# witcheer's Wingtips #21: credential pools

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

Canonical: https://hermeswatcher.com/wingtips/21  
Published: 2026-07-15  
[Original](https://notwitcheer.github.io/hermes-recipes/wingtips/21-credential-pools/) · [On X](https://x.com/witcheer/status/2077409888045510954) · [Full collection](https://notwitcheer.github.io/hermes-recipes/) · [Official docs](https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/docs/user-guide/features/credential-pools)

[Source Markdown](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/notwitcheer/hermes-recipes/8653fb699a137a32e81936fa33cabacd3f4f2095/docs/wingtips/21-credential-pools.md): use this file as the base for relative links in the verbatim text below.

Sources: [Hermes docs: Credential Pools](https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/docs/user-guide/features/credential-pools)


Hermes Wingtips #21: credential pools

a credential pool is several keys or logins for one provider. Hermes picks a healthy key, and when that key is rate-limited or out of quota it rotates to the next one. 

(this is different from fallback providers. a fallback jumps to a different provider, and only after every key in the pool is exhausted).

(1) add a second key (OpenRouter example): 

`hermes auth add openrouter --api-key sk-or-...-key`

(2) check the pool: `hermes auth list`

when Hermes does rotate, the new key has no cached prefix for your chat, so the next request re-reads the full history.  

lastly, if you are on Nous Portal with a single OAuth login, you usually do not need a pool. this tip is for multi-key API setups.