# Hermes Agent guides

> Plain-English guides to how Hermes Agent works, written from the official docs.

Canonical: https://hermeswatcher.com/learn

## Getting started

- [How to install Hermes Agent on Windows (native or WSL2)](https://hermeswatcher.com/learn/install-hermes-agent-windows.md): Hermes Agent runs natively on Windows 10 and 11. Pick the desktop app or the PowerShell installer, or use WSL2 if you need a Linux setup.
- [How to install Hermes Agent on Mac](https://hermeswatcher.com/learn/install-hermes-agent-mac.md): Hermes Agent officially supports Apple Silicon Macs. Install the desktop app or run the one-line terminal installer, then pick a model to start.
- [How to install Hermes Agent on Linux](https://hermeswatcher.com/learn/install-hermes-agent-linux.md): Hermes Agent officially supports 64-bit Linux on x86_64 and ARM. Run the one-line installer as your normal user, then set up a model to start.
- [How to run Hermes Agent in Docker](https://hermeswatcher.com/learn/install-hermes-agent-docker.md): Hermes Agent has an official Docker image for amd64 and arm64. Run the setup wizard, then start the gateway with your data on a mounted volume.
- [Moving to Hermes Agent from OpenClaw and other agents](https://hermeswatcher.com/learn/moving-from-openclaw-and-other-agents.md): Use the built-in, preview-first importers to bring your persona, memory, skills, model settings and bot tokens across, then finish the handful of things that never migrate automatically.
- [Hermes Agent setup: your first 24 hours](https://hermeswatcher.com/learn/first-24-hours-default-setup.md): An opinionated, documentation-grounded checklist for a new Hermes install: one working model, deliberate tools and approvals, memory you can trust, one skill, one scheduled job and a paired phone.

## Running & deploying

- [How to run Hermes Agent 24/7 on a VPS or home server](https://hermeswatcher.com/learn/run-hermes-agent-24-7.md): Keep Hermes Agent online around the clock: install the gateway as a service, enable linger or a system service, and lock it down before going public.
- [Where Hermes Agent runs: host vs work environment](https://hermeswatcher.com/learn/where-hermes-runs.md): Decide where the agent, its tools and its lasting files live before moving a workflow to a server.
- [Hermes Agent terminal backends: local, Docker, SSH, cloud](https://hermeswatcher.com/learn/choosing-a-terminal-backend.md): What each of Hermes's seven terminal backends does, what it isolates, what persists between sessions, and how to pick one for your situation.
- [Hermes Agent profiles: separate agents for separate jobs](https://hermeswatcher.com/learn/profiles-separate-agents.md): How Hermes profiles give you independent agents on one machine, what they isolate (and what they don't), and the commands for creating, switching, sharing and running them.
- [How to update Hermes Agent safely](https://hermeswatcher.com/learn/updating-hermes-safely.md): What hermes update actually does, how to preview and back up before updating, how release channels work, and how to recover if an update goes wrong.
- [Hermes Agent web dashboard: a quick tour](https://hermeswatcher.com/learn/web-dashboard-tour.md): What the local dashboard can do, which pages save you the most time, and how to reach it from another machine without exposing your API keys.

## Memory & context

- [Hermes Agent memory vs context files vs project notes](https://hermeswatcher.com/learn/memory-context-and-project-records.md): Choose where a fact belongs so a future session can recover it without carrying your entire project in every prompt.
- [How Hermes Agent memory works (and where it stops)](https://hermeswatcher.com/learn/how-hermes-memory-works.md): A plain-English tour of Hermes's two built-in memory files, the frozen snapshot they load into, their hard size limits, and when an external memory provider or session search is the better tool.
- [Hermes Agent sessions: search and resume past work](https://hermeswatcher.com/learn/sessions-and-session-search.md): How Hermes stores every conversation, how to name, resume, export and prune sessions, and how the agent searches its own history.

## Skills, plugins & MCP

- [Hermes Agent skills vs plugins vs MCP: which to use](https://hermeswatcher.com/learn/skills-plugins-and-mcp.md): Match the extension to the missing capability instead of installing three different things to solve one problem.
- [How to write your first Hermes Agent skill](https://hermeswatcher.com/learn/writing-your-first-skill.md): A step-by-step walkthrough of creating a SKILL.md, where to put it, how Hermes discovers and loads it, and how to keep agent-written skills under review.
- [Hermes Agent vision: send it screenshots and images](https://hermeswatcher.com/learn/vision-and-images.md): How to attach images in the terminal or from chat apps, how Hermes routes them for vision and text-only models, and the settings that keep image-heavy sessions affordable.

## Models, providers & cost

- [How to choose a model for Hermes Agent](https://hermeswatcher.com/learn/models-and-effective-configuration.md): Separate model selection, provider access and tool configuration, then compare them using a representative task.
- [How to keep Hermes Agent costs down](https://hermeswatcher.com/learn/keeping-costs-under-control.md): Where Hermes spends tokens, how to measure it, and the documented settings and habits that keep your provider bill predictable.
- [Hermes Agent SOUL.md and personalities explained](https://hermeswatcher.com/learn/soul-md-and-personalities.md): Use SOUL.md for the durable identity and tone of your agent, /personality for temporary modes, and AGENTS.md for project rules, so each layer does one job.

