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emozilla f49afd3122 feat(web): add /api/pty WebSocket bridge to embed TUI in dashboard
Exposes hermes --tui over a PTY-backed WebSocket so the dashboard can
embed the real TUI rather than reimplement its surface. The browser
attaches xterm.js to the socket; keystrokes flow in, PTY output bytes
flow out.

Architecture:

    browser <Terminal> (xterm.js)
           │  onData ───► ws.send(keystrokes)
           │  onResize ► ws.send('\x1b[RESIZE:cols;rows]')
           │  write   ◄── ws.onmessage (PTY bytes)
           ▼
    FastAPI /api/pty (token-gated, loopback-only)
           ▼
    PtyBridge (ptyprocess) ── spawns node ui-tui/dist/entry.js ──► tui_gateway + AIAgent

Components
----------

hermes_cli/pty_bridge.py
  Thin wrapper around ptyprocess.PtyProcess: byte-safe read/write on the
  master fd via os.read/os.write (not PtyProcessUnicode — ANSI is
  inherently byte-oriented and UTF-8 boundaries may land mid-read),
  non-blocking select-based reads, TIOCSWINSZ resize, idempotent
  SIGHUP→SIGTERM→SIGKILL teardown, platform guard (POSIX-only; Windows
  is WSL-supported only).

hermes_cli/web_server.py
  @app.websocket("/api/pty") endpoint gated by the existing
  _SESSION_TOKEN (via ?token= query param since browsers can't set
  Authorization on WS upgrades). Loopback-only enforcement. Reader task
  uses run_in_executor to pump PTY bytes without blocking the event
  loop. Writer loop intercepts a custom \x1b[RESIZE:cols;rows] escape
  before forwarding to the PTY. The endpoint resolves the TUI argv
  through a _resolve_chat_argv hook so tests can inject fake commands
  without building the real TUI.

Tests
-----

tests/hermes_cli/test_pty_bridge.py — 12 unit tests: spawn, stdout,
stdin round-trip, EOF, resize (via TIOCSWINSZ + tput readback), close
idempotency, cwd, env forwarding, unavailable-platform error.

tests/hermes_cli/test_web_server.py — TestPtyWebSocket adds 7 tests:
missing/bad token rejection (close code 4401), stdout streaming,
stdin round-trip, resize escape forwarding, unavailable-platform ANSI
error frame + 1011 close, resume parameter forwarding to argv.

96 tests pass under scripts/run_tests.sh.

(cherry picked from commit 29b337bca7)

feat(web): add Chat tab with xterm.js terminal + Sessions resume button

(cherry picked from commit 3d21aee8 by emozilla, conflicts resolved
 against current main: BUILTIN_ROUTES table + plugin slot layout)

fix(tui): replace OSC 52 jargon in /copy confirmation

When the user ran /copy successfully, Ink confirmed with:

  sent OSC52 copy sequence (terminal support required)

That reads like a protocol spec to everyone who isn't a terminal
implementer. The caveat was a historical artifact — OSC 52 wasn't
universally supported when this message was written, so the TUI
honestly couldn't guarantee the copy had landed anywhere.

Today every modern terminal (including the dashboard's embedded
xterm.js) handles OSC 52 reliably. Say what the user actually wants
to know — that it copied, and how much — matching the message the
TUI already uses for selection copy:

  copied 1482 chars

(cherry picked from commit a0701b1d5a)

docs: document the dashboard Chat tab

AGENTS.md — new subsection under TUI Architecture explaining that the
dashboard embeds the real hermes --tui rather than rewriting it,
with pointers to the pty_bridge + WebSocket endpoint and the rule
'never add a parallel chat surface in React.'

website/docs/user-guide/features/web-dashboard.md — user-facing Chat
section inside the existing Web Dashboard page, covering how it works
(WebSocket + PTY + xterm.js), the Sessions-page resume flow, and
prerequisites (Node.js, ptyprocess, POSIX kernel / WSL on Windows).

