hermes-agent/apps/desktop
Brooklyn Nicholson 6c00077d38 feat(desktop): auto-detect RTL/bidi text direction in chat
Arabic/Hebrew/Persian/Urdu chat text rendered left-to-right and
left-aligned, and mixed RTL/English technical messages (the common case)
read backwards. Resolve each chat block's base direction from its own
first strong character (UAX#9) with pure CSS, scoped to the chat
surfaces only:

- `unicode-bidi: plaintext` + `text-align: start` on assistant prose
  blocks (p, h1-h6, li, blockquote), the user bubble's text lines, and
  both composers (main + edit share the composer-rich-input slot). RTL
  blocks read and right-align RTL; English stays LTR; mixed
  conversations resolve per block. `text-align: start` is required
  because the user bubble hardcodes `text-left`.
- Inline `code` and KaTeX are pinned `direction: ltr; unicode-bidi:
  isolate`, so the bidi first-strong heuristic skips them: a sentence
  that *starts* with a command (`./run.sh ...`) followed by Arabic
  still resolves RTL, and the command's own neutrals keep their order.
- Fenced code surfaces (code-card, user fences) are pinned LTR so they
  never mirror or right-align inside an RTL list item or blockquote.

`direction` is never forced, so app chrome, layout, and list indent
stay LTR per the issue's request not to flip the whole UI. English-only
content is byte-for-byte unchanged.

Salvaged and unified from #44065 and #44169; verified in Chromium that
isolate removes inline code from the paragraph direction vote (the
code-first case), making the JS dir-resolution in #44065 unnecessary.

Fixes #44150

Co-authored-by: Adolanium <Adolanium@users.noreply.github.com>
Co-authored-by: Adalsteinn Helgason <AIalliAI@users.noreply.github.com>
2026-06-11 21:06:26 -05:00
..
assets fix(desktop): pad app icon to Apple grid so dock size matches peers (#42946) 2026-06-09 11:48:26 -05:00
electron refactor(desktop): use native fetch in dashboard-token 2026-06-11 18:41:16 -05:00
pr-assets Show messaging source folders in desktop sessions 2026-06-07 23:44:04 -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): fail loudly instead of blank-paging when the renderer bundle is missing (#41729) 2026-06-07 22:04:39 -07:00
src feat(desktop): auto-detect RTL/bidi text direction in chat 2026-06-11 21:06:26 -05:00
.prettierrc Add Hermes desktop app (#20059) 2026-05-31 17:46:56 -05:00
components.json Add Hermes desktop app (#20059) 2026-05-31 17:46:56 -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 change(tooling): remove react-compiler eslint, update concurrently 2026-06-10 11:59:34 -04:00
index.html fix(desktop): triage batch of GUI quality-of-life fixes (#37536) 2026-06-02 16:33:22 -04:00
package.json fix(desktop): prevent backend port-squat boot loop and pickPort self-collision 2026-06-11 18:22:54 -05:00
preview-demo.html Add Hermes desktop app (#20059) 2026-05-31 17:46:56 -05:00
README.md change(tooling): typecheck in CI, update ts to 6 2026-06-10 11:59:34 -04:00
tsconfig.json fix(desktop): set tsconfig lib/target to ES2023 for findLast/findLastIndex 2026-06-08 22:14:28 -07:00
vite.config.ts fix(desktop): pin empty PostCSS config so Vite stops walking up the home tree (#40609) 2026-06-07 18:10:32 -07:00

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:

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 only the Electron shell. On first launch it installs 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. The renderer (React, in src/) talks to a hermes dashboard backend over the standard gateway APIs and reuses the embedded TUI rather than reimplementing chat. The install, backend-resolution, and self-update logic all live in electron/main.cjs.

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.