Hermes Desktop

A native desktop UI for the Hermes Agent — the self-improving AI agent from Nous Research.

Features • Install • Usage • Credits

---

Stop juggling terminals. Talk to your AI, see what it's doing, browse files, run commands, and hear it speak back — all in one native window. Same agent, same skills, same memory as the CLI — just a lot prettier.

---

Features

Full agent chat	Streaming responses, live tool activity, structured summaries, full conversation history.
Side-by-side previews	Render web pages, files, and tool outputs in a right-hand pane while you keep chatting.
File browser	Explore and preview the working directory without leaving the app.
Terminal	Built-in xterm terminal for direct shell access.
Voice	Talk to Hermes and hear it speak back (mic + TTS).
Settings UI	Manage providers, models, tools, API keys, and credentials from a real interface.
Onboarding	First-run setup walks you through picking a provider and model in seconds.
Messaging gateway	Start Telegram, Discord, Slack, WhatsApp, and Signal from the desktop UI.
Cron jobs	Schedule recurring tasks with delivery to any platform.
Auto-update	Built-in updates pull the latest agent and rebuild in place.
Cross-platform	macOS, Windows, and Linux.

---

Install

Step-by-step

The Hermes Agent source is included as a git submodule inside this repo, pinned to the exact version this desktop app was tested with. You get everything in one clone.

# 1. Clone the repo with the submodule
git clone --recurse-submodules https://github.com/ilan4ever/hermes-desktop.git
cd hermes-desktop

# 2. Install the Hermes CLI from the pinned submodule
#    macOS / Linux:
bash hermes-agent/scripts/install.sh
#    Windows (PowerShell):
# .\hermes-agent\scripts\install.ps1

# 3. Install desktop dependencies
npm install

# 4. Launch
npm run dev

The desktop app shares the same config, API keys, sessions, and skills as the CLI — nothing extra to configure.

Windows: The Hermes CLI requires WSL2. The desktop app itself runs natively on Windows.

Already have Hermes CLI?

You can also launch the desktop directly from the Hermes CLI itself:

hermes desktop

The app builds itself (Electron + React) on first run and launches. Pick a provider and model to get started.

Windows — one-command runner

A PowerShell script is included that kills any previous instance and starts fresh:

.\run.ps1

Each time you run it, it stops the old Hermes Desktop process and launches a new one. Add the -Build flag to build for production first:

.\run.ps1 -Build

---

Usage

1. Clone + install (see above).
2. Run npm run dev from the cloned repo, or hermes desktop.
3. Pick a provider (e.g. OpenRouter) and a model.
4. Start chatting — type a message and watch the agent work.

Slash commands like /model, /compress, /skills, and /personality all work in the desktop UI too.

Useful flags

HERMES_DESKTOP_HERMES_ROOT=/path/to/hermes-agent npm run dev   # Point at a specific agent checkout
HERMES_HOME=/tmp/throwaway npm run dev                          # Sandbox config away from your real one
npm run dev:fake-boot                                            # Exercise the startup overlay

Building installers

npm run dist:mac       # DMG + zip
npm run dist:win       # NSIS + MSI
npm run dist:linux     # AppImage + deb + rpm
npm run pack           # Unpacked app (no installer)

Verify before a PR

npm run fix && npm run type-check && npm run lint && npm run test:desktop:all

---

Updating the Hermes agent

The submodule is pinned to a specific commit. To update to a newer Hermes version:

cd hermes-agent
git fetch origin
git checkout origin/main
cd ..
git add hermes-agent
git commit -m "Bump Hermes agent to <describe change>"

Always test that the desktop app works before pushing a submodule bump.

---

Troubleshooting

Boot logs are at HERMES_HOME/logs/desktop.log — check there first if the app fails to start.

macOS / Linux:

rm "$HOME/.hermes/hermes-agent/.hermes-bootstrap-complete"     # Force clean re-setup
rm -rf "$HOME/.hermes/hermes-agent/venv"                        # Rebuild Python venv
tccutil reset Microphone com.nousresearch.hermes                 # Reset mic permission

Windows (PowerShell):

Remove-Item "$env:LOCALAPPDATA\hermes\hermes-agent\.hermes-bootstrap-complete"
Remove-Item -Recurse -Force "$env:LOCALAPPDATA\hermes\hermes-agent\venv"

---

How It Works

The packaged app ships only the Electron shell. On first launch it installs the Hermes Agent runtime into HERMES_HOME (~/.hermes, or %LOCALAPPDATA%\hermes on Windows) — the same layout a CLI install uses. The React renderer talks to the Hermes Python backend over the standard gateway APIs and reuses the embedded TUI.

---

Credits

Built and maintained by ILAN AVIV. This desktop app is a native UI wrapper around the Hermes Agent by Nous Research.

For inquiries, feedback, or collaboration: onevoiceai.in/contact

---

License

MIT — see LICENSE.