# witcheer's Wingtips #10: every fallback entry needs both provider and model

Written by [witcheer](https://x.com/witcheer) at Nous Research. Republished with credit.

Canonical: https://hermeswatcher.com/wingtips/10  
Published: 2026-07-01  
[Original](https://notwitcheer.github.io/hermes-recipes/wingtips/10-every-fallback-entry-needs-both-provider-and-mod/) · [On X](https://x.com/witcheer/status/2072321716626366479) · [Full collection](https://notwitcheer.github.io/hermes-recipes/) · [Official docs](https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/docs/user-guide/features/fallback-providers)

[Source Markdown](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/notwitcheer/hermes-recipes/8653fb699a137a32e81936fa33cabacd3f4f2095/docs/wingtips/10-every-fallback-entry-needs-both-provider-and-mod.md): use this file as the base for relative links in the verbatim text below.

Sources: [Hermes docs: Fallback Providers](https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/docs/user-guide/features/fallback-providers)


Hermes Wingtips #10: every fallback entry needs both provider and model

your fallback_providers list in ~/.hermes/config.yaml counts an entry as a real fallback only when it carries a provider field and a model field. 

two things worth setting:

(1) write provider and model on every entry in the chain, top to bottom.

(2) put a local model last as your floor for a cloud outage, pointing provider: custom at your own llama.cpp or vLLM endpoint.