How to Setup Hermes Agent (Step-by-Step Guide)

Hermes Agent - the self-hosted AI that builds a permanent model of your workflow, one session at a time.

Hamza Khalid

Jun 19, 2026

You explain your project to Claude on Monday.

Tuesday - it forgot.

You explain again.

Wednesday - same thing.

You’re re-teaching a brilliant assistant that resets every single time you close the tab.

That’s not a bug.

That’s how every browser-based AI was built.

Hermes Agent by Nous Research was built to fix exactly that.

By the end of this issue, you’ll get a copy-paste Hermes First Week Setup Checklist - Obsidian-ready; grab it at the end.

You’re the reason this newsletter exists. What AI tool or workflow should I test next? Drop your topic in the comments - the most-requested one becomes the next issue.

I came across Hermes three weeks ago when it started showing up everywhere in my feeds.

180,000 GitHub stars in under 4 months.

Dealroom called it the fastest-growing open-source agent of 2026.

I wanted to see what the actual setup looked like - not the launch post version.

So I tested it.

Hermes just shipped v0.16.0 - their biggest release yet.
→ Official Hermes docs at hermes-agent.nousresearch.com

Don’t read the whole GitHub repo. I did it for you.

Here’s what I found.

What Hermes actually is

Hermes is a self-hosted AI agent.

It runs on your machine, a $5 VPS, or a cloud server.

Unlike Claude or ChatGPT in a browser, Hermes stays running between sessions.

It remembers what you told it last week.

After every task it completes, it writes a plain Markdown skill file that captures what worked - and automatically pulls it into future runs.

You talk to it through Telegram, Discord, Slack, WhatsApp, Signal, Email, or directly in the terminal.

200+ models supported.

MIT licensed.

Free.

Your data never leaves your machine.

The Old Way vs New Way

The old way: Open Claude → Explain your project → Get output → Close the tab → Start over tomorrow.
The new way: Open Hermes → It already knows your project → Output gets better every week automatically.

That’s the shift. Let’s set it up.

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Step-by-Step Guide to Setting Up Hermes

Step 1: Install Hermes

Two options. Pick one based on your comfort level.

Option A: Desktop App (recommended for beginners)

Go to hermes-agent.nousresearch.com
Download the installer for your OS (macOS, Windows, Linux)
Open it, pick a model, done

No terminal. No config files. No prerequisites.

Honest note: On Windows, the installer isn’t code-signed yet. SmartScreen will flag it on first launch. Click “More info” → “Run anyway.” Nous Research acknowledges this in their own docs. It’s a known limitation of v0.16.0, not a security issue.

Option B: CLI Install (recommended if you’re comfortable with a terminal)

The only prerequisite is Git. The installer handles Python, Node.js, ripgrep, and ffmpeg automatically.

curl -fsSL https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/install.sh | bash

Confirm it worked:

hermes --version

Step 2: Run the setup wizard

One command walks you through everything:

hermes setup

This covers the model provider, API key, messaging channel, and memory settings, all in a single flow.

Then run a health check before anything else:

hermes doctor

This checks your Python version, dependencies, model context, and API connectivity.

Fix anything it flags before moving to Step 3.

Skipping this step is how people end up stuck 20 minutes later, wondering why nothing works.

Try these two starter messages:

“What can you help me with?” confirms the LLM connection works
“Search for the latest news about Nous Research & summarize in 3 bullets” - confirms tool calling works

Step 3: Enable Memory and Skills

This is the step that separates Hermes from every other chatbot you’ve used.

hermes setup

Look for two settings: persistent_memory and skill_generation. Set both to enabled.

What each one does:

persistent_memory: Stores conversation context in ~/.hermes. Searchable across sessions. Hermes pulls relevant context automatically when you start a new conversation.

skill_generation: After any task involving 5+ tool calls, Hermes writes a plain Markdown skill file to ~/.hermes/skills/. Next time you ask for something similar, it starts from a better place.

Without both of these on, Hermes is just another chatbot that resets. With both on, every session compounds.

Every complex task writes a skill file; this line does all the work. Without it, you have a capable agent. With it, you have one that gets measurably better every week.

Pause here

I know this looks like two simple toggles.

It’s not.

Every person I’ve seen give up on Hermes in the first week skipped this step.

They used it for 3 days, thought “it’s fine but not that different,” and moved on.

The memory and skill accumulation is what makes this tool different from everything else.

Enable both.

Give it 2 weeks.

Then tell me it’s not different.

Step 4: Pick your model

Hermes supports 200+ models. Here’s the honest breakdown of what actually works for most people:

Kimi K2.5 from Moonshot: Community consensus for beginners. Fast. Roughly $3/day for heavy use. Excellent at agentic tasks. Start here if you’re unsure.
DeepSeek V4: Cheapest option at around $2/month. Good output for the price. Best for getting comfortable with the system before spending more.
Nous Portal: One subscription, 300+ models plus web search, image generation, TTS, and cloud browser. Best option if you don’t want to manage API keys across providers.
Local Ollama: Free. Fully private. No API costs. Needs real RAM, though; 70B parameter models need 40GB+ quantized. Start with smaller models on a regular laptop, or it will crawl.

