2k), mcp_tool.py (~3.1k); add yuanbao adapter, bump platform
adapter count 18 -> 20
- agent-loop.md: run_agent.py line count 10.7k -> 13.7k
- tools-runtime.md: add vercel_sandbox backend
- adding-tools.md: remove stale 'Discovery import added to
model_tools.py' checklist item (registry auto-discovery)
- adding-platform-adapters.md: mark send_typing / get_chat_info as
concrete base methods; only connect/disconnect/send are abstract
- acp-internals.md: ACP sessions now persist to SessionDB
(~/.hermes/state.db); acp.run_agent call uses
use_unstable_protocol=True
- cron-internals.md: gateway runs scheduler in a dedicated background
thread via _start_cron_ticker, not on a maintenance cycle; locking
is cross-process via fcntl.flock (Unix) / msvcrt.locking (Windows)
- gateway-internals.md: gateway/run.py ~12k lines
- provider-runtime.md: cron DOES support fallback (run_job reads
fallback_providers from config)
- session-storage.md: SCHEMA_VERSION = 11 (not 9); add migrations
10 and 11 (trigram FTS, inline-mode FTS5 re-index); add
api_call_count column to Sessions DDL; document messages_fts_trigram
and state_meta in the architecture tree
- context-compression-and-caching.md: remove the obsolete 'context
pressure warnings' section (warnings were removed for causing
models to give up early)
- context-engine-plugin.md: compress() signature now includes
focus_topic param
- extending-the-cli.md: _build_tui_layout_children signature now
includes model_picker_widget; add to default layout
Also fixed three pre-existing broken links/anchors the build warned
about (docker.md -> api-server.md, yuanbao.md -> cron-jobs.md and
tips#background-tasks, nix-setup.md -> #container-aware-cli).
Regenerated per-skill pages via website/scripts/generate-skill-docs.py
so catalog tables and sidebar are consistent with current SKILL.md
frontmatter.
docusaurus build: clean, no broken links or anchors.
2026-04-29 20:55:59 -07:00
| 🔧 * * [Tools & Toolsets ](/docs/user-guide/features/tools )** | 68 built-in tools and how to configure them |
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| 🧠 * * [Memory System ](/docs/user-guide/features/memory )** | Persistent memory that grows across sessions |
| 📚 * * [Skills System ](/docs/user-guide/features/skills )** | Procedural memory the agent creates and reuses |
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| 🔌 * * [MCP Integration ](/docs/user-guide/features/mcp )** | Connect to MCP servers, filter their tools, and extend Hermes safely |
| 🧭 * * [Use MCP with Hermes ](/docs/guides/use-mcp-with-hermes )** | Practical MCP setup patterns, examples, and tutorials |
2026-03-14 09:50:45 -07:00
| 🎙️ * * [Voice Mode ](/docs/user-guide/features/voice-mode )** | Real-time voice interaction in CLI, Telegram, Discord, and Discord VC |
| 🗣️ * * [Use Voice Mode with Hermes ](/docs/guides/use-voice-mode-with-hermes )** | Hands-on setup and usage patterns for Hermes voice workflows |
2026-03-14 09:37:26 -07:00
| 🎭 * * [Personality & SOUL.md ](/docs/user-guide/features/personality )** | Define Hermes' default voice with a global SOUL.md |
docs: add 11 new pages + expand 4 existing pages (26 → 37 total)
New pages (sourced from actual codebase):
- Security: command approval, DM pairing, container isolation, production checklist
- Session Management: resume, export, prune, search, per-platform tracking
- Context Files: AGENTS.md project context, discovery, size limits, security
- Personality: SOUL.md, 14 built-in personalities, custom definitions
- Browser Automation: Browserbase setup, 10 browser tools, stealth mode
- Image Generation: FLUX 2 Pro via FAL, aspect ratios, auto-upscaling
- Provider Routing: OpenRouter sort/only/ignore/order config
