hermes-agent/website/docs/user-guide/docker.md

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7	Docker	Running Hermes Agent in Docker and using Docker as a terminal backend

Hermes Agent — Docker

There are two distinct ways Docker intersects with Hermes Agent:

1. Running Hermes IN Docker — the agent itself runs inside a container (this page's primary focus)
2. Docker as a terminal backend — the agent runs on your host but executes every command inside a single, persistent Docker sandbox container that survives across tool calls, /new, and subagents for the life of the Hermes process (see Configuration → Docker Backend)

This page covers option 1. The container stores all user data (config, API keys, sessions, skills, memories) in a single directory mounted from the host at /opt/data. The image itself is stateless and can be upgraded by pulling a new version without losing any configuration.

Quick start

If this is your first time running Hermes Agent, create a data directory on the host and start the container interactively to run the setup wizard:

mkdir -p ~/.hermes
docker run -it --rm \
  -v ~/.hermes:/opt/data \
  nousresearch/hermes-agent setup

This drops you into the setup wizard, which will prompt you for your API keys and write them to ~/.hermes/.env. You only need to do this once. It is highly recommended to set up a chat system for the gateway to work with at this point.

Running in gateway mode

Once configured, run the container in the background as a persistent gateway (Telegram, Discord, Slack, WhatsApp, etc.):

docker run -d \
  --name hermes \
  --restart unless-stopped \
  -v ~/.hermes:/opt/data \
  -p 8642:8642 \
  nousresearch/hermes-agent gateway run

Port 8642 exposes the gateway's OpenAI-compatible API server and health endpoint. It's optional if you only use chat platforms (Telegram, Discord, etc.), but required if you want the dashboard or external tools to reach the gateway.

:::tip Gateway runs supervised Inside the official Docker image, gateway run is automatically supervised by s6-overlay: if the gateway process crashes it's restarted within a couple of seconds without losing the container, and the dashboard (when HERMES_DASHBOARD=1 is set) is supervised alongside it. The gateway run CMD process itself is a sleep infinity heartbeat that keeps the container alive while s6 manages the actual gateway process — so docker stop still shuts everything down cleanly, but docker logs shows the supervised gateway's output.

You'll see a one-line breadcrumb in docker logs confirming the upgrade. To opt out — and get the historical "gateway is the container's main process, container exit = gateway exit" semantics — pass --no-supervise or set HERMES_GATEWAY_NO_SUPERVISE=1. The opt-out is useful for CI smoke tests that want the container to exit with the gateway's status code; for production deployments the supervised default is strictly better.

This behavior applies to the s6-based image only. Earlier (tini-based) images still run gateway run as the foreground main process. :::

Note: the API server is gated on API_SERVER_ENABLED=true. To expose it beyond 127.0.0.1 inside the container, also set API_SERVER_HOST=0.0.0.0 and an API_SERVER_KEY (minimum 8 characters — generate one with openssl rand -hex 32). Example:

docker run -d \
  --name hermes \
  --restart unless-stopped \
  -v ~/.hermes:/opt/data \
  -p 8642:8642 \
  -e API_SERVER_ENABLED=true \
  -e API_SERVER_HOST=0.0.0.0 \
  -e API_SERVER_KEY="$(openssl rand -hex 32)" \
  -e API_SERVER_CORS_ORIGINS='*' \
  nousresearch/hermes-agent gateway run

Opening any port on an internet facing machine is a security risk. You should not do it unless you understand the risks.

Running the dashboard

The built-in web dashboard runs as an optional side-process inside the same container as the gateway. Set HERMES_DASHBOARD=1 to run the dashboard on container loopback (127.0.0.1) by default:

docker run -d \
  --name hermes \
  --restart unless-stopped \
  -v ~/.hermes:/opt/data \
  -p 8642:8642 \
  -e HERMES_DASHBOARD=1 \
  nousresearch/hermes-agent gateway run

The entrypoint starts hermes dashboard in the background (running as the non-root hermes user) before exec-ing the main command. Dashboard output is prefixed with [dashboard] in docker logs so it's easy to separate from gateway logs.

