hermes-agent/apps/desktop

Hermes Desktop

Native Electron shell for Hermes. It packages the desktop renderer, a bundled Hermes source payload, and installer targets for macOS and Windows.

Setup

Install workspace dependencies from the repo root so apps/desktop, apps/dashboard, and apps/shared stay linked:

npm install

Use the normal Hermes Python environment for local runs:

source .venv/bin/activate  # or: source venv/bin/activate
python -m pip install -e .

Development

cd apps/desktop
npm run dev

npm run dev starts Vite on 127.0.0.1:5174, launches Electron, and lets Electron boot the Hermes dashboard backend on an open port in 9120-9199. This path is for UI iteration and may still show Electron/dev identities in OS prompts.

Useful overrides:

HERMES_DESKTOP_HERMES_ROOT=/path/to/hermes-agent npm run dev
HERMES_DESKTOP_PYTHON=/path/to/python npm run dev
HERMES_DESKTOP_CWD=/path/to/project npm run dev
HERMES_DESKTOP_IGNORE_EXISTING=1 npm run dev
HERMES_DESKTOP_BOOT_FAKE=1 npm run dev
HERMES_DESKTOP_BOOT_FAKE=1 HERMES_DESKTOP_BOOT_FAKE_STEP_MS=900 npm run dev

HERMES_DESKTOP_IGNORE_EXISTING=1 skips any hermes CLI already on PATH, which is useful when testing the bundled/runtime bootstrap path.

HERMES_DESKTOP_BOOT_FAKE=1 adds deterministic per-phase delays to desktop startup so you can validate the startup overlay and progress bar. For convenience, npm run dev:fake-boot enables fake mode with defaults.

On a fresh Hermes profile, Desktop shows a first-run setup overlay after boot. The overlay saves the minimum required provider credential (for example OPENROUTER_API_KEY, ANTHROPIC_API_KEY, or OPENAI_API_KEY) to the active Hermes .env, reloads the backend env, and then lets the user continue without opening Settings manually.

Dashboard Dev

Run the Python dashboard backend with embedded chat enabled:

hermes dashboard --tui --no-open

For dashboard HMR, start Vite in another terminal:

cd apps/dashboard
npm run dev

Open the Vite URL. The dev server proxies /api, /api/pty, and plugin assets to http://127.0.0.1:9119 and fetches the live dashboard HTML so the ephemeral session token matches the running backend.

Build

npm run build
npm run pack          # unpacked app at release/mac-<arch>/Hermes.app
npm run dist:mac      # macOS DMG + zip
npm run dist:mac:dmg  # DMG only
npm run dist:mac:zip  # zip only
npm run dist:win      # NSIS + MSI

Before packaging, stage:hermes copies the Python Hermes payload into build/hermes-agent. Electron Builder then ships it as Contents/Resources/hermes-agent.

Automated Releases

Desktop installers are published by .github/workflows/desktop-release.yml with two channels:

• Stable: runs on published GitHub releases and uploads signed artifacts to that release tag.
• Nightly: runs on main pushes and updates the rolling desktop-nightly prerelease.

The workflow injects a channel-aware desktop version at build time:

• stable: derived from the release tag (for example v2026.5.5 -> 2026.5.5)
• nightly: 0.0.0-nightly.YYYYMMDD.<sha>

Artifact names include channel, platform, and architecture:

Hermes-<version>-<channel>-<platform>-<arch>.<ext>

Each run also publishes SHA256SUMS-<platform>.txt so installers can be verified.

Stable release gates

Stable builds fail fast if signing credentials are missing:

• macOS signing + notarization: CSC_LINK, CSC_KEY_PASSWORD, APPLE_API_KEY, APPLE_API_KEY_ID, APPLE_API_ISSUER
• Windows signing: WIN_CSC_LINK, WIN_CSC_KEY_PASSWORD

Stable macOS builds also validate stapling and Gatekeeper assessment in CI before upload.

Icons

Desktop icons live in assets/:

• assets/icon.icns
• assets/icon.ico
• assets/icon.png

The builder config points at assets/icon. Replace these files directly if the app icon changes.

Testing Install Paths

Use the package-local test scripts from this directory:

npm run test:desktop:all
npm run test:desktop:existing
npm run test:desktop:fresh
npm run test:desktop:dmg
npm run test:desktop:platforms

test:desktop:existing builds the packaged app and opens it normally. It should use an existing hermes CLI if one is on PATH, preserving the user’s real ~/.hermes config.

test:desktop:fresh builds the packaged app and launches it in a throwaway fresh-install sandbox. It sets HERMES_DESKTOP_IGNORE_EXISTING=1, points Electron userData at a temp dir, points HERMES_HOME at a temp dir, and launches through the bundled payload path without touching your real desktop runtime or ~/.hermes.

test:desktop:dmg builds and opens the DMG.

test:desktop:platforms runs platform bootstrap-path assertions, including:

• existing vs bundled runtime path selection semantics
• WSL2 protection against Windows .exe/.cmd/.bat/.ps1 overrides
• platform-specific bundled runtime import checks (winpty vs ptyprocess)

For fast reruns without rebuilding:

HERMES_DESKTOP_SKIP_BUILD=1 npm run test:desktop:fresh
HERMES_DESKTOP_SKIP_BUILD=1 npm run test:desktop:existing
HERMES_DESKTOP_SKIP_BUILD=1 npm run test:desktop:dmg

Installing Locally

npm run dist:mac:dmg
open release/Hermes-0.0.0-arm64.dmg

Drag Hermes to Applications. If testing repeated installs, replace the existing app.

Runtime Bootstrap

Packaged desktop startup resolves Hermes in this order:

1. HERMES_DESKTOP_HERMES_ROOT
2. existing hermes CLI, unless HERMES_DESKTOP_IGNORE_EXISTING=1
3. bundled Contents/Resources/hermes-agent
4. dev repo source
5. installed python -m hermes_cli.main

When the bundled path is used, Electron creates or reuses:

~/Library/Application Support/Hermes/hermes-runtime

The runtime is validated before use. If required dashboard imports are missing, it reinstalls the desktop runtime dependencies and retries.

Debugging

Desktop boot logs are written to:

~/Library/Application Support/Hermes/desktop.log

If the UI reports Desktop boot failed, check that log first. It includes the backend command output and recent Python traceback context.

To reset bundled runtime state:

rm -rf "$HOME/Library/Application Support/Hermes/hermes-runtime"

To reset stale macOS microphone permission prompts:

tccutil reset Microphone com.github.Electron
tccutil reset Microphone com.nousresearch.hermes

Verification

Run before handing off installer changes:

npm run fix
npm run type-check
npm run lint
npm run test:desktop:all

Current lint may report existing warnings, but it should exit with no errors.