One honest caveat: avoid using Claude or GPT as your daily Hermes driver until you understand token costs. They work. They just cost significantly more at scale, and that surprise bill is unpleasant.

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Step 5: Connect Telegram

Telegram is the most common starting point. Your agent on your phone, anywhere.

hermes gateway setup

Select Telegram
Create a bot via BotFather (it walks you through this)
Paste your token
Done

Message your bot from your phone. It responds. You can now kick off tasks, check on progress, or run automations from anywhere- no laptop required.

Step 6: Set your first automation

Don’t start with something complex. Start with one thing that costs you real time every day.

The highest-value first automation for most people:

Daily standup summary

Tell Hermes:

Every morning at 8am, pull my git log from the last 24 hours, 
check my open GitHub issues, and send me a Telegram summary 
of what I shipped and what's still open.

Hermes supports natural language scheduling. No cron syntax. It handles the job, sends the output to Telegram, and writes a skill file so it runs cleaner next time

That one automation alone is worth the 30-minute setup time.

Key Commands You’ll Use Daily

hermes: Start interactive session

hermes model: Switch model or provider

hermes tools: Configure tools

hermes gateway: Set up messaging channels

hermes doctor: Diagnose issues

hermes update: Update to the latest version

hermes claw migrate: Migrate from OpenClaw

Slash commands inside a session:

/new: Fresh conversation when context gets messy

/model: Swap LLM mid-conversation without restarting

/goal: Run an autonomous task loop

/undo: Undo last action

/reset: Clear current context

What to expect in the first month

Day 1–2: Basic tasks work. The agent is still learning your context.
Day 3–7: Skill files start accumulating. Output becomes more specific to your projects without you having to re-explain.
Week 2–3: Same tasks produce measurably better results. Less correction needed.
Month 1: You have an agent who understands your workflow without being reminded. The gap between this and every other AI tool you use becomes obvious.

Day one is the worst it will ever be. Every session after that, it’s building a deeper model of who you are and what you need.

In 60 seconds:

→ Install via desktop app or CLI with pip install hermes-agent

→ Run hermes setup then hermes doctor before anything else

→ Enable persistent_memory and skill_generation - don’t skip this

→ Start with Kimi K2.5 or DeepSeek V4 if you’re unsure on models

→ Connect Telegram, set one daily automation, let the skill files accumulate

Save this. Screenshot it. Come back to it.

Your gift - as promised:

Hermes First Week Setup Checklist copy-paste file with every step from this issue, the key commands, model recommendations, and a 7-day progress log template.

---
title: Hermes First Week Setup Checklist
tags: [hermes, AI-tools, setup, agent]
---

## Pre-Launch
- [ ] Install Hermes (desktop or CLI)
- [ ] Run `hermes setup`
- [ ] Run `hermes doctor` — fix all flags before proceeding
- [ ] Enable `persistent_memory` in setup
- [ ] Enable `skill_generation` in setup

## Model Setup
- [ ] Chosen model: ________________
- [ ] API key connected and verified
- [ ] Test message sent: "What can you help me with?"
- [ ] Tool call test: "Search for the latest Nous Research news and summarize in 3 bullets"

## First Integrations
- [ ] Telegram connected via `hermes gateway setup`
- [ ] First automation set (daily standup or similar)

## 7-Day Progress Log
Day 1: ______________________________
Day 2: ______________________________
Day 3: ______________________________
Day 4: ______________________________
Day 5: ______________________________
Day 6: ______________________________
Day 7: ______________________________

## Key Commands
| Command | What it does |
|---|---|
| `hermes` | Start interactive session |
| `hermes model` | Switch model or provider |
| `hermes tools` | Configure tools |
| `hermes gateway` | Set up messaging channels |
| `hermes doctor` | Diagnose issues |
| `hermes update` | Update to latest version |
| `/new` | Fresh conversation |
| `/model` | Swap LLM mid-conversation |
| `/goal` | Run an autonomous task loop |
| `/undo` | Undo last action |

## Week 1 Reflection
What tasks produced skill files this week?
______________________________

What automations are running?
______________________________

What surprised me most?
______________________________

Copy this into Obsidian and start filling it in on Day 1.

Here are a few issues that you might have missed (go check them out):

We tested it in public. Now go use it in private.

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Not for me. For the person in your life who’s been using Claude for six months and still asking, “How do I get better at this?

And for shorter takes between issues, follow me on X → Hamza Khalid

PS: Are you already running a self-hosted agent - or is Hermes the first one you’re seriously considering?

Hit reply -I read every response.

- Hamza 💙

AI in public

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