Hermes: AI Agent

Install a pinned Hermes Agent release in a Python virtual environment on a Pigsty host and connect it to an external model provider.

app/hermes provides a source installation guide for Hermes Agent. It uses a separate Python virtual environment and external model APIs on an existing Pigsty Linux host. The directory contains no Compose file or conf/app/hermes.yml; app.yml is not required.

The development guide pins v2026.9.24 (Python package version 0.21.5), which requires Python >=3.11,<3.14. The guide in the public Pigsty repository still shows the earlier 0.8.0 example. Use the following steps for the newer release.

Installation

Install system dependencies such as python3.12-venv, then run on the target Linux host:

set -euo pipefail
curl -fL -o /tmp/hermes-agent.tar.gz \
  https://codeload.github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/tar.gz/f97608f178d1ffeca59860195ab7da295f7c8e5f
printf '%s  %s\n' \
  babbdb9706ad1c96708d75914afb45d809cd4b73dec1ceae233a6814f5ed97e3 \
  /tmp/hermes-agent.tar.gz | sha256sum -c -

HERMES_INSTALL_DIR="$HOME/.hermes/hermes-agent-v2026.9.24"
test ! -e "$HERMES_INSTALL_DIR"
mkdir -p "$HERMES_INSTALL_DIR"
tar -xzf /tmp/hermes-agent.tar.gz -C "$HERMES_INSTALL_DIR" --strip-components=1
cd "$HERMES_INSTALL_DIR"
python3.12 -m venv venv
./venv/bin/python -m pip install --upgrade pip
./venv/bin/python -m pip install -e '.[pty,mcp,cron]'
./venv/bin/python -m pip check
./venv/bin/hermes --version

This release uses an editable source installation. The CLI is included in the core dependencies; the old cli extra is no longer used.

Configuration and Verification

Store provider credentials in ~/.hermes/.env with mode 0600. Select the provider, model, and terminal working directory in ~/.hermes/config.yaml. See the Hermes configuration guide and provider setup.

./venv/bin/hermes doctor
./venv/bin/hermes chat -q 'Hello'