First-run configuration: setup, model, tools, doctor
Installation is done — and the agent still cannot do anything, because it has no model and does not know which tools it is allowed. First-run configuration comes down to four decisions:
- which model — the provider and default model
- which tools — which toolsets are active
- where it runs — the terminal backend (local, docker, ssh…)
- who can reach it — only you, or messaging platforms too
hermes setup walks all four in one wizard; you can also do them command by command.
| Command | What it does | When you come back to it |
|---|---|---|
| `hermes setup` | The full wizard: provider, model, memory, platforms | First time, or when reconfiguring |
| `hermes model` | Provider/model picker, with OAuth when needed | When changing model |
| `hermes tools` | Enable/disable toolsets per platform | When enabling a capability or narrowing for safety |
| `hermes status` | Agent, auth and platform status | The first step when asking "why is this not working?" |
| `hermes doctor` | Finds problems and repairs them automatically | After every change and every update |
One important detail: hermes tools manages tools per platform. The terminal tool can be on in the CLI and off in the Telegram bot. That is the simplest way to reconcile daily use with security: wide for yourself, narrow for the bot.
You can also narrow per session — hermes chat --toolsets "web,terminal" starts with just those two. That is both safer and cheaper (fewer tool schemas means fewer tokens).
It is a good habit to run your first session in an empty directory: the agent auto-discovers context files (AGENTS.md, .hermes.md) and starts from the current directory. Doing your first experiment at the root of an important repo is the worst possible start.
Practice. Create an empty directory, run hermes -q "what is in this directory?" there, then disable the terminal toolset with hermes tools and repeat the same question. Done means: you can explain why the agent behaves differently the second time.
📚 Sources and documentation
- Quickstartofficialhermes-agent.nousresearch.com
The first-run configuration step by step.
- CLI guideofficialhermes-agent.nousresearch.com
- Tools and toolsetsofficialhermes-agent.nousresearch.com