Teknium
544c31b50b
* perf(config): add load_config_readonly() fast path for hot agent loop
`load_config()` is called from the agent loop's per-API-call hot path via
`get_provider_request_timeout()` and `get_provider_stale_timeout()` —
both invoked once per turn from `_resolved_api_call_timeout()` in
run_agent.py.
Profiling a synthetic 20-tool-call agent run revealed:
- 21 invocations of `load_config()` cumulating 56ms (~17% of agent loop)
- 34,398 deepcopy calls totaling 37ms (config defensive deepcopy + chain)
- 8,652 `_expand_env_vars` invocations (~412 per turn)
Microbench (cache-hit, real config.yaml present):
load_config() 265us/call (125us deepcopy + 140us infra)
load_config_readonly() 138us/call (~48% faster)
`load_config_readonly()` returns the cached dict directly without the
defensive deepcopy. Documented contract: caller must not mutate. Returns
plain dict (not MappingProxyType) so downstream `isinstance(x, dict)`
guards keep working — caught during initial implementation when
MappingProxyType broke get_provider_request_timeout's guard logic.
Wired into hermes_cli/timeouts.py (the two functions called per agent
turn). load_config() is unchanged for the 263 other call sites that
mutate the result before save_config(), are not in the hot path, or
where the safety guarantee matters more than the perf.
Profile A/B (cached config, 21-turn agent loop):
BEFORE AFTER delta
get_provider_request_timeout 55ms 16ms -71%
total function calls 399k 160k -60%
deepcopy calls (in hotspots) 34,398 ~0 ~elim
Verified:
- isinstance(load_config_readonly(), dict) is True
- timeout/stale resolutions correct
- load_config() still returns isolated mutable deepcopies
- tests/hermes_cli/test_config*.py / test_timeouts.py: 102/102 pass
- tests/cli/ + tests/agent/test_auxiliary_client.py: 883/883 pass
* perf(redact): substring pre-screens skip non-matching regex chains
Every log record passes through `RedactingFormatter.format` which calls
`redact_sensitive_text`, which historically ran ALL 13 secret-pattern
regexes against every line — including DB connection strings, JWTs,
Discord mentions, Signal phone numbers, etc. — even for typical clean
log records like 'INFO run_agent: API call completed'.
Add cheap substring pre-checks before each regex pass. False positives
still run the regex (which then matches nothing); false negatives are
impossible because every pattern requires the gated substring to match
its leading anchor:
- `_PREFIX_RE` gated on any of 33 known credential prefix substrings
- `_ENV_ASSIGN_RE` gated on `=` in text
- `_JSON_FIELD_RE` gated on `:` and `"` in text
- `_AUTH_HEADER_RE` gated on `uthorization`/`UTHORIZATION` in text
- `_TELEGRAM_RE` gated on `:` in text
- `_PRIVATE_KEY_RE` gated on `BEGIN` and `-----`
- `_DB_CONNSTR_RE` gated on `://` in text
- `_JWT_RE` gated on `eyJ` in text
- URL userinfo/query gated on `://`
- `_redact_form_body` gated on `&` and `=`
- `_DISCORD_MENTION_RE` gated on `<@`
- `_SIGNAL_PHONE_RE` gated on `+`
Microbench (5 typical log records, 20k iterations each):
BEFORE AFTER delta
redact_sensitive_text per call 5.63us 1.79us -68%
Real-world impact: ~244 log records emitted in a 30-turn agent loop, so
the chain saves ~1ms of CPU per conversation. Bigger win is the
reduction in regex execution and GC pressure during heavy logging
sessions (verbose logging, gateway message processing).
Security regression test: 30 secret-containing inputs (sk-/ghp_/JWT/DB
connstr/Auth-Bearer/private key/URL userinfo/Discord/Signal/etc.)
verified to produce identical redacted output before/after. All 75
existing tests/agent/test_redact.py cases pass.
The `?access_token=foo&code=bar` (bare query string, no scheme) case
that 'leaks' is pre-existing behavior — the URL query redaction
requires a well-formed URL with scheme+host. Not a regression.
* perf(run_agent): cache _needs_thinking_reasoning_pad result per (provider, model, base_url)
Profile of a 31-turn synthetic agent run shows `_needs_thinking_reasoning_pad`
fires 495 times (~16 per turn) and each call ran 3 helper methods, each
hitting `base_url_host_matches` 1-4 times via `urlparse`. Total cost:
3,342 base_url_host_matches calls + 3,373 urlparse calls accounting for
~36ms of agent-loop overhead (~7% of the entire post-network work).
