Hermes Agent

NousResearch/hermes-agentReviewed by AI

What it does

Hermes Agent is an AI assistant you run yourself. You talk to it in a terminal window, or you start its gateway and chat with it from Telegram, Discord, Slack, WhatsApp, Signal or email. It can run commands, read files, browse the web and keep notes about past conversations, and it can run scheduled jobs on its own. You install it with one command on Windows, macOS or Linux, then pick an AI model provider and paste that provider's key. The program is free; the model you connect it to is usually paid per use.

How easy it is to install

C · install 1 or 2 tools · Windows

Windows C
macOS C
Linux C

On Linux, macOS and Windows the README gives a one-line install command that pulls in Python, Node, ffmpeg and the rest for you, so you do not install tools by hand; you still work in a terminal, run `hermes setup` and paste a model provider key, and there is no ready installer in the GitHub releases.

Numbers on GitHub

Stars: 259,182on Oct 31, 2026
Downloads: 28,03172 this week
Growth: +2,101stars in 6 days

Stars over time

Facts

Runs on: Windows, macOS, Linux
You need to install: Nothing extra
To build from source: Python, Node.js, Docker, Graphics card, FFmpeg
Disk space: 1.0 GB–4.8 GB · estimate
Accounts or keys: An AI model provider of your choice (OpenRouter, OpenAI, Nous Portal, Google AI Studio, Fireworks and many others)
Cost: Free, API costs extra · The software is MIT-licensed and free. It needs an AI model provider, which is normally paid per use; the README also offers a Nous Portal subscription that bundles models and extra tools, and mentions an OpenCode Go plan at $10/month and a Hugging Face free tier of $0.10/month.
License: MIT (Permissive)
Can replace: ChatGPT Plus, Claude Code, Cursor, Muse, dots
Last update: Oct 31, 2026

Risk signals (6)

Attentionunusual star rate
258084 stars in 463 days (~557 per day)
automatic check
Attentioninstall runs script from website
README Quick Install: `curl -fsSL https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/install.sh | bash` and, for Windows, `iex (irm https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/install.ps1)`. The install runs a script downloaded from the project's site at that moment, so what runs on your machine is not the code in this repository snapshot.
AI review
Attentionagent runs commands and reads files
README: "Six built-in terminal backends — local, Docker, SSH, Modal, Daytona, and Vercel Sandbox" and "40+ tools, toolset system, terminal backends"; the docs index lists a Security page for "Command approval, DM pairing, container isolation". The assistant can run commands and touch files on the computer where you install it, including from a chat app.
AI review
Infodashboard stores api keys
docker-compose.yml security notes: "The dashboard service binds to 127.0.0.1 by default. It stores API keys; exposing it on LAN without auth is unsafe."
AI review
Infoantivirus flags bundled tool
README troubleshooting: "Windows Defender or antivirus flags `uv.exe` as malware" from `%LOCALAPPDATA%\hermes\bin\uv.exe`, which the project calls a false positive and asks you to whitelist the folder.
AI review
Infosends your chats to outside services
.env.example lists keys for Fireworks, OpenRouter, NovitaAI, NVIDIA, Google AI Studio, Ollama Cloud, z.ai, Kimi, MiniMax, Hugging Face and others. Whatever you type, and files the assistant reads, go to the provider you choose.
AI review

Evidence is shown in its original language.

What Radar could not check

Whether the one-line installer finishes cleanly on each system, especially native Windows
What the install script downloaded from the project's website actually does, since it is fetched at install time
How much the AI model provider will cost you in real use
Real disk use after the installer adds Python, Node, ffmpeg and a browser engine
Whether the memory, self-improving skills and cross-session recall work as described
Whether the command-approval and isolation settings stop the assistant from doing something you did not want