Environment variable	Description	Default
HERMES_DASHBOARD	Set to 1 (or true / yes) to launch the dashboard alongside the main command	(unset — dashboard not started)
HERMES_DASHBOARD_HOST	Bind address for the dashboard HTTP server	127.0.0.1
HERMES_DASHBOARD_PORT	Port for the dashboard HTTP server	9119
HERMES_DASHBOARD_TUI	Set to 1 to expose the in-browser Chat tab (embedded hermes --tui via PTY/WebSocket)	(unset)

By default, the dashboard stays on loopback to avoid exposing the unauthenticated web surface over the network. To publish it intentionally, set HERMES_DASHBOARD_HOST=0.0.0.0 and configure your own trusted network boundary/reverse proxy. In that case you must explicitly add --insecure behavior by passing host/flags in your command path (the entrypoint no longer auto-enables insecure mode).

:::note The dashboard runs as a supervised s6 service inside the container. If the dashboard process crashes, s6-overlay restarts it automatically after a short backoff — you'll see a new PID without needing to restart the container. Logs and crash output are visible via docker logs <container> (s6 forwards service stdout/stderr there).

Running the dashboard as a separate container is not supported: its gateway-liveness detection requires a shared PID namespace with the gateway process. :::

Running interactively (CLI chat)

To open an interactive chat session against a running data directory:

docker run -it --rm \
  -v ~/.hermes:/opt/data \
  nousresearch/hermes-agent

Or if you have already opened a terminal in your running container (via Docker Desktop for instance), just run:

/opt/hermes/.venv/bin/hermes

Persistent volumes

The /opt/data volume is the single source of truth for all Hermes state. It maps to your host's ~/.hermes/ directory and contains:

Path	Contents
.env	API keys and secrets
config.yaml	All Hermes configuration
SOUL.md	Agent personality/identity
sessions/	Conversation history
memories/	Persistent memory store
skills/	Installed skills
home/	Per-profile HOME for Hermes tool subprocesses (git, ssh, gh, npm, and skill CLIs)
cron/	Scheduled job definitions
hooks/	Event hooks
logs/	Runtime logs
skins/	Custom CLI skins

Skill CLIs that store credentials under ~ must be initialized against the subprocess HOME, not just the data-volume root. For example, the xurl skill stores OAuth state in ~/.xurl; in the official Docker layout, Hermes tool calls read that as /opt/data/home/.xurl, so run manual xurl auth with HOME=/opt/data/home and verify with HOME=/opt/data/home xurl auth status.

:::warning Never run two Hermes gateway containers against the same data directory simultaneously — session files and memory stores are not designed for concurrent write access. :::

Multi-profile support

Hermes supports multiple profiles — separate ~/.hermes/ directories that let you run independent agents (different SOUL, skills, memory, sessions, credentials) from a single installation. When running under Docker, using Hermes' built-in multi-profile feature is not recommended.

Instead, the recommended pattern is one container per profile, with each container bind-mounting its own host directory as /opt/data:

# Work profile
docker run -d \
  --name hermes-work \
  --restart unless-stopped \
  -v ~/.hermes-work:/opt/data \
  -p 8642:8642 \
  nousresearch/hermes-agent gateway run

# Personal profile
docker run -d \
  --name hermes-personal \
  --restart unless-stopped \
  -v ~/.hermes-personal:/opt/data \
  -p 8643:8642 \
  nousresearch/hermes-agent gateway run

Why separate containers over profiles in Docker:

• Isolation — each container has its own filesystem, process table, and resource limits. A crash, dependency change, or runaway session in one profile can't affect another.
• Independent lifecycle — upgrade, restart, pause, or roll back each agent separately (docker restart hermes-work leaves hermes-personal untouched).
• Clean port and network separation — each gateway binds its own host port; there's no risk of cross-talk between chat platforms or API servers.
• Simpler mental model — the container is the profile. Backups, migrations, and permissions all follow the bind-mounted directory, with no extra --profile flags to remember.
• Avoids concurrent-write risk — the warning above about never running two gateways against the same data directory still applies to profiles within a single container.

In Docker Compose, this just means declaring one service per profile with distinct container_name, volumes, and ports:

services:
  hermes-work:
    image: nousresearch/hermes-agent:latest
    container_name: hermes-work
    restart: unless-stopped
    command: gateway run
    ports:
      - "8642:8642"
    volumes:
      - ~/.hermes-work:/opt/data

  hermes-personal:
    image: nousresearch/hermes-agent:latest
    container_name: hermes-personal
    restart: unless-stopped
    command: gateway run
    ports:
      - "8643:8642"
    volumes:
      - ~/.hermes-personal:/opt/data

Environment variable forwarding

API keys are read from /opt/data/.env inside the container. You can also pass environment variables directly:

docker run -it --rm \
  -v ~/.hermes:/opt/data \
  -e ANTHROPIC_API_KEY="sk-ant-..." \
  -e OPENAI_API_KEY="sk-..." \
  nousresearch/hermes-agent

Direct -e flags override values from .env. This is useful for CI/CD or secrets-manager integrations where you don't want keys on disk.

