Install Hermes Agent

Works on Linux, macOS, WSL2, and Android. Running in under 2 minutes.

Linux / macOS Docker VPS / Cloud Windows (WSL2)

Install on Linux & macOS

The quickest way to install Hermes Agent on Linux or macOS. The installer handles all platform-specific setup automatically.

# download and run the installer

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/main/scripts/install.sh | bash

# reload your shell

source ~/.bashrc # or: source ~/.zshrc

# start hermes

hermes

First steps after installing

hermes setup

Configure your model provider and tools

hermes model

Select your LLM provider

hermes

Start your first conversation

Install with Docker

Run Hermes Agent in an isolated Docker container. Recommended if you want clean environment separation or are deploying on a server.

# pull and run the container

docker run -it --rm \

-e OPENROUTER_API_KEY=your-key \

-v ~/.hermes:/root/.hermes \

nousresearch/hermes-agent:latest

Hermes runs as a non-root user inside the container. See the Docker guide in the official docs for volume mounting and persistent storage options.

Deploy on VPS or Cloud Server

Hermes runs on any Linux VPS. Minimum $5/month server handles everything, including the messaging gateway.

Minimum requirements

Spec	Minimum	Recommended
CPU	1 vCPU	2 vCPU
RAM	512 MB	1 GB
Storage	2 GB	5 GB
OS	Ubuntu 22.04	Ubuntu 22.04 / Debian 12

Install and run on boot

# install hermes (same as Linux)

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/main/scripts/install.sh | bash

# create systemd service for autostart

sudo tee /etc/systemd/system/hermes-gateway.service <<EOF

[Unit]

Description=Hermes Agent Gateway

After=network.target

[Service]

ExecStart=/usr/local/bin/hermes gateway start

Restart=always

[Install]

WantedBy=multi-user.target

EOF

sudo systemctl enable --now hermes-gateway

Install on Windows via WSL2

Hermes Agent does not support native Windows. The recommended path is WSL2 (Windows Subsystem for Linux), which gives you a full Linux environment inside Windows.

Step 1

Install WSL2

Open PowerShell as Administrator and run:

wsl --install

Restart your machine when prompted. For full instructions, visit the Microsoft WSL2 documentation ↗

Step 2

Install Hermes inside WSL2

Open your WSL2 terminal (Ubuntu) and run the standard installer:

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/main/scripts/install.sh | bash

source ~/.bashrc

hermes

Install on Android (Termux)

Hermes Agent runs on Android via Termux. Use the [termux] extra instead of [all] to install only Termux-compatible dependencies.

# inside Termux

pkg install python git

pip install hermes-agent[termux]

hermes

For full Termux setup instructions, see the official Hermes Agent Termux guide ↗

Installed? Now configure your agent.

Explore Features →Read the Docs ↗