Hermes Agent
Setup Tutorial
Install Hermes Agent, choose your provider, verify your first chat, and know the next step before you touch gateways, skills, tools, or automation.
From zero to working chat
Follow the shortest path. Do not add gateways, cron, skills, or routing until a plain chat works.
Install
Run the official install script for your OS. macOS, Linux, WSL2, Termux, and native Windows are supported.
02Configure
Choose a provider with hermes setup --portal or hermes model. This is the most important setup decision.
03Verify
Start hermes, ask a normal question, and confirm it returns a useful answer before adding gateways or tools.
Pick the fastest path for your setup
If Hermes cannot complete a normal chat, do not add gateway, cron, skills, voice, or routing yet. Fix the base chat first.
I just want Hermes working
Run hermes setup --portal, then start hermes and verify one normal chat.
I already know my provider
Run hermes model, save the provider and model, then test a plain chat.
I want Telegram, Discord, Slack
First prove the CLI chat works. Then run hermes gateway setup.
I want a local or self-hosted model
Configure a custom endpoint in hermes model, then verify endpoint URL, model name, and context length.
I want fallback or routing
Keep fallback off until one base provider is stable. Add routing only after a clean chat works.
Hermes Agent tutorial: what to do first?
The safe path is not “turn on every feature.” Install Hermes Agent, choose one provider, verify one normal chat, then add messaging, tools, memory, skills, cron, and MCP in that order. This keeps setup errors small and searchable.
Hermes Agent tutorial
Start with installation, provider selection, and one successful CLI chat before adding gateway, skills, cron, memory, or MCP.
Hermes Agent setup
Use hermes setup --portal for the fastest Nous Portal path, or hermes model when you already know the provider and model.
Hermes Agent quickstart
Install, reload the shell, run hermes, ask one short prompt, then use the recovery checklist if the answer is empty or broken.
What you will have after this guide
Hermes installed
On macOS, Linux, WSL2, Windows, or Termux.
Provider selected
Through hermes setup --portal or hermes model.
One verified chat
A plain CLI conversation that returns useful answers.
Recovery checklist
For broken replies, model errors, gateway issues, and profile confusion.
7-day path
For tools, memory, skills, messaging, and automation.
Source links
Every page links back to official docs and shows last checked date.
Short answers for Hermes Agent setup searches
These are the questions that decide whether a beginner starts the quickstart, bounces back to search, or clicks into official docs.
What is the fastest Hermes Agent tutorial path?
Install Hermes Agent, configure one provider, verify one CLI chat, then add gateway, tools, memory, skills, cron, and MCP one layer at a time.
Should I trust hermes101.dev or the official docs?
Use this site as a beginner path. Use the official Nous Research docs as the source of truth for commands, features, and release changes.
When should I add Telegram, Discord, Slack, skills, or cron?
After a plain CLI chat works. If the base provider setup is broken, automation and gateway setup create confusing failure modes.
What should I measure before scaling traffic?
Track quickstart starts, install-command copies, docs navigation, GitHub clicks, and product referrals before any paid spend or public distribution.
After the tutorial
Building a real always-on agent workflow?
Use this guide to get Hermes stable first. If your next step is shipping a production site or AI workflow, track that referral separately so we can tell tutorial traffic from product-intent traffic.