- Honcho: AI-native memory integration, setup, peer config
- Home Assistant: HASS setup, 4 HA tools, WebSocket gateway
- Batch Processing: trajectory generation, dataset format, checkpointing
- RL Training: Atropos/Tinker integration, environments, workflow
Expanded pages:
- code-execution: 51 → 195 lines (examples, limits, security, comparison table)
- delegation: 60 → 216 lines (context tips, batch mode, model override)
- cron: 88 → 273 lines (real-world examples, delivery options, expression cheat sheet)
- memory: 98 → 249 lines (best practices, capacity management, examples)
2026-03-05 07:28:41 -08:00
| 📄 * * [Context Files ](/docs/user-guide/features/context-files )** | Project context files that shape every conversation |
| 🔒 * * [Security ](/docs/user-guide/security )** | Command approval, authorization, container isolation |
docs: add Guides & Tutorials section, restructure sidebar
New documentation pages (1,823 lines):
- getting-started/learning-path.md: 3-tier learning path table
(beginner/intermediate/advanced) + use-case-based navigation
- guides/tips.md: Tips & Best Practices quick-wins collection
covering prompting, CLI power user tips, context files, memory,
performance/cost, messaging, and security
- guides/daily-briefing-bot.md: End-to-end tutorial building an
automated daily news briefing with cron + web search + messaging
- guides/team-telegram-assistant.md: Full walkthrough setting up
a team Telegram bot with BotFather, gateway, DM pairing, and
production deployment
- guides/python-library.md: Guide to using AIAgent as a Python
library — basic usage, multi-turn conversations, toolset config,
trajectories, custom prompts, and integration examples (FastAPI,
Discord bot, CI/CD)
- reference/faq.md: Centralized FAQ (8 questions) + troubleshooting
guide (6 categories, 18 specific issues) with problem/cause/solution
format
Sidebar restructure:
- Added 'Guides & Tutorials' as new top-level section
- Reorganized flat Features list (17 items) into 5 subcategories:
Core Features, Automation, Web & Media, Integrations, Advanced
- Added FAQ to Reference section
- Updated index.md quick links table
Docusaurus build verified clean.
2026-03-08 19:37:34 -07:00
| 💡 * * [Tips & Best Practices ](/docs/guides/tips )** | Quick wins to get the most out of Hermes |
2026-03-05 05:24:55 -08:00
| 🏗️ * * [Architecture ](/docs/developer-guide/architecture )** | How it works under the hood |
docs: add Guides & Tutorials section, restructure sidebar
New documentation pages (1,823 lines):
- getting-started/learning-path.md: 3-tier learning path table
(beginner/intermediate/advanced) + use-case-based navigation
- guides/tips.md: Tips & Best Practices quick-wins collection
covering prompting, CLI power user tips, context files, memory,
performance/cost, messaging, and security
- guides/daily-briefing-bot.md: End-to-end tutorial building an
automated daily news briefing with cron + web search + messaging
- guides/team-telegram-assistant.md: Full walkthrough setting up
a team Telegram bot with BotFather, gateway, DM pairing, and
production deployment
- guides/python-library.md: Guide to using AIAgent as a Python
library — basic usage, multi-turn conversations, toolset config,
trajectories, custom prompts, and integration examples (FastAPI,
Discord bot, CI/CD)
- reference/faq.md: Centralized FAQ (8 questions) + troubleshooting
guide (6 categories, 18 specific issues) with problem/cause/solution
format
Sidebar restructure:
- Added 'Guides & Tutorials' as new top-level section
- Reorganized flat Features list (17 items) into 5 subcategories:
Core Features, Automation, Web & Media, Integrations, Advanced
- Added FAQ to Reference section
- Updated index.md quick links table
Docusaurus build verified clean.