(cherry picked from commit 2c2e32cc45)

feat(tui-gateway): transport-aware dispatch + WebSocket sidecar

Decouples the JSON-RPC dispatcher from its I/O sink so the same handler
surface can drive multiple transports concurrently. The PTY chat tab
already speaks to the TUI binary as bytes — this adds a structured
event channel alongside it for dashboard-side React widgets that need
typed events (tool.start/complete, model picker state, slash catalog)
that PTY can't surface.

- `tui_gateway/transport.py` — `Transport` protocol + `contextvars` binding
  + module-level `StdioTransport` fallback. The stdio stream resolves
  through a lambda so existing tests that monkey-patch `_real_stdout`
  keep passing without modification.
- `tui_gateway/ws.py` — WebSocket transport implementation; FastAPI
  endpoint mounting lives in hermes_cli/web_server.py.
- `tui_gateway/server.py`:
  - `write_json` routes via session transport (for async events) →
    contextvar transport (for in-request writes) → stdio fallback.
  - `dispatch(req, transport=None)` binds the transport for the request
    lifetime and propagates it to pool workers via `contextvars.copy_context`
    so async handlers don't lose their sink.
  - `_init_session` and the manual-session create path stash the
    request's transport so out-of-band events (subagent.complete, etc.)
    fan out to the right peer.

`tui_gateway.entry` (Ink's stdio handshake) is unchanged externally —
it falls through every precedence step into the stdio fallback, byte-
identical to the previous behaviour.

feat(web): ChatSidebar — JSON-RPC sidecar next to xterm.js terminal

Composes the two transports into a single Chat tab:

  ┌─────────────────────────────────────────┬──────────────┐
  │  xterm.js / PTY  (emozilla #13379)      │ ChatSidebar  │
  │  the literal hermes --tui process       │  /api/ws     │
  └─────────────────────────────────────────┴──────────────┘
        terminal bytes                          structured events

The terminal pane stays the canonical chat surface — full TUI fidelity,
slash commands, model picker, mouse, skin engine, wide chars all paint
inside the terminal. The sidebar opens a parallel JSON-RPC WebSocket
to the same gateway and renders metadata that PTY can't surface to
React chrome:

  • model + provider badge with connection state (click → switch)
  • running tool-call list (driven by tool.start / tool.progress /
    tool.complete events)
  • model picker dialog (gateway-driven, reuses ModelPickerDialog)

The sidecar is best-effort. If the WS can't connect (older gateway,
network hiccup, missing token) the terminal pane keeps working
unimpaired — sidebar just shows the connection-state badge in the
appropriate tone.

- `web/src/components/ChatSidebar.tsx` — new component (~270 lines).
  Owns its GatewayClient, drives the model picker through
  `slash.exec`, fans tool events into a capped tool list.
- `web/src/pages/ChatPage.tsx` — split layout: terminal pane
  (`flex-1`) + sidebar (`w-80`, `lg+` only).
- `hermes_cli/web_server.py` — mount `/api/ws` (token + loopback
  guards mirror /api/pty), delegate to `tui_gateway.ws.handle_ws`.

Co-authored-by: emozilla <emozilla@nousresearch.com>

refactor(web): /clean pass on ChatSidebar + ChatPage lint debt

- ChatSidebar: lift gw out of useRef into a useMemo derived from a
  reconnect counter. React 19's react-hooks/refs and react-hooks/
  set-state-in-effect rules both fire when you touch a ref during
  render or call setState from inside a useEffect body. The
  counter-derived gw is the canonical pattern for "external resource
  that needs to be replaceable on user action" — re-creating the
  client comes from bumping `version`, the effect just wires + tears
  down. Drops the imperative `gwRef.current = …` reassign in
  reconnect, drops the truthy ref guard in JSX. modelLabel +
  banner inlined as derived locals (one-off useMemo was overkill).
- ChatPage: lazy-init the banner state from the missing-token check
  so the effect body doesn't have to setState on first run. Drops
  the unused react-hooks/exhaustive-deps eslint-disable. Adds a
  scoped no-control-regex disable on the SGR mouse parser regex
  (the \\x1b is intentional for xterm escape sequences).

