Long TUI sessions were crashing Node via V8 fatal-OOM once transcripts +
reasoning blobs crossed the default 1.5–4GB heap cap. This adds defense
in depth: a bigger heap, leak-proofing the RPC hot path, bounded
diagnostic buffers, automatic heap dumps at high-water marks, and
graceful signal / uncaught handlers.
## Changes
### Heap budget
- hermes_cli/main.py: `_launch_tui` now injects `NODE_OPTIONS=
--max-old-space-size=8192 --expose-gc` (appended — does not clobber
user-supplied NODE_OPTIONS). Covers both `node dist/entry.js` and
`tsx src/entry.tsx` launch paths.
- ui-tui/src/entry.tsx: shebang rewritten to
`#!/usr/bin/env -S node --max-old-space-size=8192 --expose-gc` as a
fallback when the binary is invoked directly.
### GatewayClient (ui-tui/src/gatewayClient.ts)
- `setMaxListeners(0)` — silences spurious warnings from React hook
subscribers.
- `logs` and `bufferedEvents` replaced with fixed-capacity
CircularBuffer — O(1) push, no splice(0, …) copies under load.
- RPC timeout refactor: `setTimeout(this.onTimeout.bind(this), …, id)`
replaces the inline arrow closure that captured `method`/`params`/
`resolve`/`reject` for the full 120 s request timeout. Each Pending
record now stores its own timeout handle, `.unref()`'d so stuck
timers never keep the event loop alive, and `rejectPending()` clears
them (previously leaked the timer itself).
### Memory diagnostics (new)
- ui-tui/src/lib/memory.ts: `performHeapDump()` +
`captureMemoryDiagnostics()`. Writes heap snapshot + JSON diag
sidecar to `~/.hermes/heapdumps/` (override via
`HERMES_HEAPDUMP_DIR`). Diagnostics are written first so we still get
useful data if the snapshot crashes on very large heaps.
Captures: detached V8 contexts (closure-leak signal), active
handles/requests (`process._getActiveHandles/_getActiveRequests`),
Linux `/proc/self/fd` count + `/proc/self/smaps_rollup`, heap growth
rate (MB/hr), and auto-classifies likely leak sources.
- ui-tui/src/lib/memoryMonitor.ts: 10 s interval polling heapUsed. At
1.5 GB writes an auto heap dump (trigger=`auto-high`); at 2.5 GB
writes a final dump and exits 137 before V8 fatal-OOMs so the user
can restart cleanly. Handle is `.unref()`'d so it never holds the
process open.
### Graceful exit (new)
- ui-tui/src/lib/gracefulExit.ts: SIGINT/SIGTERM/SIGHUP run registered
cleanups through a 4 s failsafe `setTimeout` that hard-exits if
cleanup hangs.
`uncaughtException` / `unhandledRejection` are logged to stderr
instead of crashing — a transient TUI render error should not kill
an in-flight agent turn.
### Slash commands (new)
- ui-tui/src/app/slash/commands/debug.ts:
- `/heapdump` — manual snapshot + diagnostics.
- `/mem` — live heap / rss / external / array-buffer / uptime panel.
- Registered in `ui-tui/src/app/slash/registry.ts`.
### Utility (new)
- ui-tui/src/lib/circularBuffer.ts: small fixed-capacity ring buffer
with `push` / `tail(n)` / `drain()` / `clear()`. Replaces the ad-hoc
`array.splice(0, len - MAX)` pattern.
## Validation
- tsc `--noEmit` clean
- `vitest run`: 15 files, 102 tests passing
- eslint clean on all touched/new files
- build produces executable `dist/entry.js` with preserved shebang
- smoke-tested: `HERMES_HEAPDUMP_DIR=… performHeapDump('manual')`
writes both a valid `.heapsnapshot` and a `.diagnostics.json`
containing detached-contexts, active-handles, smaps_rollup.
## Env knobs
- `HERMES_HEAPDUMP_DIR` — override snapshot output dir
- `HERMES_HEAPDUMP_ON_START=1` — dump once at boot
- existing `NODE_OPTIONS` is respected and appended, not replaced
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> |
/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 — 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]"
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
- 🔌 HermesClaw — Community WeChat bridge: Run Hermes Agent and OpenClaw on the same WeChat account.
License
MIT — see LICENSE.
Built by Nous Research.
