mirror of
https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent.git
synced 2026-05-18 04:41:56 +00:00
No description
c1eb2dcda7
* feat(security): supply-chain advisory checker + lazy-install framework + tiered install fallback
Three coordinated mitigations for the Mini Shai-Hulud worm hitting
mistralai 2.4.6 on PyPI (2026-05-12) and for the next single-package
compromise that follows.
# What this PR makes true
1. Users with the poisoned mistralai 2.4.6 in their venv get a loud
detection banner with copy-pasteable remediation steps the moment
they run hermes (and on every gateway startup).
2. One quarantined / yanked PyPI package can no longer silently demote
a fresh install to 'core only' — the installer keeps every other
extra and tells the user which tier landed.
3. Future opt-in backends (Mistral, ElevenLabs, Honcho, etc.) can
lazy-install on first use under a strict allowlist, instead of
eagerly pulling everything at install time.
# Detection: hermes_cli/security_advisories.py
- ADVISORIES catalog (one entry currently: shai-hulud-2026-05 for
mistralai==2.4.6). Adding the next one is a single dataclass.
- detect_compromised() uses importlib.metadata.version() — no pip
dependency, works in uv venvs that lack pip.
- Banner cache (~/.hermes/cache/advisory_banner_seen) rate-limits
the startup banner to once per 24h per advisory.
- Acks persisted to security.acked_advisories in config.yaml; never
re-banner after ack.
- Wired into:
* hermes doctor — runs first, prints full remediation block
* hermes doctor --ack <id> — dismisses an advisory
* cli.py interactive run() and single-query branches — short
stderr banner pointing at hermes doctor
* gateway/run.py startup — operator-visible warning in gateway.log
# Lazy-install framework: tools/lazy_deps.py
- LAZY_DEPS allowlist maps namespaced feature keys (tts.elevenlabs,
memory.honcho, provider.bedrock, etc.) to pip specs.
- ensure(feature) installs missing deps in the active venv via the
uv → pip → ensurepip ladder (matches tools_config._pip_install).
- Strict spec safety regex rejects URLs, file paths, shell metas,
pip flag injection, control chars — only PyPI-by-name accepted.
- Gated on security.allow_lazy_installs (default true) plus the
HERMES_DISABLE_LAZY_INSTALLS env var for restricted/audited envs.
- Migrated three backends as proof of pattern:
* tools/tts_tool.py — _import_elevenlabs() calls ensure first
* plugins/memory/honcho/client.py — get_honcho_client lazy-installs
* tts.mistral / stt.mistral entries pre-registered for when PyPI
restores mistralai
# Installer fallback tiers
scripts/install.sh, scripts/install.ps1, setup-hermes.sh:
- Centralised _BROKEN_EXTRAS list (currently: mistral). Edit one
array when a transitive breaks; users keep every other extra.
- New 'all minus known-broken' tier between [all] and the existing
PyPI-only-extras tier. Only kicks in when [all] fails resolve.
- All three tiers explicit: every fallback announces which tier
landed and prints a re-run hint when not on Tier 1.
- install.ps1 and install.sh both regenerate their tier specs from
the same _BROKEN_EXTRAS array so updates stay in sync.
Side effect: install.ps1 Tier 2 spec previously hardcoded 'mistral'
in its extra list — bug fixed by the refactor (mistral is filtered
out).
# Config
hermes_cli/config.py — DEFAULT_CONFIG.security gains:
- acked_advisories: [] (advisory IDs the user has dismissed)
- allow_lazy_installs: True (security gate for ensure())
No config version bump needed — both keys nest under existing
security: block, and load_config's deep-merge picks up DEFAULT_CONFIG
defaults for users with older configs.