All my-touched files now lint clean. Remaining warnings on web/
belong to pre-existing files this PR doesn't touch.

Verified: vitest 249/249, ui-tui eslint clean, web tsc clean,
python imports clean.

chore: uptick

fix(web): drop ChatSidebar tool list — events can't cross PTY/WS boundary

The /api/pty endpoint spawns `hermes --tui` as a child process with its
own tui_gateway and _sessions dict; /api/ws runs handle_ws in-process in
the dashboard server with a separate _sessions dict. Tool events fire on
the child's gateway and never reach the WS sidecar, so the sidebar's
tool.start/progress/complete listeners always observed an empty list.

Drop the misleading list (and the now-orphaned ToolCall primitive),
keep model badge + connection state + model picker + error banner —
those work because they're sidecar-local concerns. Surfacing tool calls
in the sidebar requires cross-process forwarding (PTY child opens a
back-WS to the dashboard, gateway tees emits onto stdio + sidecar
transport) — proper feature for a follow-up.

feat(web): wire ChatSidebar tool list to PTY child via /api/pub broadcast

The dashboard's /api/pty spawns hermes --tui as a child process; tool
events fire in the python tui_gateway grandchild and never crossed the
process boundary into the in-process WS sidecar — so the sidebar tool
list was always empty.

Cross-process forwarding:

- tui_gateway: TeeTransport (transport.py) + WsPublisherTransport
  (event_publisher.py, sync websockets client). entry.py installs the
  tee on _stdio_transport when HERMES_TUI_SIDECAR_URL is set, mirroring
  every dispatcher emit to a back-WS without disturbing Ink's stdio
  handshake.

- hermes_cli/web_server.py: new /api/pub (publisher) + /api/events
  (subscriber) endpoints with a per-channel registry. /api/pty now
  accepts ?channel= and propagates the sidecar URL via env. start_server
  also stashes app.state.bound_port so the URL is constructable.

- web/src/pages/ChatPage.tsx: generates a channel UUID per mount,
  passes it to /api/pty and as a prop to ChatSidebar.

- web/src/components/ChatSidebar.tsx: opens /api/events?channel=, fans
  tool.start/progress/complete back into the ToolCall list. Restores
  the ToolCall primitive.

Tests: 4 new TestPtyWebSocket cases cover channel propagation,
broadcast fan-out, and missing-channel rejection (10 PTY tests pass,
120 web_server tests overall).

fix(web): address Copilot review on #14890

Five threads, all real:

- gatewayClient.ts: register `message`/`close` listeners BEFORE awaiting
  the open handshake.  Server emits `gateway.ready` immediately after
  accept, so a listener attached after the open promise could race past
  the initial skin payload and lose it.

- ChatSidebar.tsx: wire `error`/`close` on the /api/events subscriber
  WS into the existing error banner.  4401/4403 (auth/loopback reject)
  surface as a "reload the page" message; mid-stream drops surface as
  "events feed disconnected" with the existing reconnect button.  Clean
  unmount closes (1000/1001) stay silent.

- web-dashboard.md: install hint was `pip install hermes-agent[web]` but
  ptyprocess lives in the `pty` extra, not `web`.  Switch to
  `hermes-agent[web,pty]` in both prerequisite blocks.

- AGENTS.md: previous "never add a parallel React chat surface" guidance
  was overbroad and contradicted this PR's sidebar.  Tightened to forbid
  re-implementing the transcript/composer/PTY terminal while explicitly
  allowing structured supporting widgets (sidebar / model picker /
  inspectors), matching the actual architecture.

