Run Your Own Hermes Agent

Hermes is a capable, open-source AI agent: it can search the web, remember things, work with files and data, and run tools on your behalf. This guide is the do-it-yourself path: install Hermes on your own machine or server, point it at an AI model, and you've got your own agent, free and entirely yours. 🦒

What you'll need

• A computer or server you can run commands on: Linux or macOS works best (a small cloud VM is perfect). On Windows, follow the official Hermes quickstart instead of Steps 1 and 2 below: it has a native Windows installer and a Hermes Desktop app for Windows and macOS.
• About 15 minutes and basic comfort with a terminal.
• An AI model key. We recommend OpenRouter: one key gives you access to dozens of models, and you only pay for what you use. You can also use your own OpenAI, Anthropic, or Google key if you have one.

Step 1: Install uv

Hermes uses uv to manage its Python environment. Install it with one line:

curl -fsSL https://astral.sh/uv/install.sh | sh

Close and reopen your terminal afterward so uv is on your path.

Step 2: Get Hermes

Clone the project and install it:

git clone https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent.git
cd hermes-agent
uv venv venv --python 3.11
uv pip install -e '.[all]'

The [all] part matters: it pulls in everything (web search, tools, and memory support) so your agent has its full toolkit from the start.

Step 3: Connect an AI model

We've had the best results with Qwen3 235B through OpenRouter (it's smart, fast, and inexpensive), so that's what we run for hosted agents. Grab an API key from your OpenRouter account, then point Hermes at it.

Set your key as an environment variable:

export OPENAI_API_KEY="sk-or-...your OpenRouter key..."

And in your Hermes config.yaml, use a custom (OpenAI-compatible) provider pointed at OpenRouter:

provider: custom
base_url: https://openrouter.ai/api/v1
key_env: OPENAI_API_KEY
default_model: qwen3-235b-a22b-2507

Step 4: Talk to your agent

From the hermes-agent folder, start a chat:

uv run hermes

That's it, you've got a running agent. Ask it to search the web, summarize a page, or help with a task, and it'll use its tools to get it done.

Make it smarter (optional)

• Give it a memory. gbrain is a free, open-source memory layer that plugs into Hermes so your agent remembers context across sessions. Install it with bun install -g github:garrytan/gbrain and connect it as a tool.
• Add more tools. Hermes supports the Model Context Protocol (MCP), so you can bolt on extra capabilities, such as file access, fetching, time, and more, by adding MCP servers to your config.

Keeping it running

Running Hermes on your laptop is great for trying it out. To keep an agent online around the clock, run it on a small always-on server (a cheap cloud VM works) and start it as a background service. Maintaining a server, securing it, and keeping the model topped up is the part most people would rather not deal with, which is what the hosted options below are for.

Where to host it

Hermes needs to be running somewhere for your agent to be any use. Your own laptop is fine for trying it out, but it has to stay awake and online, so most people move it onto a small server. You have two routes: a managed host that runs it for you, or your own cloud server with a one-click template.

Managed: nothing to run yourself

Option	What it is	Roughly
Nous Hermes Cloud	First-party, from the team who build Hermes. Currently in preview.	$10 minimum in credits, or an active Nous subscription
Agent 37	Always-on instance with a browser dashboard, terminal and file browser. Cheapest way in.	From $3.99/mo (bring your own model key)
Hostinger Managed Hermes Agent	Visual setup with Telegram already connected and AI credits included, so there is no API key step.	$5.99/mo intro, renews $11.99/mo, paid upfront
Cloudways Managed AI Agents	Hermes on managed infrastructure from an established host.	See their pricing

Your own server: one-click template

These give you a machine you own outright. The install is a click in a marketplace instead of the terminal steps above, and you finish the model and channel setup yourself.

• DigitalOcean Marketplace: a Droplet that comes up with Hermes already installed. You pay only for the Droplet.
• Hostinger VPS: a Hermes template in the application catalogue, on a plain VPS you control.

Agntable and DeployHermes are two more managed options we found live, if none of the above fit.

Support

The free resources, all of which are kept current by the people who build the thing:

• The official Hermes quickstart, including the Windows installer and the Hermes Desktop app.
• The Hermes documentation: configuration, providers, messaging, skills, memory, cron and security.
• The Nous Research Discord, where the Hermes community and its maintainers answer questions.
• The Hermes GitHub repository and its issue tracker.
• The Hermes Agent Deployment Guide, a 36-page PDF under Training on your dashboard, free with your membership.

What Gary Club does support is the Gary Club side: your membership, your Powers key, and anything on gary.club. If one of those is not working, ask Luna and she will get it looked at.