# Tests
tests/hermes_cli/test_security_advisories.py — 23 tests covering:
- detect_compromised matches/non-matches, wildcard frozenset
- ack persistence, idempotence, blank rejection, config-failure path
- banner cache rate limiting + 24h re-banner + ack-stops-banner
- short_banner_lines / full_remediation_text / render_doctor_section /
gateway_log_message
- shipped catalog well-formedness invariant
tests/tools/test_lazy_deps.py — 40 tests covering:
- spec safety: 11 safe parametrized + 18 unsafe parametrized
- allowlist: unknown-feature rejection, namespace.name shape,
every shipped spec passes the safety regex
- security gating: config flag, env var, default, fail-open
- ensure() happy/sad paths: already-satisfied, install success,
pip stderr surfaced on failure, install-succeeds-but-still-missing
- is_available, feature_install_command
Combined: 63 new tests, all passing under scripts/run_tests.sh.
# Validation
- scripts/run_tests.sh tests/hermes_cli/test_security_advisories.py
tests/tools/test_lazy_deps.py → 63/63 passing
- scripts/run_tests.sh tests/hermes_cli/test_doctor.py
tests/hermes_cli/test_doctor_command_install.py
tests/tools/test_tts_mistral.py tests/tools/test_transcription_tools.py
tests/tools/test_transcription_dotenv_fallback.py → 165/165 passing
- scripts/run_tests.sh tests/hermes_cli/ tests/tools/ →
9191 passed, 8 pre-existing failures (verified on origin/main
before this change)
- bash -n on install.sh and setup-hermes.sh → OK
- py_compile on all modified .py files → OK
- End-to-end smoke test of detect_compromised + render_doctor_section
+ gateway_log_message with mocked installed version → produces
copy-pasteable remediation output
# Community
Full advisory + remediation steps:
website/docs/community/security-advisories/shai-hulud-mistralai-2026-05.md
Short-form post drafts (Discord, GitHub pinned issue, README banner):
scripts/community-announcement-shai-hulud.md
Refs: PR #24205 (mistral disabled), Socket Security advisory
<https://socket.dev/blog/mini-shai-hulud-worm-pypi>
* build(deps): pin every direct dep to ==X.Y.Z (no ranges)
Companion to the supply-chain advisory work: replace every >=/</~= range
in pyproject.toml's [project.dependencies] and [project.optional-dependencies]
with an exact ==X.Y.Z pin sourced from uv.lock.
Why: ranges allow PyPI to ship a fresh version of any direct dep at any
time without a code review on our side. With ranges, the malicious
mistralai 2.4.6 release would have been pulled by every fresh
'pip install -e .[all]' for the hours between upload and PyPI's
quarantine — exactly the install window we got hit on. Exact pins close
that window: the only way a new package version reaches a user is via
an intentional update on our end.
What the user-facing change is: nothing, behavior-wise. Every package
resolves to the same version it was already resolving to via uv.lock —
the pins just remove the resolver's freedom to pick a different one.
Cost: any user installing Hermes alongside another package that requires
a newer pin gets a resolver conflict. Acceptable for our isolated-venv
install path; documented in the new comment block.
Build-system requires line (setuptools>=61.0) is intentionally left
as a range — pinning the build backend would block fresh pip from
bootstrapping the build on architectures where that exact wheel isn't
available.
mistral extra (mistralai==2.3.0) is pinned but stays out of [all]
(per PR #24205). 'uv lock' regeneration will fail until PyPI restores
mistralai; lockfile regeneration is gated behind that, NOT on every PR.
LAZY_DEPS in tools/lazy_deps.py also moved to exact pins so the lazy-
install pathway can never resolve a different version than the one
declared in pyproject.toml.
Validation:
- Cross-checked all 77 pinned direct deps in pyproject.toml against
uv.lock — every pin matches the resolved version exactly.
- Cross-checked all LAZY_DEPS specs against uv.lock — same.
- 'uv pip install -e .[all] --dry-run' resolves 205 packages cleanly.
- tests/tools/test_lazy_deps.py + tests/hermes_cli/test_security_advisories.py
→ 63/63 passing (every shipped spec passes the safety regex).
- Doctor + TTS + transcription targeted suite → 146/146 passing.
* build(deps): hash-verify transitives via uv.lock; remove unresolvable [mistral] extra
You asked: 'what about the dependencies the dependencies rely on?' —
correctly noting that exact-pinning direct deps in pyproject.toml does
NOT cover the transitive graph. `pip install` and `uv pip install` both
re-resolve transitives fresh from PyPI at install time, so a compromised
transitive (e.g. `httpcore` if it got worm-poisoned tomorrow) would
still hit our users even with every direct dep exact-pinned.