## Automation & scheduling

- [How to schedule recurring tasks in Hermes Agent](https://hermeswatcher.com/learn/scheduling-with-evidence.md): Define success as an attempt, a usable artifact and a confirmed destination before trusting an unattended schedule.
- [Hermes Agent subagents and delegation explained](https://hermeswatcher.com/learn/subagents-and-delegation.md): How Hermes's delegate_task tool spawns isolated child agents, what they can and can't do, the settings that cap concurrency and depth, and how to keep the cost sensible.
- [Hermes Agent event hooks explained](https://hermeswatcher.com/learn/event-hooks-explained.md): Choose between gateway hooks, shell hooks, plugin hooks and outbound webhooks, and set up a hook that logs, blocks or notifies without surprising you later.
- [Hermes Agent goals and loops: keep it working on its own](https://hermeswatcher.com/learn/goals-and-loops.md): When to use /goal to keep working until something is done, /loop to repeat a check on a timer, and cron for work that must run when you are away.

## Security & permissions

- [Hermes Agent permissions for real workflows](https://hermeswatcher.com/learn/permissions-for-real-workflows.md): Define access by account, operation and destination so useful autonomy does not depend on ambiguous instructions.
- [Hermes Agent security: approvals, allowlists, sandboxing](https://hermeswatcher.com/learn/security-model-approvals-and-sandboxing.md): How Hermes's layered defences fit together, from dangerous-command approval and the hardline blocklist to file-write guards, container backends and gateway authorisation, and what each layer does not protect against.

## Research & knowledge work

- [Turn a Hermes Agent use case into a repeatable workflow](https://hermeswatcher.com/learn/from-story-to-workflow.md): Use community examples as discovery material, then expose the dependencies and evidence needed to reproduce the result.
- [Hermes Agent for research that keeps its sources](https://hermeswatcher.com/learn/research-that-keeps-its-sources.md): Separate discovery, factual extraction and editorial judgment so a useful summary remains traceable.

## Messaging & the gateway

- [Hermes Agent messaging gateway explained](https://hermeswatcher.com/learn/messaging-gateway-explained.md): What the Hermes gateway process does, how to set it up and keep it running, who is allowed to talk to your bot, and how chat sessions behave.
- [How to set up Hermes Agent on Telegram](https://hermeswatcher.com/learn/hermes-agent-telegram-setup.md): Connect Hermes Agent to Telegram: create a bot with Create with QR or BotFather, set your allowlist, start the gateway and chat from your phone.
- [How to set up Hermes Agent on Discord](https://hermeswatcher.com/learn/hermes-agent-discord-setup.md): Connect Hermes Agent to Discord: create a bot, turn on Message Content Intent, invite it, set your allowlist and start the gateway.
- [How to set up Hermes Agent on WhatsApp with the Baileys bridge](https://hermeswatcher.com/learn/hermes-agent-whatsapp-setup.md): Connect Hermes Agent to WhatsApp: link a number with a QR code, set your allowlist, start the gateway and message your agent from your phone.
- [How to set up Hermes Agent on Slack](https://hermeswatcher.com/learn/hermes-agent-slack-setup.md): Create a Slack app from the Hermes manifest, save both tokens, restrict access and start the gateway for DMs, channels and threads.
- [How to set up Hermes Agent on Microsoft Teams](https://hermeswatcher.com/learn/hermes-agent-microsoft-teams-setup.md): Register a Teams bot, connect its HTTPS webhook to Hermes, restrict access by user ID and send a first direct message.
- [How to set up Hermes Agent on Google Chat](https://hermeswatcher.com/learn/hermes-agent-google-chat-setup.md): Connect Hermes through a Google Chat app and Pub/Sub pull subscription, restrict users and optionally enable native file uploads.
- [How to set up Hermes Agent on Matrix](https://hermeswatcher.com/learn/hermes-agent-matrix-setup.md): Create a Matrix bot account, configure its credentials and allowlists, choose an encryption mode and start a private conversation.
- [How to set up Hermes Agent on Signal](https://hermeswatcher.com/learn/hermes-agent-signal-setup.md): Link Signal through signal-cli, restrict access, start both processes and send a first message, with notes on media and keeping the host online.
- [How to set up Hermes Agent on email](https://hermeswatcher.com/learn/hermes-agent-email-setup.md): Use a dedicated IMAP/SMTP inbox, allow trusted senders, pin sender authentication and start the Hermes email gateway for threaded replies.
- [How to set up Hermes Agent on iMessage with Photon](https://hermeswatcher.com/learn/hermes-agent-imessage-photon-setup.md): Connect iMessage through Photon's hosted service without a Mac relay. Set access controls and understand shared-line and incoming-attachment limits.
- [How to set up Hermes Agent on iMessage with BlueBubbles](https://hermeswatcher.com/learn/hermes-agent-imessage-bluebubbles-setup.md): Use an always-on Mac and BlueBubbles to connect iMessage to Hermes. Configure both network directions, authorize senders and check delivery.
- [How to set up Hermes Agent on WhatsApp with the Business Cloud API](https://hermeswatcher.com/learn/hermes-agent-whatsapp-business-cloud-api-setup.md): Connect business WhatsApp to Hermes with a Meta app, signed HTTPS webhook and allowlist. Understand the 24-hour delivery window.
- [How to set up Hermes Agent with Open WebUI and the API server](https://hermeswatcher.com/learn/hermes-agent-open-webui-setup.md): Use Open WebUI with the Hermes API server. Set a strong key, keep loopback private and understand Docker reachability and host tool access.

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HermesWatcher is an independent guide. It is not affiliated with or endorsed by Nous Research. The [official Hermes Agent documentation](https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/docs) and [repository](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent) from Nous Research are the authority; each page here lists the official sources it was written from. If this site and the official docs disagree, trust the official docs. Index for agents: https://hermeswatcher.com/llms.txt