hermes-agent/apps/desktop
joaomarcos 2afa92c74f fix(desktop): pin composer draft scope to the swap-effect owner, not the render ref
Fixes #54527 — a message typed into one TUI session could be silently
misrouted into (or overwritten by) another concurrently-open session.

Root cause: activeQueueSessionKeyRef is written on every render, but the
debounced draft-persist timer, the pagehide flush, and dispatchSubmit's
reject-restore path all read it lazily at async-resolve time instead of
capturing the scope that was active when the operation started. A session
switch landing between capture and resolve relabels one session's text
under the other session's key. A large paste widens the window (slower
synchronous render), which matches the original report.

Fix: introduce draftScopeRef, written only by the draft-swap effect (so it
always reflects the session whose text is actually loaded in the editor)
and read it instead of the render-time ref at both async write sites.
dispatchSubmit's restore() now uses the submittedScope already captured at
dispatch instead of re-reading the live ref.

Also adds isPendingDraftPersistCurrent as defense-in-depth: before the
debounce timer commits a write, it verifies its captured {scope, text}
pair is still the one on file. This is a no-op under the fix above (a
session swap or a newer keystroke already clears/replaces the pending
entry via clearTimeout), but turns any future regression that reintroduces
a stale/live-ref read at this call site into a dropped write instead of a
silent cross-session misroute.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
2026-07-10 19:35:05 -07:00
..
assets fix(desktop): pad app icon to Apple grid so dock size matches peers (#42946) 2026-06-09 11:48:26 -05:00
electron feat(dev): add isolated sandbox script for local dev 2026-07-10 18:51:49 -04:00
pr-assets chore(desktop): drop PR screenshot assets from tree 2026-07-07 13:04:32 -07:00
public fix(desktop): pad app icon to Apple grid so dock size matches peers (#42946) 2026-06-09 11:48:26 -05:00
scripts fix(desktop): stop using tsx to boot Electron main in dev 2026-07-08 22:40:51 -05:00
src fix(desktop): pin composer draft scope to the swap-effect owner, not the render ref 2026-07-10 19:35:05 -07:00
.prettierrc Add Hermes desktop app (#20059) 2026-05-31 17:46:56 -05:00
components.json feat(desktop): add shared project UI primitives 2026-06-25 16:40:27 -05:00
DESIGN.md docs(desktop): add DESIGN.md design-system guide + close two consistency gaps (#40823) 2026-06-06 22:13:17 +00:00
eslint.config.mjs feat(desktop): ts-ify everything 2026-07-08 16:24:16 -07:00
index.html feat(desktop): composer status stack, live subagent windows, editable prompts (#44630) 2026-06-12 08:30:06 -05:00
package.json fix(desktop): remove old .js files 2026-07-10 17:05:08 -04:00
preview-demo.html Add Hermes desktop app (#20059) 2026-05-31 17:46:56 -05:00
README.md feat(dev): add isolated sandbox script for local dev 2026-07-10 18:51:49 -04:00
tsconfig.electron.json feat(desktop): ts-ify everything 2026-07-08 16:24:16 -07:00
tsconfig.json feat(desktop): ts-ify everything 2026-07-08 16:24:16 -07:00
vite.config.ts feat(desktop): Memory Graph — playable radial timeline of memories + skills 2026-06-30 00:54:21 -05:00

Hermes Desktop ☤

Download Documentation Discord License: MIT

The native desktop app for Hermes Agent — the self-improving AI agent from Nous Research. Same agent, same skills, same memory as the CLI and gateway, in a polished native window — chat with streaming tool output, side-by-side previews, a file browser, voice, and settings, no terminal required. Available for macOS, Windows, and Linux.

Chat with the full agentStreaming responses, live tool activity, structured tool summaries, and the same conversation history as every other Hermes surface.
Side-by-side previewsRender web pages, files, and tool outputs in a right-hand pane while you keep chatting.
File browserExplore and preview the working directory without leaving the app.
VoiceTalk to Hermes and hear it back.
Settings & onboardingManage providers, models, tools, and credentials from a real UI. First-run setup gets you to your first message in seconds.
Stays currentBuilt-in updates pull the latest agent and rebuild the app in place.