# What this commit fixes
1. **Both real installer scripts now prefer `uv sync --locked` as Tier 0.**
uv.lock records SHA256 hashes for every transitive — a compromised
package with a different hash gets REJECTED. Falls through to the
existing `uv pip install` cascade if the lockfile is missing or
stale, with a loud warning that the fallback path does NOT
hash-verify transitives. Previously only `setup-hermes.sh` (the dev
path) used the lockfile; `scripts/install.sh` and `scripts/install.ps1`
(the paths fresh users actually run) skipped it.
2. **Removed the `[mistral]` extra entirely.** The `mistralai` PyPI
project is fully quarantined right now — every version returns 404,
so any pin we wrote was unresolvable, which broke `uv lock --check`
in CI. Restoration is documented in pyproject.toml as a 5-step
checklist (verify, re-add extra, re-enable in 4 modules, regenerate
lock, optionally re-add to [all]).
3. **Regenerated uv.lock.** 262 packages, mistralai/eval-type-backport/
jsonpath-python pruned. `uv lock --check` now passes.
# Defense-in-depth view
| Layer | Where | Protects against |
|----------------------------|-------------------|-------------------------------------------|
| Exact pins in pyproject | direct deps | new mistralai 2.4.6-style direct compromise |
| uv.lock + `--locked` install | transitive graph | transitive worm injection |
| Tier-0 hash-verified path | install.sh / .ps1 | actually USE the lockfile in fresh installs |
| `uv lock --check` CI gate | every PR | drift between pyproject and lockfile |
| `hermes_cli/security_advisories.py` | runtime | cleanup for users who already got hit |
The exact pinning + hash verification together close the supply-chain
gap. Without the lockfile path, exact pins alone are theater.
# Validation
- `uv lock --check` → passes (262 packages resolved, no drift).
- `bash -n` on install.sh + setup-hermes.sh → OK.
- 209/209 tests passing across new + adjacent test files
(test_lazy_deps.py, test_security_advisories.py, test_doctor.py,
test_tts_mistral.py, test_transcription_tools.py).
- TOML parse OK.
* chore: remove community announcement drafts (PR body covers it)
* build(deps): lazy-install every opt-in backend (anthropic, search, terminal, platforms, dashboard)
Extends the lazy-install framework to cover everything that's not used by
every hermes session. Base install drops from ~60 packages to 45.
Moved out of core dependencies = []:
- anthropic (only when provider=anthropic native, not via aggregators)
- exa-py, firecrawl-py, parallel-web (search backends; only when picked)
- fal-client (image gen; only when picked)
- edge-tts (default TTS but still optional)
New extras in pyproject.toml: [anthropic] [exa] [firecrawl] [parallel-web]
[fal] [edge-tts]. All added to [all].
New LAZY_DEPS entries: provider.anthropic, search.{exa,firecrawl,parallel},
tts.edge, image.fal, memory.hindsight, platform.{telegram,discord,matrix},
terminal.{modal,daytona,vercel}, tool.dashboard.
Each import site now calls ensure() before importing the SDK. Where the
module had a top-level try/except (telegram, discord, fastapi), the
graceful-fallback pattern was extended to lazy-install on first
check_*_requirements() call and re-bind module globals.
Updated test_windows_native_support.py tzdata check from snapshot
(>=2023.3 literal) to invariant (any version + win32 marker).