- web/package-lock.json: regenerated cleanly so the wterm sibling
  workspace paths (extraneous machine-local entries) stop polluting CI.

Tests: 249/249 vitest, 10/10 PTY/events, web tsc clean.

refactor(web): /clean pass on ChatSidebar events handler

Spotted in the round-2 review:

- Banner flashed on clean unmount: `ws.close()` from the effect cleanup
  fires `close` with code 1005, opened=true, neither 1000 nor 1001 —
  hit the "unexpected drop" branch.  Track `unmounting` in the effect
  scope and gate the banner through a `surface()` helper so cleanup
  closes stay silent.

- DRY the duplicated "events feed disconnected" string into a local
  const used by both the error and close handlers.

- Drop the `opened` flag (no longer needed once the unmount guard is
  the source of truth for "is this an expected close?").
2026-04-24 10:51:49 -04:00
.github docs(website): dedicated page per bundled + optional skill (#14929) 2026-04-23 22:22:11 -07:00
.plans Merge PR #724: feat: --yolo flag to bypass all approval prompts 2026-03-10 20:56:30 -07:00
acp_adapter fix(acp): include MCP toolsets in ACP sessions 2026-04-24 03:04:42 -07:00
acp_registry feat: restore ACP server implementation from PR #949 (#1254) 2026-03-14 00:09:05 -07:00
agent fix(bedrock): evict cached boto3 client on stale-connection errors 2026-04-24 07:26:07 -07:00
assets Update banner image to new version 2026-02-25 11:53:44 -08:00
cron fix(gateway,cron): activate fallback_model when primary provider auth fails 2026-04-24 05:35:43 -07:00
datagen-config-examples feat: add WebResearchEnv RL environment for multi-step web research 2026-03-05 14:34:36 +00:00
docker fix(docker): fix HERMES_UID permission handling and add docker-compose.yml 2026-04-24 04:52:11 -07:00
environments refactor: remove remaining redundant local imports (comprehensive sweep) 2026-04-21 00:50:58 -07:00
gateway feat: allow Telegram chat allowlists for groups and forums (#15027) 2026-04-24 07:23:14 -07:00
hermes_cli feat(web): add /api/pty WebSocket bridge to embed TUI in dashboard 2026-04-24 10:51:49 -04:00
nix fix(nix): make working directory writable 2026-04-23 02:06:16 -07:00
optional-skills feat(optional-skills): add page-agent skill under new web-development category (#13976) 2026-04-22 04:54:26 -07:00
packaging/homebrew chore: prepare Hermes for Homebrew packaging (#4099) 2026-03-30 17:34:43 -07:00
plans fix(gemini): tighten native routing and streaming replay 2026-04-19 12:40:08 -07:00
plugins refactor(spotify): convert to built-in bundled plugin under plugins/spotify (#15174) 2026-04-24 07:06:11 -07:00
scripts chore(release): map Group G contributors in AUTHOR_MAP 2026-04-24 07:26:07 -07:00
skills feat(spotify): consolidate tools (9→7), add spotify skill, surface in hermes setup (#15154) 2026-04-24 06:14:51 -07:00
tests feat(web): add /api/pty WebSocket bridge to embed TUI in dashboard 2026-04-24 10:51:49 -04:00
tinker-atropos@65f084ee80 Add tinker-atropos submodule and update RL training tools 2026-02-04 10:36:01 -08:00
tools fix(delegate): tool-activity-aware heartbeat stale detection (#13041) (#15183) 2026-04-24 07:25:19 -07:00
tui_gateway feat(web): add /api/pty WebSocket bridge to embed TUI in dashboard 2026-04-24 10:51:49 -04:00
ui-tui feat(web): add /api/pty WebSocket bridge to embed TUI in dashboard 2026-04-24 10:51:49 -04:00