Install

Already have the Hermes CLI? Just run:

hermes desktop

It builds and launches the GUI against your existing install — same config, keys, sessions, and skills. On first launch Hermes walks you through picking a provider and model; nothing else to configure.

Prebuilt installers

Prebuilt installers are built and distributed via the Hermes Desktop website..


Updating

The app checks for updates in the background and offers a one-click update when one is ready. You can also update any time from the CLI:

hermes update

Requirements

The installer handles everything for you (Python 3.11+, a portable Git, ripgrep).


Development

Want to hack on the app itself? Install workspace deps from the repo root once, then run the dev server from this directory:

npm install          # from repo root — links apps/desktop, web, apps/shared
cd apps/desktop
npm run dev          # Vite renderer + Electron, which boots the Python backend

Point the app at a specific source checkout, or sandbox it away from your real config:

# throwaway HERMES_HOME, separate Electron userData, distinct app name to avoid the single-instance lock
../scripts/dev-sandbox.sh npm run dev
HERMES_DESKTOP_HERMES_ROOT=/path/to/clone npm run dev
HERMES_HOME=/tmp/throwaway npm run dev
npm run dev:fake-boot   # exercise the startup overlay with deterministic delays

Building installers

npm run dist:mac     # DMG + zip
npm run dist:win     # NSIS + MSI
npm run dist:linux   # AppImage + deb + rpm
npm run pack         # unpacked app under release/ (no installer)

Installers are built and uploaded to GitHub Releases manually. macOS/Windows signing & notarization happen automatically when the relevant credentials are present in the environment (CSC_LINK / CSC_KEY_PASSWORD / APPLE_* for macOS, WIN_CSC_* for Windows).

How it works

The packaged app ships the Electron shell and a native React chat surface. On first launch it can install the Hermes Agent runtime into HERMES_HOME (~/.hermes, or %LOCALAPPDATA%\hermes on Windows) — the same layout a CLI install uses, so the two are interchangeable. Backend resolution first honours HERMES_DESKTOP_HERMES_ROOT, then a completed managed install, then a probed hermes on PATH (unless HERMES_DESKTOP_IGNORE_EXISTING=1 is set), and finally an explicit HERMES_DESKTOP_HERMES command override for packagers/troubleshooting. The renderer (React, in src/) talks to a headless backend the app launches for you — a hermes serve process that serves the tui_gateway JSON-RPC/WebSocket API — through the framework-agnostic client in apps/shared (the same client the web dashboard consumes), and reuses the agent runtime rather than embedding hermes --tui. The app is self-contained: it runs its own hermes serve backend and never opens or requires the web dashboard UI. (For backward compatibility, a runtime that predates the serve command automatically falls back to a headless dashboard --no-open — see electron/backend-command.ts — so mid-upgrade installs never break.) The install, backend-resolution, and self-update logic all live in electron/main.ts.

Verification

Run before opening a PR (lint may surface pre-existing warnings but must exit cleanly):

npm run fix
npm run typecheck
npm run lint
npm run test:desktop:all

Troubleshooting

Boot logs land in HERMES_HOME/logs/desktop.log (includes backend output and recent Python tracebacks) — check it first if the app reports a boot failure.

macOS / Linux:

# Force a clean first-launch setup
rm "$HOME/.hermes/hermes-agent/.hermes-bootstrap-complete"
# Rebuild a broken Python venv
rm -rf "$HOME/.hermes/hermes-agent/venv"
# Reset a stuck macOS microphone prompt (macOS only)
tccutil reset Microphone com.nousresearch.hermes

Windows (PowerShell):

# Force a clean first-launch setup
Remove-Item "$env:LOCALAPPDATA\hermes\hermes-agent\.hermes-bootstrap-complete"
# Rebuild a broken Python venv
Remove-Item -Recurse -Force "$env:LOCALAPPDATA\hermes\hermes-agent\venv"

The default Hermes home on Windows is %LOCALAPPDATA%\hermes. Set the HERMES_HOME env var if you've relocated it.


Community


License

MIT — see LICENSE.

Built by Nous Research.