# Hermes Wsl Terminal: Hermes Agent plugin

> Run Hermes' terminal tools inside an existing WSL distro on Windows: one bash -c per command as the distro's default user, over the same files Windows sees at /mnt/<drive>, with no Docker Desktop, no image and no…

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

Run Hermes' terminal tools inside an existing WSL distro on Windows: one bash -c per command as the distro's default user, over the same files Windows sees at /mnt/<drive>, with no Docker Desktop, no image and no container to start or tear down. A host cwd is translated (C:\Users\me\proj becomes /mnt/c/Users/me/proj, \\wsl.localhost paths become the distro's own paths) and the mount root is asked once with wslpath, so a distro that moved its automount point still gets correct paths. cwd persists across commands, stdin and exit codes ride through wsl.exe, and hermes doctor / setup and the dashboard picker get real rows (wsl.exe path, WSL version, distros present, selected distro). HERMES_WSL_DISTRO and HERMES_WSL_USER select the distro and the user.

## Good to know before installing

This is a full-access backend, not a sandbox: when it is the selected backend, everything the terminal tool runs executes as your user inside your distro, with that distro's files, permissions and network access, so dangerous-command approval stays on and Hermes never stops the distro. The plugin itself reads no credentials, stores nothing and makes no network calls; it spawns wsl.exe per command and wslpath once per distro. It rewrites one core-produced string, the trailing cwd marker, because under WSL a command substitution is handed the directory wsl.exe started in rather than the shell's current one (measurements in the repo's VALIDATION.md); nothing in Hermes is patched or rebound at runtime.

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-wsl-terminal
```

2. Said no? Turn it on later:

```bash
hermes plugins enable hermes-wsl-terminal
```

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: Coding & developer tools
- Maintained by: Yicheng-Mark (Community)
- Needs: No API keys declared
- Works on: windows
- Requires Hermes: `>=0.21.6`
- Version: 0.1.0
- In the catalog since: 2026-10-18, updated 2026-10-25

## Links

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

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