2026-03-08 19:37:34 -07:00
| ❓ * * [FAQ & Troubleshooting ](/docs/reference/faq )** | Common questions and solutions |
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## Key Features
docs: rebrand messaging — 'the self-improving AI agent'
- Lead with the learning loop: autonomous skill creation, skill
self-improvement, memory nudges, FTS5 session search, Honcho
dialectic user modeling
- 'Runs anywhere' angle: 6 backends, serverless persistence with
Daytona/Modal, not tied to your laptop
- 'Built by model trainers' replaces 'model-agnostic'
- Updated README tagline, feature table, subtitle
- Updated docs landing page hero, description, key features
- Updated docusaurus tagline and pyproject.toml description
2026-03-06 04:34:06 -08:00
- **A closed learning loop** — Agent-curated memory with periodic nudges, autonomous skill creation, skill self-improvement during use, FTS5 cross-session recall with LLM summarization, and [Honcho ](https://github.com/plastic-labs/honcho ) dialectic user modeling
- **Runs anywhere, not just your laptop** — 6 terminal backends: local, Docker, SSH, Daytona, Singularity, Modal. Daytona and Modal offer serverless persistence — your environment hibernates when idle, costing nearly nothing
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- **Lives where you do** — CLI, Telegram, Discord, Slack, WhatsApp, Signal, Matrix, Mattermost, Email, SMS, DingTalk, Feishu, WeCom, BlueBubbles, Home Assistant — 15+ platforms from one gateway
docs: rebrand messaging — 'the self-improving AI agent'
- Lead with the learning loop: autonomous skill creation, skill
self-improvement, memory nudges, FTS5 session search, Honcho
dialectic user modeling
- 'Runs anywhere' angle: 6 backends, serverless persistence with
Daytona/Modal, not tied to your laptop
- 'Built by model trainers' replaces 'model-agnostic'
- Updated README tagline, feature table, subtitle
- Updated docs landing page hero, description, key features
- Updated docusaurus tagline and pyproject.toml description
2026-03-06 04:34:06 -08:00
- **Built by model trainers** — Created by [Nous Research ](https://nousresearch.com ), the lab behind Hermes, Nomos, and Psyche. Works with [Nous Portal ](https://portal.nousresearch.com ), [OpenRouter ](https://openrouter.ai ), OpenAI, or any endpoint
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- **Scheduled automations** — Built-in cron with delivery to any platform
docs: rebrand messaging — 'the self-improving AI agent'
- Lead with the learning loop: autonomous skill creation, skill
self-improvement, memory nudges, FTS5 session search, Honcho
dialectic user modeling
- 'Runs anywhere' angle: 6 backends, serverless persistence with
Daytona/Modal, not tied to your laptop
- 'Built by model trainers' replaces 'model-agnostic'
- Updated README tagline, feature table, subtitle
- Updated docs landing page hero, description, key features
- Updated docusaurus tagline and pyproject.toml description
2026-03-06 04:34:06 -08:00
- **Delegates & parallelizes** — Spawn isolated subagents for parallel workstreams. Programmatic Tool Calling via `execute_code` collapses multi-step pipelines into single inference calls
- **Open standard skills** — Compatible with [agentskills.io ](https://agentskills.io ). Skills are portable, shareable, and community-contributed via the Skills Hub
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- **Full web control** — Search, extract, browse, vision, image generation, TTS
- **MCP support** — Connect to any MCP server for extended tool capabilities
docs: rebrand messaging — 'the self-improving AI agent'
- Lead with the learning loop: autonomous skill creation, skill
self-improvement, memory nudges, FTS5 session search, Honcho
dialectic user modeling
- 'Runs anywhere' angle: 6 backends, serverless persistence with
Daytona/Modal, not tied to your laptop
- 'Built by model trainers' replaces 'model-agnostic'
- Updated README tagline, feature table, subtitle
- Updated docs landing page hero, description, key features
- Updated docusaurus tagline and pyproject.toml description
2026-03-06 04:34:06 -08:00
- **Research-ready** — Batch processing, trajectory export, RL training with Atropos. Built by [Nous Research ](https://nousresearch.com ) — the lab behind Hermes, Nomos, and Psyche models
