Hermes Agent is an AI agent that gets better the more you use it by creating its own skills, storing user preferences, and updating its memory. On Umbrel, it opens in a browser-based terminal where you can chat with Hermes directly, run setup, and manage your agent. The built-in management dashboard is also available for configuring settings, reviewing sessions, and monitoring the gateway. Use Hermes Agent to browse the web, edit files, run shell commands, connect services like Telegram, Signal, WhatsApp, and Discord, save reusable skills, and remember important details across sessions. Hermes Agent runs inside the Umbrel app sandbox, so it can work freely inside its own environment while your other apps and data stay separate. ## What It Does - **Chat and act** - Ask questions, automate tasks, and let Hermes use tools for you. - **Works across channels** - Connect chat apps and keep talking to the same agent wherever you want. - **Remembers your workflow** - Save preferences, context, and reusable skills that carry across sessions. - **Manage it from the dashboard** - Configure settings, review activity, and monitor the agent from your browser.
Hermes Agent is commonly used as a self-hosted alternative to ChatGPT, Zapier, Notion. Replacing a SaaS tool with a self-hosted equivalent lets you avoid recurring subscription fees, keep full control of your data, and continue working even when the original vendor changes pricing, ships limits, or shuts down.
License: MIT. Built with: Python, TypeScript, TeX, BibTeX Style, Shell, Nix, JavaScript, PowerShell, HTML, CSS, Dockerfile, Ruby, Batchfile, Makefile. Website: https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com. Source: https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent.
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/main/scripts/install.sh | bash
Self-hosting gives you three things SaaS can’t: data ownership (the files live on disks you control), cost predictability (a one-time setup vs. recurring per-seat fees that grow with your household or team), and longevity (open-source means the app keeps working even if the maintainers move on, since you can pin a working version). The trade-off is that you take on the operational work of running a server, applying updates, and handling backups.
Most self-hosted apps run comfortably on modest hardware — a Raspberry Pi 4, a mini PC, a NAS with Docker support, or a small VPS is usually enough for personal or family use. CPU and RAM requirements scale with how many simultaneous users or how much data you push through Hermes Agent. Storage requirements depend on the kind of data you keep; check the README for guidance on data retention.