Provider / model / base_url don't change during a conversation except via
`switch_model` and fallback activation — both of which already overwrite
those attributes atomically. Cache the result on a tuple key; since the
key is derived from the very fields that would change, the cache
auto-invalidates on the next read after a switch. No manual invalidation
needed in switch_model / _try_activate_fallback.
Profile A/B (31-turn cached-config agent run):
BEFORE AFTER delta
_needs_thinking_reasoning_pad cum 18ms 1ms -94%
_copy_reasoning_content_for_api cum 17ms 1ms -94%
base_url_host_matches calls 3,342 372 -89%
urlparse calls 3,373 403 -88%
total function calls 296k 223k -25%
Verified:
- tests/run_agent/test_deepseek_reasoning_content_echo.py: 36/36 pass
- tests/run_agent/ (full): 1383/1383 pass + 3 skipped
Hermes Agent ☤
The self-improving AI agent built by Nous Research. It's the only agent with a built-in learning loop — it creates skills from experience, improves them during use, nudges itself to persist knowledge, searches its own past conversations, and builds a deepening model of who you are across sessions. Run it on a $5 VPS, a GPU cluster, or serverless infrastructure that costs nearly nothing when idle. It's not tied to your laptop — talk to it from Telegram while it works on a cloud VM.
Use any model you want — Nous Portal, OpenRouter (200+ models), NovitaAI (AI-native cloud for Model API, Agent Sandbox, and GPU Cloud), NVIDIA NIM (Nemotron), Xiaomi MiMo, z.ai/GLM, Kimi/Moonshot, MiniMax, Hugging Face, OpenAI, or your own endpoint. Switch with hermes model — no code changes, no lock-in.
| A real terminal interface | Full TUI with multiline editing, slash-command autocomplete, conversation history, interrupt-and-redirect, and streaming tool output. |
| Lives where you do | Telegram, Discord, Slack, WhatsApp, Signal, and CLI — all from a single gateway process. Voice memo transcription, cross-platform conversation continuity. |
| A closed learning loop | Agent-curated memory with periodic nudges. Autonomous skill creation after complex tasks. Skills self-improve during use. FTS5 session search with LLM summarization for cross-session recall. Honcho dialectic user modeling. Compatible with the agentskills.io open standard. |
| Scheduled automations | Built-in cron scheduler with delivery to any platform. Daily reports, nightly backups, weekly audits — all in natural language, running unattended. |
| Delegates and parallelizes | Spawn isolated subagents for parallel workstreams. Write Python scripts that call tools via RPC, collapsing multi-step pipelines into zero-context-cost turns. |
| Runs anywhere, not just your laptop | Seven terminal backends — local, Docker, SSH, Singularity, Modal, Daytona, and Vercel Sandbox. Daytona and Modal offer serverless persistence — your agent's environment hibernates when idle and wakes on demand, costing nearly nothing between sessions. Run it on a $5 VPS or a GPU cluster. |
| Research-ready | Batch trajectory generation, trajectory compression for training the next generation of tool-calling models. |
Quick Install
Linux, macOS, WSL2, Termux
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/main/scripts/install.sh | bash
Windows (native, PowerShell) — Early Beta
Heads up: Native Windows support is early beta. It installs and runs, but hasn't been road-tested as broadly as our Linux/macOS/WSL2 paths. Please file issues when you hit rough edges. For the most battle-tested Windows setup today, run the Linux/macOS one-liner above inside WSL2.
Run this in PowerShell:
iex (irm https://raw.githubusercontent.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/main/scripts/install.ps1)
The installer handles everything: uv, Python 3.11, Node.js, ripgrep, ffmpeg, and a portable Git Bash (MinGit, unpacked to %LOCALAPPDATA%\hermes\git — no admin required, completely isolated from any system Git install). Hermes uses this bundled Git Bash to run shell commands.
If you already have Git installed, the installer detects it and uses that instead. Otherwise a ~45MB MinGit download is all you need — it won't touch or interfere with any system Git.
Android / Termux: The tested manual path is documented in the Termux guide. On Termux, Hermes installs a curated
.[termux]extra because the full.[all]extra currently pulls Android-incompatible voice dependencies.Windows: Native Windows is supported as an early beta — the PowerShell one-liner above installs everything, but expect rough edges and please file issues when you hit them. If you'd rather use WSL2 (our most battle-tested Windows path), the Linux command works there too. Native Windows install lives under
%LOCALAPPDATA%\hermes; WSL2 installs under~/.hermesas on Linux. The only Hermes feature that currently needs WSL2 specifically is the browser-based dashboard chat pane (it uses a POSIX PTY — classic CLI and gateway both run natively).
After installation:
source ~/.bashrc # reload shell (or: source ~/.zshrc)
hermes # start chatting!