web feat(web): add /api/pty WebSocket bridge to embed TUI in dashboard 2026-04-24 10:51:49 -04:00
website feat(web): add /api/pty WebSocket bridge to embed TUI in dashboard 2026-04-24 10:51:49 -04:00
.dockerignore fix(docker): exclude runtime data/ from build context 2026-04-22 21:15:28 -07:00
.env.example feat: add Ollama Cloud as built-in provider 2026-04-16 02:22:09 -07:00
.envrc nix: add tui lockfile update script 2026-04-10 00:46:37 -04:00
.gitattributes feat: web UI dashboard for managing Hermes Agent (#8756) 2026-04-12 22:26:28 -07:00
.gitignore Update .gitignore 2026-04-22 20:02:46 -07:00
.gitmodules refactor: remove mini-swe-agent dependency — inline Docker/Modal backends (#2804) 2026-03-24 07:30:25 -07:00
.mailmap chore: add MestreY0d4-Uninter to AUTHOR_MAP and .mailmap 2026-04-15 15:03:28 -07:00
AGENTS.md feat(web): add /api/pty WebSocket bridge to embed TUI in dashboard 2026-04-24 10:51:49 -04:00
batch_runner.py refactor: remove remaining redundant local imports (comprehensive sweep) 2026-04-21 00:50:58 -07:00
cli-config.yaml.example docs: document prompt_caching.cache_ttl in cli-config example 2026-04-24 03:21:29 -07:00
cli.py fix(codex): route auth failures to fallback provider chain 2026-04-24 04:53:32 -07:00
constraints-termux.txt feat: add tested Termux install path and EOF-aware gh auth 2026-04-09 16:24:53 -07:00
CONTRIBUTING.md Update CONTRIBUTING.md 2026-04-23 15:08:41 -07:00
docker-compose.yml fix(docker): safer docker-compose defaults for UID and dashboard bind 2026-04-24 04:52:11 -07:00
Dockerfile fix(docker): reap orphaned subprocesses via tini as PID 1 (#15116) 2026-04-24 05:22:34 -07:00
flake.lock fix nix build 2026-04-11 15:30:37 -04:00
flake.nix nix: add tui lockfile update script 2026-04-10 00:46:37 -04:00
hermes fix: use argparse entrypoint in top-level launcher (#3874) 2026-03-29 21:54:36 -07:00
hermes-already-has-routines.md docs: automation templates gallery + comparison post (#9821) 2026-04-14 12:30:50 -07:00
hermes_constants.py Merge branch 'main' of github.com:NousResearch/hermes-agent into feat/ink-refactor 2026-04-13 21:17:41 -05:00
hermes_logging.py fix: detect and strip non-ASCII characters from API keys (#6843) 2026-04-14 20:20:31 -07:00
hermes_state.py fix(resume): redirect --resume to the descendant that actually holds the messages 2026-04-24 03:04:42 -07:00
hermes_time.py refactor: extract shared helpers to deduplicate repeated code patterns (#7917) 2026-04-11 13:59:52 -07:00
LICENSE fix: restore missing MIT license file 2026-03-07 13:43:08 -08:00
MANIFEST.in chore: prepare Hermes for Homebrew packaging (#4099) 2026-03-30 17:34:43 -07:00
mcp_serve.py fix: point optional-dep install hints at the venv's python (#11938) 2026-04-17 21:16:33 -07:00
mini_swe_runner.py fix(kimi): omit temperature entirely for Kimi/Moonshot models (#13157) 2026-04-20 12:23:05 -07:00
model_tools.py fix: sanitize tool schemas for llama.cpp backends; restore MCP in TUI (#15032) 2026-04-24 02:44:46 -07:00
package-lock.json perf(browser): upgrade agent-browser 0.13 -> 0.26, wire daemon idle timeout 2026-04-22 16:33:36 -07:00
package.json perf(browser): upgrade agent-browser 0.13 -> 0.26, wire daemon idle timeout 2026-04-22 16:33:36 -07:00
pyproject.toml chore: release v0.11.0 (2026.4.23) (#14791) 2026-04-23 15:31:59 -07:00
