Hermes Agent
Nous Research's open-source autonomous AI agent: what it is, where and how it is installed, what it can do, who can automate what, and which security controls exist. Ends with hands-on mini-projects.
Stages
What Hermes is and why it exists
What the agent is, what it is made of, which model it runs on, how it differs from similar tools, and what running it actually costs.
Where and how it is installed
Which platforms it runs on, how it is installed, first-run configuration, secret storage and day-to-day maintenance.
🔓 Recommended after: What Hermes is and why it exists
What it can do
Tools, session and context management, memory, skills, delegation, MCP and the ways to reach the agent.
🔓 Recommended after: Where and how it is installed
Who can automate what
Scheduled tasks, event-driven triggers, messaging bots, realistic scenarios by role, and the limits of automation.
🔓 Recommended after: What it can do
Security
The threat model, command approval, isolation backends, secret handling, network protections and enterprise rollout.
🔓 Recommended after: Who can automate what
Practice: mini-projects
Four projects: a working install with a first automation, your own skill, a locked-down bot, and a pilot package for a team.
🔓 Recommended after: Security
📚 Sources and documentation
- Hermes Agent — official documentationofficialhermes-agent.nousresearch.com
The primary source for every technical claim in this branch.
- NousResearch/hermes-agent (GitHub)officialgithub.com
Source code and issues; the project is MIT licensed.
- Release notesofficialgithub.com
The product moves fast — check specific behaviour here.
- Nous Researchofficialnousresearch.com
The research group behind the agent.