hermes

name	hermes
description	Hermes self-improving AI agent by Nous Research with voice, messaging, and tool-calling. MUST be invoked before any work involving: the hermes layer, Hermes Agent configuration, hermes service setup, or hermes Python/npm dependencies.

hermes -- Self-improving AI agent

Layer Properties

Property	Value
Dependencies	nodejs, supervisord, ripgrep, ffmpeg, pipewire
Volumes	data -> /opt/data
Aliases	hermes -> hermes, hermes-agent -> hermes-agent
Services	hermes (supervisord, autostart), hermes-whatsapp (supervisord, manual)
MCP accepts	jupyter, chrome-devtools
Install files	pixi.toml, build.sh, tasks:
RPM packages	alsa-lib, portaudio

Environment Variables

Variable	Value
HERMES_HOME	/opt/data
TERMINAL_ENV	local

Optional Environment Variables (env_accepts)

These env vars are declared via env_accepts: in layer.yml — hermes can use any LLM provider, so none are required:

Variable	Description
OPENROUTER_API_KEY	API key for OpenRouter LLM inference
OLLAMA_API_KEY	API key for Ollama Cloud inference (https://ollama.com)
OLLAMA_HOST	Local Ollama server URL (auto-injected by ollama layer env_provides)
HERMES_MODEL	Override default Hermes model (default depends on detected provider)
TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN	Telegram bot token for messaging
SLACK_BOT_TOKEN	Slack bot token
DISCORD_BOT_TOKEN	Discord bot token
OV_MCP_SERVERS	JSON array of MCP servers (auto-injected by mcp_provides layers)

Provide via ov config hermes -e OLLAMA_API_KEY=... or workspace .secrets / .env file.

Automatic LLM Provider Configuration

The hermes-entrypoint performs a single-phase, first-start-only configuration that registers ALL available LLM providers AND MCP servers in one pass. Guarded by a # ov:auto-configured sentinel in config.yaml. To reconfigure: delete config.yaml and restart. API keys are synced to .env on every start to handle rotation.

Priority	Env var	Provider	Default model
1	OLLAMA_HOST	Local Ollama (custom)	qwen2.5-coder:32b
2	OLLAMA_API_KEY	Ollama Cloud (custom)	kimi-k2.5:cloud
3	OPENROUTER_API_KEY	OpenRouter (built-in)	qwen/qwen3.6-plus:free

How it works:

• First start: Registers ALL providers whose env vars are set into config.yaml as custom_providers entries, and configures any discovered MCP servers from OV_MCP_SERVERS (e.g., jupyter at :8888/mcp, chrome-devtools at :9224/mcp). Priority determines only the default model and auxiliary task routing. Writes a # ov:auto-configured sentinel to prevent re-patching after user customization
• Key insight: When new MCP servers are added to OV_MCP_SERVERS after initial configuration, hermes will NOT pick them up automatically. Delete config.yaml and restart: ov shell <image> -c "rm /opt/data/config.yaml" && ov service restart <image> hermes
• Every start: Syncs API keys to .env to handle key rotation
• Override the default model with HERMES_MODEL env var
• Switch between registered providers mid-session: /model custom:ollama-cloud:kimi-k2.5:cloud or hermes chat --provider openrouter
• To force full reconfigure: delete /opt/data/config.yaml, update env vars, restart

MCP Server Discovery

The hermes entrypoint auto-discovers MCP servers from the OV_MCP_SERVERS environment variable at first start. Servers are configured in config.yaml under the mcp_servers: key (hermes native YAML map format).

Diagnostics:

• hermes mcp list -- shows registered MCP servers
• hermes mcp test <name> -- tests connection to a specific server

Runtime:

• Tools are registered as mcp_<server_name>_<tool_name>
• Reload MCP servers at runtime: /reload-mcp in interactive chat

Example: The jupyter layer provides 11 tools (notebook_list, cell_execute, cell_update, etc.) via its MCP server at http://<container>:8888/mcp. Post-2026-05-06 cutover: noun-shaped surface (notebook_/cell_ + notebook_list_users + room_list); clients no longer manage CRDT rooms.

Architecture

This is a Tier 2 environment-owner layer with pixi.toml defining the Python 3.13 environment. Follows the selkies build.sh pattern: the build.sh script runs in the pixi builder stage (which has gcc, nodejs, npm) to clone the hermes-agent repo, pip install it, and set up the WhatsApp bridge.

Build Pipeline

1. pixi.toml -- Python 3.13 + all hermes-agent [all] PyPI dependencies (openai, anthropic, httpx, rich, pydantic, telegram, discord, slack, faster-whisper, sounddevice, elevenlabs, mcp, and more)
2. build.sh -- Runs in builder stage:
   • git clone --depth 1 hermes-agent from GitHub
   • pip install --no-deps . into pixi env (non-editable)
   • npm install in project root (agent-browser, camoufox-browser)
   • npm install in scripts/whatsapp-bridge/
   • Copies full source tree to $HOME/hermes-agent for runtime files
3. A copy: task delivers hermes-entrypoint wrapper to ~/.local/bin/

Runtime Entrypoint

The hermes-entrypoint script (run by supervisord) initializes the data volume on first start:

• Creates $HERMES_HOME/{cron,sessions,logs,hooks,memories,skills}
• Copies .env.example, config.yaml, SOUL.md defaults if not present
• Auto-configures LLM provider from environment (see Automatic LLM Provider Configuration above)
• Syncs bundled skills via skills_sync.py
• Execs hermes

npm Dependencies

Agent-browser and camoufox-browser are installed in the project-level node_modules/ (via build.sh), not globally. Hermes expects these as local imports from its source tree at ~/hermes-agent/.