Getting Started
hermes # Interactive CLI — start a conversation
hermes model # Choose your LLM provider and model
hermes tools # Configure which tools are enabled
hermes config set # Set individual config values
hermes gateway # Start the messaging gateway (Telegram, Discord, etc.)
hermes setup # Run the full setup wizard (configures everything at once)
hermes claw migrate # Migrate from OpenClaw (if coming from OpenClaw)
hermes update # Update to the latest version
hermes doctor # Diagnose any issues
CLI vs Messaging Quick Reference
Hermes has two entry points: start the terminal UI with hermes, or run the gateway and talk to it from Telegram, Discord, Slack, WhatsApp, Signal, or Email. Once you're in a conversation, many slash commands are shared across both interfaces.
| Action | CLI | Messaging platforms |
|---|---|---|
| Start chatting | hermes |
Run hermes gateway setup + hermes gateway start, then send the bot a message |
| Start fresh conversation | /new or /reset |
/new or /reset |
| Change model | /model [provider:model] |
/model [provider:model] |
| Set a personality | /personality [name] |
/personality [name] |
| Retry or undo the last turn | /retry, /undo |
/retry, /undo |
| Compress context / check usage | /compress, /usage, /insights [--days N] |
/compress, /usage, /insights [days] |
| Browse skills | /skills or /<skill-name> |
/<skill-name> |
| Interrupt current work | Ctrl+C or send a new message |
/stop or send a new message |
| Platform-specific status | /platforms |
/status, /sethome |
For the full command lists, see the CLI guide and the Messaging Gateway guide.
Documentation
All documentation lives at hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/docs:
| Section | What's Covered |
|---|---|
| Quickstart | Install → setup → first conversation in 2 minutes |
| CLI Usage | Commands, keybindings, personalities, sessions |
| Configuration | Config file, providers, models, all options |
| Messaging Gateway | Telegram, Discord, Slack, WhatsApp, Signal, Home Assistant |
| Security | Command approval, DM pairing, container isolation |
| Tools & Toolsets | 40+ tools, toolset system, terminal backends |
| Skills System | Procedural memory, Skills Hub, creating skills |
| Memory | Persistent memory, user profiles, best practices |
| MCP Integration | Connect any MCP server for extended capabilities |
| Cron Scheduling | Scheduled tasks with platform delivery |
| Context Files | Project context that shapes every conversation |
| Architecture | Project structure, agent loop, key classes |
| Contributing | Development setup, PR process, code style |
| CLI Reference | All commands and flags |
| Environment Variables | Complete env var reference |
Migrating from OpenClaw
If you're coming from OpenClaw, Hermes can automatically import your settings, memories, skills, and API keys.
During first-time setup: The setup wizard (hermes setup) automatically detects ~/.openclaw and offers to migrate before configuration begins.
Anytime after install:
hermes claw migrate # Interactive migration (full preset)
hermes claw migrate --dry-run # Preview what would be migrated
hermes claw migrate --preset user-data # Migrate without secrets
hermes claw migrate --overwrite # Overwrite existing conflicts
What gets imported:
- SOUL.md — persona file
- Memories — MEMORY.md and USER.md entries
- Skills — user-created skills →
~/.hermes/skills/openclaw-imports/ - Command allowlist — approval patterns
- Messaging settings — platform configs, allowed users, working directory
- API keys — allowlisted secrets (Telegram, OpenRouter, OpenAI, Anthropic, ElevenLabs)
- TTS assets — workspace audio files
- Workspace instructions — AGENTS.md (with
--workspace-target)
See hermes claw migrate --help for all options, or use the openclaw-migration skill for an interactive agent-guided migration with dry-run previews.
Contributing
We welcome contributions! See the Contributing Guide for development setup, code style, and PR process.
Quick start for contributors — clone and go with setup-hermes.sh:
git clone https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent.git
cd hermes-agent
./setup-hermes.sh # installs uv, creates venv, installs .[all], symlinks ~/.local/bin/hermes
./hermes # auto-detects the venv, no need to `source` first
Manual path (equivalent to the above):
curl -LsSf https://astral.sh/uv/install.sh | sh
uv venv .venv --python 3.11
source .venv/bin/activate
uv pip install -e ".[all,dev]"
scripts/run_tests.sh
Community
- 💬 Discord
- 📚 Skills Hub
- 🐛 Issues
- 🔌 computer-use-linux — Linux desktop-control MCP server for Hermes and other MCP hosts, with AT-SPI accessibility trees, Wayland/X11 input, screenshots, and compositor window targeting.
- 🔌 HermesClaw — Community WeChat bridge: Run Hermes Agent and OpenClaw on the same WeChat account.
License
MIT — see LICENSE.
Built by Nous Research.