:::note Looking for Docker as the terminal backend? This page covers running Hermes itself inside Docker. If you want Hermes to execute the agent's terminal / execute_code calls inside a Docker sandbox container (one persistent container per Hermes process), that's a separate config block — terminal.backend: docker plus terminal.docker_image, terminal.docker_volumes, terminal.docker_forward_env, terminal.docker_run_as_host_user, and terminal.docker_extra_args. See Configuration → Docker Backend for the full set. :::

Docker Compose example

For persistent deployment with both the gateway and dashboard, a docker-compose.yaml is convenient:

services:
  hermes:
    image: nousresearch/hermes-agent:latest
    container_name: hermes
    restart: unless-stopped
    command: gateway run
    ports:
      - "8642:8642"   # gateway API
      - "9119:9119"   # dashboard (only reached when HERMES_DASHBOARD=1)
    volumes:
      - ~/.hermes:/opt/data
    environment:
      - HERMES_DASHBOARD=1
      # Uncomment to forward specific env vars instead of using .env file:
      # - ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=${ANTHROPIC_API_KEY}
      # - OPENAI_API_KEY=${OPENAI_API_KEY}
      # - TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN=${TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN}
    deploy:
      resources:
        limits:
          memory: 4G
          cpus: "2.0"

Start with docker compose up -d and view logs with docker compose logs -f. Dashboard output is prefixed with [dashboard] so it's easy to filter from gateway logs.

Optional: Linux desktop audio bridge

Voice mode in Docker needs two separate things to work: Hermes must be allowed to probe audio devices inside the container, and the container must be able to reach your host audio server. The setup below covers the host audio plumbing for Linux desktops that expose a PulseAudio-compatible socket, including many PipeWire setups.

:::caution This is a Linux desktop workaround, not a general Docker Desktop feature. It is useful when you already have host audio working and want CLI voice mode inside the Hermes container. If Hermes still reports Running inside Docker container -- no audio devices, use a build that includes Docker audio probing support for PULSE_SERVER / PIPEWIRE_REMOTE. :::

First, create an ALSA config next to your Compose file:

pcm.!default {
    type pulse
    hint {
        show on
        description "Default ALSA Output (PulseAudio)"
    }
}

pcm.pulse {
    type pulse
}

ctl.!default {
    type pulse
}

Then build a small derived image with the ALSA PulseAudio plugin installed:

FROM nousresearch/hermes-agent:latest

USER root
RUN apt-get update \
    && apt-get install -y --no-install-recommends libasound2-plugins \
    && rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*

Use that image in Compose and pass through the host user's PulseAudio socket and cookie:

services:
  hermes:
    build:
      context: .
      dockerfile: Dockerfile.audio
    image: hermes-agent-audio
    container_name: hermes
    restart: unless-stopped
    command: gateway run
    volumes:
      - ~/.hermes:/opt/data
      - /run/user/${HERMES_UID}/pulse:/run/user/${HERMES_UID}/pulse
      - ~/.config/pulse/cookie:/tmp/pulse-cookie:ro
      - ./asound.conf:/etc/asound.conf:ro
    environment:
      - HERMES_UID=${HERMES_UID}
      - HERMES_GID=${HERMES_GID}
      - XDG_RUNTIME_DIR=/run/user/${HERMES_UID}
      - PULSE_SERVER=unix:/run/user/${HERMES_UID}/pulse/native
      - PULSE_COOKIE=/tmp/pulse-cookie

Start it with your host UID/GID so the container process can access the per-user audio socket:

export HERMES_UID="$(id -u)"
export HERMES_GID="$(id -g)"
docker compose up -d --build

To verify what PortAudio sees inside the container:

docker exec hermes /opt/hermes/.venv/bin/python -c "import sounddevice as sd; print(sd.query_devices())"

Resource limits

The Hermes container needs moderate resources. Recommended minimums:

Resource	Minimum	Recommended
Memory	1 GB	2–4 GB
CPU	1 core	2 cores
Disk (data volume)	500 MB	2+ GB (grows with sessions/skills)

Browser automation (Playwright/Chromium) is the most memory-hungry feature. If you don't need browser tools, 1 GB is sufficient. With browser tools active, allocate at least 2 GB.

