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emozilla
705eaa054a
Converges the Windows packaged desktop installer onto a single canonical
install topology: drop the Electron shell only (~80MB instead of ~500MB),
clone Hermes Agent at a build-time-pinned commit on first launch via
install.ps1's stage protocol, and treat the resulting git checkout at
%LOCALAPPDATA%\hermes\hermes-agent\ as the canonical install location
(same path the CLI installer uses). Future updates flow through the
existing applyUpdates() git-pull path.
Replaces the previous fat-installer architecture where the .exe bundled
a pre-staged hermes-agent source tree under resources/hermes-agent/ that
was then sync'd into ACTIVE_HERMES_ROOT at launch -- a complicated
factory-vs-active dance with several footguns (FACTORY_HERMES_ROOT
mismatch on path resolve, isGitCheckout guard regressions, pyproject
hash drift detection inside the sync loop).
Architecture overview
---------------------
Build time
apps/desktop/scripts/write-build-stamp.cjs writes
apps/desktop/build/install-stamp.json with {commit, branch, builtAt,
dirty}. Honours $GITHUB_SHA / $GITHUB_REF_NAME in CI, falls back to
`git rev-parse HEAD` locally.
apps/desktop/scripts/stage-native-deps.cjs copies the runtime subset
of @homebridge/node-pty-prebuilt-multiarch from the workspace-root
node_modules into apps/desktop/build/native-deps/. Workspace dedup
hoists this dep to the root, out of reach of electron-builder's
`files:`-restricted collector; staging gives us a deterministic
path to extraResources.
electron-builder ships both into resources/install-stamp.json and
resources/native-deps/ respectively.
Boot resolver (electron/main.cjs)
Resolver order:
1. HERMES_DESKTOP_HERMES_ROOT override
2. SOURCE_REPO_ROOT (dev mode)
3. ACTIVE_HERMES_ROOT git checkout WITH .hermes-bootstrap-complete
marker -- the post-install fast path
4. `hermes` on PATH (CLI-installed user adding the desktop)
5. pip-installed hermes_cli via system Python
6. bootstrap-needed sentinel -> hand off to runBootstrap
Deletes the entire FACTORY_HERMES_ROOT / RUNTIME_MARKER /
syncTreeExcludingVenv machinery (-200 lines). The isGitCheckout
guard that bit us in the install.ps1 PR is gone.
First-launch bootstrap (electron/bootstrap-runner.cjs)
1. Resolve install.ps1: prefer SOURCE_REPO_ROOT/scripts (dev), else
download from GitHub raw at INSTALL_STAMP.commit (cached at
HERMES_HOME\bootstrap-cache\install-<sha>.ps1).
2. Fetch the stage manifest via install.ps1 -Manifest -Commit X
-Branch Y.
3. Iterate stages: install.ps1 -Stage <name> -NonInteractive -Json
-Commit X -Branch Y per stage.
4. On all stages green: write the .hermes-bootstrap-complete
marker with {schemaVersion, pinnedCommit, pinnedBranch,
completedAt, desktopVersion}.
Per-run log to HERMES_HOME\logs\bootstrap-<ts>.log. Cancellation
via AbortSignal. Manifest cache so retries don't re-download.
Install overlay (src/components/desktop-install-overlay.tsx)
Mounted alongside the existing onboarding overlay; flexbox card
with header (static) + middle (scrollable) + footer (failure-only,
static). Subscribes to hermes:bootstrap:event IPC + resyncs from
hermes:bootstrap:get on mount/reload. Renders:
- 14-stage checklist with per-stage state icons
- Overall progress bar + current-stage spotlight
- Auto-expanded installer-output panel on failure
- "Copy output" button (full ring buffer + error to clipboard)
- "Reload and retry" wired through hermes:bootstrap:reset to
clear main.cjs's latched failure
Synthetic empty-manifest event from main.cjs flips the overlay to
'active' immediately so the slow install.ps1 download doesn't
leave the user staring at the generic Preparing splash.