README.md docs(readme): fix stale RL submodule instructions, skills table row, test runner (#14758) 2026-04-23 15:12:04 -07:00
RELEASE_v0.2.0.md chore: rebuild changelog with correct time window (Feb 25 12PM PST onwards) 2026-03-12 02:33:50 -07:00
RELEASE_v0.3.0.md chore: release v0.3.0 (v2026.3.17) 2026-03-17 00:38:48 -07:00
RELEASE_v0.4.0.md docs: revise v0.4.0 changelog — fix feature attribution, reorder sections 2026-03-23 22:42:22 -07:00
RELEASE_v0.5.0.md chore: release v0.5.0 (v2026.3.28) (#3568) 2026-03-28 13:11:39 -07:00
RELEASE_v0.6.0.md chore: release v0.6.0 (2026.3.30) (#3985) 2026-03-30 08:29:38 -07:00
RELEASE_v0.7.0.md chore: release v0.7.0 (2026.4.3) (#4812) 2026-04-03 11:14:55 -07:00
RELEASE_v0.8.0.md docs: update v0.8.0 highlights — notify_on_complete, MiMo v2 Pro, reorder 2026-04-08 04:59:45 -07:00
RELEASE_v0.9.0.md fix: add contributor audit script + fix missed contributors (#9264) 2026-04-13 16:31:27 -07:00
RELEASE_v0.10.0.md chore: release v0.10.0 (2026.4.16) (#11209) 2026-04-16 12:53:06 -07:00
RELEASE_v0.11.0.md chore: release v0.11.0 (2026.4.23) (#14791) 2026-04-23 15:31:59 -07:00
rl_cli.py refactor: consolidate get_hermes_home() and parse_reasoning_effort() (#3062) 2026-03-25 15:54:28 -07:00
run_agent.py fix(bedrock): Bedrock-aware _rebuild_anthropic_client helper on interrupt 2026-04-24 07:26:07 -07:00
SECURITY.md docs: add terminal bypass test to Out of Scope section 2026-04-15 14:34:09 -07:00
setup-hermes.sh fix(termux): make setup-hermes use android path 2026-04-09 16:24:53 -07:00
toolset_distributions.py chore: fix 154 f-strings, simplify getattr/URL patterns, remove dead code (#3119) 2026-03-25 19:47:58 -07:00
toolsets.py feat(spotify): consolidate tools (9→7), add spotify skill, surface in hermes setup (#15154) 2026-04-24 06:14:51 -07:00
trajectory_compressor.py fix: sweep remaining provider-URL substring checks across codebase 2026-04-20 22:14:29 -07:00
utils.py fix(agent): normalize socks:// env proxies for httpx/anthropic 2026-04-21 05:52:46 -07:00
uv.lock chore(dev): add ruff linter to dev deps and configure in pyproject.toml (#14527) 2026-04-23 17:20:18 +05:30

Hermes Agent

Hermes Agent ☤

Documentation Discord License: MIT Built by Nous Research

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 interfaceFull TUI with multiline editing, slash-command autocomplete, conversation history, interrupt-and-redirect, and streaming tool output.
Lives where you doTelegram, Discord, Slack, WhatsApp, Signal, and CLI — all from a single gateway process. Voice memo transcription, cross-platform conversation continuity.
A closed learning loopAgent-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 automationsBuilt-in cron scheduler with delivery to any platform. Daily reports, nightly backups, weekly audits — all in natural language, running unattended.
Delegates and parallelizesSpawn 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 laptopSix 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-readyBatch 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

📖 Full documentation →

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/) ships via the atroposlib and tinker dependencies pulled in by .[all,dev] — no submodule setup required.


Community


License

MIT — see LICENSE.

Built by Nous Research.