Set limits in Docker:

docker run -d \
  --name hermes \
  --restart unless-stopped \
  --memory=4g --cpus=2 \
  -v ~/.hermes:/opt/data \
  nousresearch/hermes-agent gateway run

What the Dockerfile does

The official image is based on debian:13.4 and includes:

• Python 3 with all Hermes dependencies (uv pip install -e ".[all]")
• Node.js + npm (for browser automation and WhatsApp bridge)
• Playwright with Chromium (npx playwright install --with-deps chromium --only-shell)
• ripgrep, ffmpeg, git, and xz-utils as system utilities
• docker-cli — so agents running inside the container can drive the host's Docker daemon (bind-mount /var/run/docker.sock to opt in) for docker build, docker run, container inspection, etc.
• openssh-client — enables the SSH terminal backend from inside the container. The SSH backend shells out to the system ssh binary; without this, it failed silently in containerized installs.
• The WhatsApp bridge (scripts/whatsapp-bridge/)
• s6-overlay v3 as PID 1 (replaces the older tini) — supervises the dashboard and per-profile gateways with auto-restart on crash, reaps zombie subprocesses, and forwards signals.

The container's ENTRYPOINT is s6-overlay's /init. On boot it:

1. Runs /etc/cont-init.d/01-hermes-setup (= docker/stage2-hook.sh) as root: optional UID/GID remap, fixes volume ownership, seeds .env / config.yaml / SOUL.md on first boot, syncs bundled skills.
2. Runs /etc/cont-init.d/02-reconcile-profiles (= hermes_cli.container_boot): walks $HERMES_HOME/profiles/<name>/, recreates the per-profile gateway s6 service slot under /run/service/gateway-<profile>/, and auto-starts only those whose last recorded state was running (see Per-profile gateway supervision).
3. Starts the static main-hermes and dashboard s6-rc services.
4. Exec's the container's CMD as the main program (/opt/hermes/docker/main-wrapper.sh), which routes the arguments the user passed to docker run:
   • no args → hermes (the default)
   • first arg is an executable on PATH (e.g. sleep, bash) → exec it directly
   • anything else → hermes <args> (subcommand passthrough) The container exits when this main program exits, with its exit code.

:::warning Breaking change vs. pre-s6 images The container ENTRYPOINT is now /init (s6-overlay), not /usr/bin/tini. All five documented docker run invocation patterns (no args, chat -q "…", sleep infinity, bash, --tui) behave identically to the tini-based image. If you have a downstream wrapper that depended on tini-specific signal behavior or hard-coded /usr/bin/tini -- invocation, pin to the previous image tag. :::

:::warning Privilege model Do not override the image entrypoint unless you keep /init (or, equivalently, the legacy docker/entrypoint.sh shim that forwards to the stage2 hook) in the command chain. s6-overlay's /init runs as root so it can chown the volume on first boot, then drops to the hermes user via s6-setuidgid for every supervised service AND for the main program. Starting hermes gateway run as root inside the official image is refused by default because it can leave root-owned files in /opt/data and break later dashboard or gateway starts. Set HERMES_ALLOW_ROOT_GATEWAY=1 only when you intentionally accept that risk. :::

Per-profile gateway supervision

Inside the container, each profile created with hermes profile create <name> automatically gets an s6-supervised gateway service registered at /run/service/gateway-<name>/. The lifecycle commands you'd run on the host work the same way:

hermes profile create coder            # registers gateway-coder s6 slot
hermes -p coder gateway start          # s6-svc -u  → supervised gateway
hermes -p coder gateway stop           # s6-svc -d  → service down
hermes -p coder gateway restart        # s6-svc -t  → SIGTERM the supervisor
hermes profile delete coder            # tears down the s6 slot

Supervision benefits over the pre-s6 image:

• Gateway crashes are auto-restarted by s6-supervise after a ~1s backoff.
• Dashboard crashes are auto-restarted (set HERMES_DASHBOARD=1 to start it).
• docker restart preserves running gateways: the cont-init reconciler reads $HERMES_HOME/profiles/<name>/gateway_state.json and brings the slot back up if the last recorded state was running. Stopped gateways stay stopped.
• Per-profile gateway logs persist under $HERMES_HOME/logs/gateways/<profile>/current (rotated by s6-log), and the reconciler's actions are appended to $HERMES_HOME/logs/container-boot.log per boot.

hermes status inside the container reports Manager: s6 (container supervisor). Use /command/s6-svstat /run/service/gateway-<name> for the raw supervisor view (note /command/ is on PATH for supervision-tree processes only; pass the absolute path when calling from docker exec).