Browser Integration

Hermes has browser tools (browser_navigate, browser_click, browser_snapshot, etc.) enabled by default. The browser backend depends on configuration:

Priority	Env var	Backend	Description
1	CAMOFOX_URL	Camoufox REST API	Anti-detection Firefox (explicit opt-in)
2	BROWSER_CDP_URL	CDP override (agent-browser --cdp)	Connect to existing Chrome
3	Browserbase configured	Cloud session	Remote cloud browser
4	(default)	Local headless (agent-browser --session)	Requires Playwright Chromium

Cross-container with selkies-desktop: Deploy hermes alongside selkies-desktop as separate pods. The chrome layer's env_provides: BROWSER_CDP_URL injects http://ov-selkies-desktop:9222 into the hermes quadlet via ov config --update-all. Hermes uses the desktop Chrome — the user sees hermes browsing in real-time at :3000. The cdp-proxy in the chrome layer rewrites Host headers for Chrome 146+ compatibility.

In standalone images (hermes-playwright): The hermes-playwright layer provides Playwright Chromium for local headless mode (backend #4).

In headless images (hermes): No browser binary installed. Browser tools fail unless BROWSER_CDP_URL points to an external Chrome (cross-container via env_provides).

Cross-container: Deploy Chrome/Selkies in one container and hermes in another. ov config injects BROWSER_CDP_URL=http://ov-<chrome-image>:9222 into hermes's quadlet via env_provides. Port 9222 is reachable via the chrome layer's port_relay.

Runtime commands: /browser connect [url], /browser disconnect, /browser status.

WhatsApp Bridge

The WhatsApp bridge is a separate Node.js service with autostart=false in supervisord. Enable via:

ov service start hermes hermes-whatsapp

Excluded Dependencies

• matrix extra -- upstream-broken libolm (archived, C++ errors with Clang 21+)
• rl extra -- requires git dependencies (atropos, tinker)
• yc-bench extra -- requires git dependency

Usage

# image.yml
hermes:
  base: fedora
  layers:
    - agent-forwarding
    - hermes-full
    - dbus

Related Layers

• /ov-coder:nodejs -- Node.js runtime dependency
• /ov-foundation:supervisord -- process manager dependency
• /ov-foundation:ripgrep -- fast search dependency
• /ov-selkies:ffmpeg -- audio/video processing (negativo17 nonfree codecs)
• /ov-selkies:pipewire -- audio support for voice features
• /ov-hermes:hermes-playwright -- optional Playwright Chromium browser (standalone headless mode)
• /ov-selkies:chrome -- provides BROWSER_CDP_URL via env_provides for shared browser in desktop images
• /ov-jupyter:jupyter -- MCP server provider (mcp_provides: jupyter)
• /ov-selkies:chrome-devtools-mcp -- Chrome DevTools MCP server (mcp_provides: chrome-devtools, 29 tools)

Related Commands

• /ov-advanced:cdp — CDP automation; hermes uses the same Chrome endpoint via BROWSER_CDP_URL
• /ov-core:config — Injects BROWSER_CDP_URL and OV_MCP_SERVERS via pod-aware env_provides/mcp_provides
• /ov-build:mcp — verify that the MCP servers hermes discovers (jupyter, chrome-devtools) are alive and exposing expected tools before hermes tries to call them: ov eval mcp ping jupyter, ov eval mcp list-tools <image>. Useful when hermes reports tool-call failures and you need to isolate whether the server or the agent is at fault.

Related Images

• /ov-hermes:hermes -- full-featured standalone (claude-code + codex + gemini + dev-tools + devops-tools + ov)
• /ov-hermes:hermes-playwright -- agent with Playwright Chromium (standalone headless)
• /ov-openwebui:openwebui -- alternative web UI frontend with similar MCP/LLM auto-config pattern
• /ov-selkies:selkies-desktop -- deploy alongside for shared Chrome browser (cross-container CDP)
• /ov-jupyter:jupyter -- deploy alongside for MCP notebook access (cross-container MCP)

When to Use This Skill

MUST be invoked when the task involves the hermes layer, Hermes Agent setup, hermes service configuration, hermes Python dependencies, or the hermes entrypoint. Invoke this skill BEFORE reading source code or launching Explore agents.

Related

• /ov-build:layer — layer authoring reference (layer.yml schema, task verbs, service declarations)
• /ov-build:eval — declarative testing (eval: block, ov eval image, ov eval live)