# Hermes Wincred: Hermes Agent plugin

> Resolve Hermes environment variables from the current user's Windows Credential Manager at startup, instead of keeping provider keys in plaintext in .env or auth.json.

Canonical: https://hermeswatcher.com/plugins/hermes-wincred  
Tier: Community  
Official page (Nous Research): https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/docs/plugins/hermes-wincred  
Last updated in catalog: 2026-10-25

Resolve Hermes environment variables from the current user's Windows Credential Manager at startup, instead of keeping provider keys in plaintext in .env or auth.json. Config is secrets.wincred.map, an ENV_VAR -> generic-credential-target mapping (bare names or wincred:// names); each value is read with CredReadW in the current user's vault and handed to the secret-source orchestrator, which applies it with the usual precedence, provenance and conflict rules. Values may be UTF-8 or UTF-16LE (cmdkey and the Credential UI write UTF-16); anything that does not decode to text, or that contains interior NULs, is skipped with a warning instead of being injected as a mangled key.

## Good to know before installing

This source reads your Windows Credential Manager: only the generic credentials named in the map, with no enumeration of the vault. Resolved values become environment variables of the Hermes process and its children, exactly like .env entries, so anything that can read that environment can see them. The package is read-only and stdlib-only (ctypes): it never creates, updates or deletes credentials, writes no files, starts no subprocesses, makes no network calls and does not self-update. Windows only. Credential Manager is user-scoped, so this raises the at-rest bar for backups, cloud sync and dotfiles; it is not a boundary against code already running as the same user. Applying fetched values stays the orchestrator's job; the plugin never writes os.environ itself. Disclosure — when enabled, reads only the Windows Credential Manager generic credentials named in secrets.wincred.map (no vault enumeration) and injects them as environment variables of the Hermes process and its children, exactly like .env entries; read-only, stdlib ctypes, no subprocesses, no network, no file writes; user-scoped at-rest protection, not a boundary against code already running as the same user.

From the plugin's catalog listing.

## How to install

1. Install it. Hermes asks for any API keys it needs, then asks whether to turn it on.

```bash
hermes plugins install hermes-wincred
```

2. Said no? Turn it on later:

```bash
hermes plugins enable hermes-wincred
```

3. Restart Hermes so it loads the plugin.

Some plugins also need a sign-in or settings: see the official page. Memory plugins ask whether to become your memory provider instead. Steps follow the official plugins guide: https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/docs/user-guide/features/plugins

## Facts

- Category: Security & privacy
- Maintained by: Yicheng-Mark (Community)
- Needs: No API keys declared
- Works on: windows
- Requires Hermes: `>=0.21.4`
- Version: 0.1.0
- In the catalog since: 2026-10-20, updated 2026-10-25

## Links

- [Full setup and settings (official page)](https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/docs/plugins/hermes-wincred)
- [Source code](https://github.com/Yicheng-Mark/hermes-windows-plugins/tree/main/wincred)
- [All plugins](https://hermeswatcher.com/plugins.md)

---

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