Upgrading

Pull the latest image and recreate the container. Your data directory is untouched.

docker pull nousresearch/hermes-agent:latest
docker rm -f hermes
docker run -d \
  --name hermes \
  --restart unless-stopped \
  -v ~/.hermes:/opt/data \
  nousresearch/hermes-agent gateway run

Or with Docker Compose:

docker compose pull
docker compose up -d

Skills and credential files

When using Docker as the execution environment (not the methods above, but when the agent runs commands inside a Docker sandbox — see Configuration → Docker Backend), Hermes reuses a single long-lived container for all tool calls and automatically bind-mounts the skills directory (~/.hermes/skills/) and any credential files declared by skills into that container as read-only volumes. Skill scripts, templates, and references are available inside the sandbox without manual configuration, and because the container persists for the life of the Hermes process, any dependencies you install or files you write stay around for the next tool call.

The same syncing happens for SSH and Modal backends — skills and credential files are uploaded via rsync or the Modal mount API before each command.

Installing more tools in the container

The official image ships with a curated set of utilities (see What the Dockerfile does), but not every tool an agent might want is preinstalled. There are five recommended approaches, in increasing order of effort and durability.

npm or Python tools — use npx or uvx

For any tool published to npm or PyPI, instruct Hermes to run it via npx (npm) or uvx (Python) and to remember that command in its persistent memory. If the tool needs a config file or credentials, instruct it to drop those under /opt/data (e.g. /opt/data/<tool>/config.yaml).

Dependencies are fetched on demand and cached for the life of the container. Configuration written under /opt/data survives container restarts because it lives on the bind-mounted host directory. The package cache itself is rebuilt after a docker rm, but npx and uvx re-fetch transparently the next time the tool runs.

Other tools (apt packages, binaries) — install and remember

For anything outside npm or PyPI — apt packages, prebuilt binaries, language runtimes not already in the image — instruct Hermes how to install it (e.g. apt-get update && apt-get install -y <package>) and tell it to remember the install command. The tool persists for the rest of the container's lifetime, and Hermes will re-run the install command after a container restart when it next needs the tool.

This is a good fit for tools that are quick to install and used occasionally. For tools used constantly, prefer the next approach.

Durable installs — build a derived image

When a tool must be available immediately on every container start with no re-install delay, build a new image that inherits from nousresearch/hermes-agent and installs the tool in a layer:

FROM nousresearch/hermes-agent:latest

USER root
RUN apt-get update \
    && apt-get install -y --no-install-recommends <your-package> \
    && rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*
USER hermes

Build it and use it in place of the official image:

docker build -t my-hermes:latest .
docker run -d \
  --name hermes \
  --restart unless-stopped \
  -v ~/.hermes:/opt/data \
  -p 8642:8642 \
  my-hermes:latest gateway run

The entrypoint script and /opt/data semantics are inherited unchanged, so the rest of this page still applies. Remember to rebuild the image when pulling a newer upstream nousresearch/hermes-agent.

Complex tools or multi-service stacks — run a sidecar container

For tools that bring their own service (a database, a web server, a queue, a headless browser farm) or that are too heavy to live inside the Hermes container, run them as a separate container on a shared Docker network. Hermes reaches the sidecar by container name, the same way it reaches a local inference server (see Connecting to local inference servers).

services:
  hermes:
    image: nousresearch/hermes-agent:latest
    container_name: hermes
    restart: unless-stopped
    command: gateway run
    ports:
      - "8642:8642"
    volumes:
      - ~/.hermes:/opt/data
    networks:
      - hermes-net

  my-tool:
    image: example/my-tool:latest
    container_name: my-tool
    restart: unless-stopped
    networks:
      - hermes-net

networks:
  hermes-net:
    driver: bridge

From inside the Hermes container, the sidecar is reachable at http://my-tool:<port> (or whatever protocol it serves). This pattern keeps each service's lifecycle, resource limits, and upgrade cadence independent, and avoids bloating the Hermes image with dependencies that are only needed by one tool.

