# Hermes Agent > Open-source, self-hosted AI agent from Nous Research with persistent memory and a messaging gateway. Hermes Agent is an open-source AI agent from Nous Research that runs on your own computer or as a hosted cloud agent. Hermes Agent keeps conversations, memories and self-written skills between sessions, and you reach it through a desktop app, a terminal, or chat platforms including Slack, Discord, Telegram, Signal, WhatsApp and email. **Best for:** Developers and technical users who want a self-hosted agent that remembers earlier work and can be reached from chat apps as well as a terminal. - Official site: https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com - Listed in: [AI Agents & Automation](https://trendhub.net/ai-tools/category/ai-agents) - Last checked: 2026-10-09 (facts taken from hermes-agent.nousresearch.com) - Source page: https://trendhub.net/ai-tools/hermes-agent-open-source-self-hosted-ai ## Key facts - Platforms: macOS, Windows, Linux - Pricing model: Free - Free plan: Yes - Made by: Nous Research ## What is Hermes Agent? Hermes Agent is an open-source AI agent developed by Nous Research and released under the MIT license. It installs as a desktop application on macOS or Windows, through a single terminal command on Linux, or as a hosted agent deployed to the cloud. After a model provider is connected, the agent can be reached from the desktop app, the command line, or chat platforms such as Slack, Discord, Telegram, Signal, WhatsApp and email, with one shared memory behind every channel. Hermes Agent stores its conversations and the skills it writes for itself, so later sessions build on earlier ones. It can also run recurring jobs described in plain language, hand work to isolated subagents, search and browse the web, generate images and speech, and execute code inside sandboxed backends including Docker, SSH and Modal. ## Key features - **Messaging Gateway**: Links a single agent to chat apps, email and the command line, so the same memory is available wherever you write to it. - **Persistent Memory and Skills**: Saves conversations and what it has learned about your projects, and turns solved problems into reusable skills. - **Scheduled Automation**: Accepts schedules written in everyday language for jobs like briefings, backups and reports, then runs them unattended. - **Subagent Delegation**: Starts isolated subagents that each get a separate conversation, terminal and Python RPC scripts, keeping side tasks out of the main context. - **Web and Media Tools**: Includes web search, browser automation, vision, image generation and text-to-speech, and can reason with more than one model. - **Sandboxed Execution**: Runs commands in one of five backends (local, Docker, SSH, Singularity or Modal) with hardened containers and isolated namespaces. ## How Hermes Agent works 1. **Install**: Download the desktop app for macOS or Windows, or run the installer command in a terminal. 2. **Connect a model provider**: Follow the setup steps to link your own provider or a Nous Portal account. 3. **Start a conversation**: Chat in the app or terminal, and optionally add a messaging platform or deploy a hosted agent. ## Use cases - **Always-On Personal Agent**: Deploy a hosted agent in the cloud and message it from a phone chat app while away from the computer. - **Recurring Briefings**: Ask in plain language for a daily or weekly summary and let the agent produce it on schedule. - **Long-Running Projects**: Come back to a project days later and continue with the context and skills saved from earlier sessions. - **Parallel Pipelines**: Split a large job into parts handled by separate subagents with their own terminals. - **Contained Experiments**: Try unfamiliar scripts or tools inside a Docker or remote sandbox instead of on the host machine. ## Things to know - **Model usage is billed separately**: The agent software costs nothing, but the model provider you connect, or Nous Portal credits, has its own pricing. - **A stopped agent does not run tasks**: Scheduled work needs an active agent; a local agent that has been stopped runs nothing until it is started again. - **Back up before moving machines**: The site advises keeping a copy of the Hermes data directory when switching to another computer. - **Nous Portal tiers**: Nous Portal lists Free, Plus, Super and Ultra tiers; the paid tiers include monthly credits and access to more than 200 models. ## FAQs ### What is Hermes Agent? Hermes Agent is an open-source, self-hosted AI agent built by Nous Research. It runs as a desktop app or terminal program and keeps memory and skills across sessions. ### Is Hermes Agent free? Yes. The Hermes Agent software costs nothing and is published as open source with an MIT license. The model provider you connect and any optional hosted service, such as Nous Portal credits, are charged separately. ### Who makes Hermes Agent? Hermes Agent is made by Nous Research, Inc. ### Which operating systems does Hermes Agent support? Hermes Agent has a desktop app for macOS 12 or later and Windows 10/11, and a terminal installer that works on any Linux distribution. ### How do I talk to Hermes Agent? Hermes Agent can be used from its desktop app or a terminal, and it can also be linked to chat services like Slack, Discord, Telegram, Signal and WhatsApp, or to email. ### Does Hermes Agent remember previous sessions? Yes. Hermes Agent stores conversations, memories and skills, and stopping a local agent does not delete any of them. ### Do I need Nous Portal to use Hermes Agent? No. Hermes Agent works with a model provider of your choice. Nous Portal is an optional source of model and tool credits, and cloud hosting is optional as well. --- Source: https://trendhub.net/ai-tools/hermes-agent-open-source-self-hosted-ai (trendhub)