Failure latching (main.cjs)
bootstrapFailure module-scope variable holds the rejection after
install.ps1 fails. startHermes() throws the latched error
immediately when set, bypassing the entire ensureRuntime +
runBootstrap chain. Without this, the renderer's ensureGatewayOpen
retries would re-run install.ps1 in a 5-10 min hot loop while the
user was still reading the failure overlay. Cleared via
hermes:bootstrap:reset on user-driven retry.
Unsupported-platform overlay (1F)
macOS / Linux packaged builds (no install.sh stage protocol yet)
emit an unsupported-platform event with a copy-pasteable install
command + docs URL. Dedicated overlay branch with "Copy command"
+ "I've run it -- retry" buttons.
install.ps1 additions (Phase 1F.3 + 1F.5)
-----------------------------------------
New -Commit and -Tag string params. Precedence Commit > Tag >
Branch. Honoured by all three code paths (update / fresh clone /
ZIP fallback), with archive URL selection that handles each
ref-type variant. Detached-HEAD checkouts intentionally -- they're
pins, not branches the user pulls into.
EAP=Continue wrap around the new pin-step git invocations. `git
fetch origin <commit>` writes the routine 'From <url>' info line to
stderr; under the script's global EAP=Stop that terminates the
script even though fetch+checkout succeed. Matches the established
pattern in Install-Uv, Test-Python, _Run-NpmInstall.
Backend fix (hermes_cli/web_server.py)
--------------------------------------
CORS allow_origin_regex now accepts Origin: 'null'. Packaged
Electron loads index.html via file://; Chromium sets the WebSocket
upgrade Origin header to the opaque origin 'null', which the old
regex rejected with HTTP 403 before gateway_ws() ever ran. This
failure mode was masked in the older FACTORY_HERMES_ROOT
architecture because the resolver often found an existing hermes
on PATH with different binding behavior.
Security maintained: localhost-only bind keeps cross-machine pages
out; per-process session token still gates every authenticated
/api/ endpoint regardless of Origin.
Desktop QoL
-----------
DevTools is now enabled in packaged builds (F12 / Cmd+Opt+I).
Field-debugging trade-off: tiny attack surface increase versus
a much better support story when CSP / WS / theme issues surface.
NSIS prereq-check page deleted (-767 lines). The standard
Welcome -> License -> Directory -> InstallFiles -> Finish wizard
now installs without custom Python/Git/ripgrep detection -- those
prereqs are install.ps1's job at first launch.
Test infrastructure (Phase 1G)
------------------------------
apps/desktop/scripts/test-desktop.mjs rewritten as a cross-platform
bundle validator (was darwin-only and asserted on dead factory-
payload paths):
NEGATIVE: hermes_cli/main.py is NOT shipped (regression guard)
POSITIVE: install-stamp.json carries a real commit + branch
POSITIVE: node-pty native deps shipped under resources/native-deps
POSITIVE: renderer dist/index.html reachable (asar or unpacked)
New nsis mode and npm run test:desktop:nsis script.
Validated end-to-end on clean Win10 VM
--------------------------------------
Confirmed: NSIS installer drops Electron shell, app launches,
install overlay shows progress, install.ps1 clones the pinned
commit, 14 stages run to completion, marker written, backend
spawns, WebSocket connects, onboarding overlay asks for API key,
main UI loads, integrated terminal works.
Failures handled: bootstrap stays failed (no hot-loop retry),
"Copy output" gives actionable transcript, "Reload and retry"
explicitly re-runs install.ps1.
What's deferred
---------------
- MSIX wrapping (Phase 2): same Electron .exe under MSIX manifest
with runFullTrust, signed and submitted to Microsoft Store.
- install.sh stage protocol parity (Phase 2): once shipped, the
unsupported-platform overlay becomes drive-it-yourself and
macOS/Linux packaged installers gain feature parity with Windows.
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:
irm https://raw.githubusercontent.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/main/scripts/install.ps1 | iex
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.