Broadly useful tools — open an issue or pull request

If a tool is likely to be useful to most Hermes Agent users, consider contributing it upstream rather than carrying it in a private derived image. Open an issue or pull request on the hermes-agent repository describing the tool and its use case. Tools that get bundled into the official image benefit every user and avoid the maintenance overhead of a downstream fork.

Connecting to local inference servers (vLLM, Ollama, etc.)

When running Hermes in Docker and your inference server (vLLM, Ollama, text-generation-inference, etc.) is also running on the host or in another container, networking requires extra attention.

Docker Compose (recommended)

Put both services on the same Docker network. This is the most reliable approach:

services:
  vllm:
    image: vllm/vllm-openai:latest
    container_name: vllm
    command: >
      --model Qwen/Qwen2.5-7B-Instruct
      --served-model-name my-model
      --host 0.0.0.0
      --port 8000
    ports:
      - "8000:8000"
    networks:
      - hermes-net
    deploy:
      resources:
        reservations:
          devices:
            - capabilities: [gpu]

  hermes:
    image: nousresearch/hermes-agent:latest
    container_name: hermes
    restart: unless-stopped
    command: gateway run
    ports:
      - "8642:8642"
    volumes:
      - ~/.hermes:/opt/data
    networks:
      - hermes-net

networks:
  hermes-net:
    driver: bridge

Then in your ~/.hermes/config.yaml, use the container name as the hostname:

model:
  provider: custom
  model: my-model
  base_url: http://vllm:8000/v1
  api_key: "none"

:::tip Key points

• Use the container name (vllm) as the hostname — not localhost or 127.0.0.1, which refer to the Hermes container itself.
• The model value must match the --served-model-name you passed to vLLM.
• Set api_key to any non-empty string (vLLM requires the header but doesn't validate it by default).
• Do not include a trailing slash in base_url. :::

Standalone Docker run (no Compose)

If your inference server runs directly on the host (not in Docker), use host.docker.internal on macOS/Windows, or --network host on Linux:

macOS / Windows:

docker run -d \
  --name hermes \
  -v ~/.hermes:/opt/data \
  -p 8642:8642 \
  nousresearch/hermes-agent gateway run

# config.yaml
model:
  provider: custom
  model: my-model
  base_url: http://host.docker.internal:8000/v1
  api_key: "none"

Linux (host networking):

docker run -d \
  --name hermes \
  --network host \
  -v ~/.hermes:/opt/data \
  nousresearch/hermes-agent gateway run

# config.yaml
model:
  provider: custom
  model: my-model
  base_url: http://127.0.0.1:8000/v1
  api_key: "none"

:::warning With --network host, the -p flag is ignored — all container ports are directly exposed on the host. :::

Verifying connectivity

From inside the Hermes container, confirm the inference server is reachable:

docker exec hermes curl -s http://vllm:8000/v1/models

You should see a JSON response listing your served model. If this fails, check:

1. Both containers are on the same Docker network (docker network inspect hermes-net)
2. The inference server is listening on 0.0.0.0, not 127.0.0.1
3. The port number matches

Ollama

Ollama works the same way. If Ollama runs on the host, use host.docker.internal:11434 (macOS/Windows) or 127.0.0.1:11434 (Linux with --network host). If Ollama runs in its own container on the same Docker network:

model:
  provider: custom
  model: llama3
  base_url: http://ollama:11434/v1
  api_key: "none"

Troubleshooting

Container exits immediately

Check logs: docker logs hermes. Common causes:

• Missing or invalid .env file — run interactively first to complete setup
• Port conflicts if running with exposed ports

"Permission denied" errors

The container's stage2 hook drops privileges to the non-root hermes user (UID 10000) via s6-setuidgid inside each supervised service. If your host ~/.hermes/ is owned by a different UID, set HERMES_UID/HERMES_GID to match your host user, or ensure the data directory is writable:

chmod -R 755 ~/.hermes

Browser tools not working

Playwright needs shared memory. Add --shm-size=1g to your Docker run command:

docker run -d \
  --name hermes \
  --shm-size=1g \
  -v ~/.hermes:/opt/data \
  nousresearch/hermes-agent gateway run

Gateway not reconnecting after network issues

The --restart unless-stopped flag handles most transient failures. If the gateway is stuck, restart the container:

docker restart hermes

Checking container health

docker logs --tail 50 hermes          # Recent logs
docker run -it --rm nousresearch/hermes-agent:latest version     # Verify version
docker stats hermes                    # Resource usage