How to install Hermès agent?

Install Hermès agent with curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/main/scripts/install.sh | bash. As of April 2026, the official installation guide says Git is the only manual prerequisite because the installer handles the rest of the default setup path for Linux, macOS, and WSL2.

Quick install

The official Hermes install page leads with a one-line installer for the default setup path.

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/main/scripts/install.sh | bash

The install docs say this path is the right default unless you have a specific reason to manage the environment yourself. That recommendation is practical because the project expects a fairly opinionated runtime stack and the installer already knows how to bootstrap it.

Supported platforms and prerequisites

The current installation guide is explicit about where the quick installer works and what it expects.

For Windows machines, the docs point users to WSL2 first. That is one of the most important details to get right because many stale tutorials still imply Hermes has a native Windows path when the current official guidance does not.

Manual install

The manual path exists for people who want full control over dependency installation and runtime layout.

The official guide walks through cloning the repo with submodules, creating a Python 3.11 environment, installing the package and extras, optionally wiring Node-side dependencies, creating the ~/.hermes directory structure, and exposing the hermes binary in your PATH. The source repository for that path is the official Nous Research GitHub repo.

Use the manual route if you need to inspect each dependency, want a constrained extras set, or are fitting Hermes into a more opinionated development image. Otherwise the project documentation clearly prefers the default installer.

Verify the install

The official docs treat verification as part of installation rather than a nice-to-have extra.

After install, the recommended sequence is:

source ~/.zshrc
hermes setup
hermes doctor
hermes status
hermes chat -q "Hello! What tools do you have available?"

Those checks matter because the most common early failures are PATH issues, missing provider keys, or a partially initialized config. Running the diagnostics immediately tells you whether you actually installed Hermes or only put some files on disk.

Common mistakes

The most common install mistakes come from using the wrong platform assumptions or skipping the verification steps.

The first mistake is trying to do a native Windows install instead of using WSL2. The second is assuming the install is done before hermes setup and provider configuration are complete. The third is following older tutorials instead of the current docs, which matters because the release cadence is fast enough that setup details can change within days.

Limitations and Tradeoffs

Hermès setup is simpler than it used to be, but it is still a technical install. Browser tooling and certain gateway features depend on the Node side of the stack, Windows still routes through WSL2, and the project evolves quickly enough that frozen copy-paste tutorials go stale fast. If you want a fully hosted experience with almost no setup, Hermes is not that product.

Related Guides

• What is Hermès agent?
• What is Hermès tool used for?
• How to Set Up Hermes Multi-Agent
• Best Models for Hermes Agent

FAQ

What is the current Hermès install command?

The current official quick-install command is curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/main/scripts/install.sh | bash. That command is the top recommendation in the official installation docs for Linux, macOS, and WSL2, and it remains the cleanest way to align with the current project defaults instead of assembling the runtime manually from memory.

Do I need to install Python and Node myself before running the installer?

Not for the default path. The official docs say Git is the only manual prerequisite because the installer bootstraps Python 3.11, Node.js v22, ripgrep, ffmpeg, the repository clone, and the global hermes command setup. Manual preinstallation is only useful if you deliberately want tighter control over the environment.

Can I install Hermès agent directly on Windows?

No, not as an official native path. The documentation says Windows users should install WSL2 and run Hermes from there. If you try to force a native Windows route based on older third-party tutorials, you are stepping outside the current official support guidance and will usually create more friction than progress.

How do I know whether Hermès actually installed correctly?

The docs recommend reloading your shell and then running hermes setup, hermes doctor, hermes status, and a simple chat command. Those checks verify that the CLI is reachable, the config is initialized, your provider key is set correctly, and the runtime can answer a basic request using the tools it sees.