Validation:
- Base install: 45 packages (was ~60); 6 newly-extracted packages absent
- uv lock --check: passes (262 packages, no drift)
- 209/209 lazy_deps + advisory + doctor + tts/transcription tests passing
- py_compile clean on all 12 modified modules
|
||
|---|---|---|
| .github | ||
| .plans | ||
| acp_adapter | ||
| acp_registry | ||
| agent | ||
| assets | ||
| cron | ||
| datagen-config-examples | ||
| docker | ||
| docs | ||
| environments | ||
| gateway | ||
| hermes_cli | ||
| locales | ||
| nix | ||
| optional-skills | ||
| packaging/homebrew | ||
| plans | ||
| plugins | ||
| providers | ||
| scripts | ||
| skills | ||
| tests | ||
| tinker-atropos@65f084ee80 | ||
| tools | ||
| tui_gateway | ||
| ui-tui | ||
| web | ||
| website | ||
| .dockerignore | ||
| .env.example | ||
| .envrc | ||
| .gitattributes | ||
| .gitignore | ||
| .gitmodules | ||
| .mailmap | ||
| AGENTS.md | ||
| batch_runner.py | ||
| cli-config.yaml.example | ||
| cli.py | ||
| constraints-termux.txt | ||
| CONTRIBUTING.md | ||
| docker-compose.yml | ||
| Dockerfile | ||
| flake.lock | ||
| flake.nix | ||
| hermes | ||
| hermes-already-has-routines.md | ||
| hermes_bootstrap.py | ||
| hermes_constants.py | ||
| hermes_logging.py | ||
| hermes_state.py | ||
| hermes_time.py | ||
| LICENSE | ||
| MANIFEST.in | ||
| mcp_serve.py | ||
| mini_swe_runner.py | ||
| model_tools.py | ||
| package-lock.json | ||
| package.json | ||
| pyproject.toml | ||
| README.md | ||
| README.zh-CN.md | ||
| RELEASE_v0.2.0.md | ||
| RELEASE_v0.3.0.md | ||
| RELEASE_v0.4.0.md | ||
| RELEASE_v0.5.0.md | ||
| RELEASE_v0.6.0.md | ||
| RELEASE_v0.7.0.md | ||
| RELEASE_v0.8.0.md | ||
| RELEASE_v0.9.0.md | ||
| RELEASE_v0.10.0.md | ||
| RELEASE_v0.11.0.md | ||
| RELEASE_v0.12.0.md | ||
| RELEASE_v0.13.0.md | ||
| rl_cli.py | ||
| run_agent.py | ||
| SECURITY.md | ||
| setup-hermes.sh | ||
| toolset_distributions.py | ||
| toolsets.py | ||
| trajectory_compressor.py | ||
| utils.py | ||
| uv.lock | ||
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 | Seven terminal backends — local, Docker, SSH, Singularity, Modal, Daytona, and Vercel Sandbox. 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
Linux, macOS, WSL2, Termux
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/main/scripts/install.sh | bash
Windows (native, PowerShell) — Early Beta
Heads up: Native Windows support is early beta. It installs and runs, but hasn't been road-tested as broadly as our Linux/macOS/WSL2 paths. Please file issues when you hit rough edges. For the most battle-tested Windows setup today, run the Linux/macOS one-liner above inside WSL2.
Run this in PowerShell:
irm https://raw.githubusercontent.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/main/scripts/install.ps1 | iex
The installer handles everything: uv, Python 3.11, Node.js, ripgrep, ffmpeg, and a portable Git Bash (MinGit, unpacked to %LOCALAPPDATA%\hermes\git — no admin required, completely isolated from any system Git install). Hermes uses this bundled Git Bash to run shell commands.
If you already have Git installed, the installer detects it and uses that instead. Otherwise a ~45MB MinGit download is all you need — it won't touch or interfere with any system Git.
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 supported as an early beta — the PowerShell one-liner above installs everything, but expect rough edges and please file issues when you hit them. If you'd rather use WSL2 (our most battle-tested Windows path), the Linux command works there too. Native Windows install lives under
%LOCALAPPDATA%\hermes; WSL2 installs under~/.hermesas on Linux. The only Hermes feature that currently needs WSL2 specifically is the browser-based dashboard chat pane (it uses a POSIX PTY — classic CLI and gateway both run natively).
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> |
/<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]"
scripts/run_tests.sh
RL Training (optional): The RL/Atropos integration (
environments/) — seeCONTRIBUTING.mdfor the full setup.
Community
- 💬 Discord
- 📚 Skills Hub
- 🐛 Issues
- 🔌 HermesClaw — Community WeChat bridge: Run Hermes Agent and OpenClaw on the same WeChat account.
License
MIT — see LICENSE.
Built by Nous Research.