Hermes Desktop

Hermes Desktop is an open-source desktop AI agent companion that features tool use, multi-platform messaging, and a closed learning loop.

Hermes Desktop is a native desktop application for Hermes Agent by Nous Research. It provides a self-improving AI assistant with built-in tool use, multi-platform messaging, and a closed learning loop without requiring a command line interface. The system creates skills from experience, improves them during use, and builds a deepening model of the user across sessions. It supports messaging platforms including Telegram, Discord, Slack, WhatsApp, Signal, and CLI. Users can connect to various model providers including Nous Portal, OpenRouter, OpenAI, Anthropic, Gemini, xAI, NVIDIA NIM, Hugging Face, Ollama, and LM Studio.

Hermes Desktop at a glance

Best for: Software engineer
Runs on: macOS, Windows, Linux, Web, CLI
Pricing: Free, open source
Released: April 2026
Category: AI agent tool
Website: hermesone.org

Key features

Closed learning loop with autonomous skill creation
Multi-platform messaging gateway for Telegram, Discord, Slack, WhatsApp, and Signal
Deep memory with FTS5 session search and Honcho dialectic user modeling
Built-in cron scheduler for automated daily reports and backups
Subagent delegation for parallel workstreams
Fourteen built-in toolsets including web search, browser automation, and code execution
Seven terminal backends including local, Docker, SSH, and Modal

Use it for

Automating daily reports and weekly audits with scheduled cron jobs
Managing conversations across multiple messaging platforms from one place
Executing multi-step pipelines via Python scripts and tool calls
Transcribing voice memos and maintaining cross-session conversation continuity

Companions

Tools that articles about Hermes Desktop recommend using with it, each with its job.

Agent Reach — Lets Hermes read X, Reddit, YouTube and other sites.
Agent Skills — Addy Osmani's skills with verification gates for coding work.
Codebase Memory MCP — Persistent knowledge graph of your repositories.
Defuddle — Turns messy pages into clean text for the agent.
SkillClaw — Improves the skill library from real sessions.

Alternatives to Hermes Desktop

Hermes Agent — It features persistent memory, self-created skills, and isolated sandboxing.
Hermes WebUI — Run one server and access your agent from any device.
Hermes Gadget — Brings a personal Hermes Agent to a physical desk with voice interaction.
Hermes Atlas — Curates over 250 open-source tools and skills with live GitHub data.
Hermes Browser Extension — Connects active web context directly to the local Hermes runtime.
Hermes IDE — Run different coding agents side by side in one interface with centralized reviews.
AionUi — Auto-detects and runs local CLI agents like Claude Code and Codex in parallel.
Hermes Labs Plugins — Install community plugins for Hermes Agent that are available for adoption.
Herald OS — It runs your entire machine through conversation with an AI agent.
Hermex — Native mobile access to a self-hosted Hermes agent with no subscription fees.
Agenta — Build and automate AI agents that run on your own infrastructure or the cloud.
CodePilot — Consolidates multiple AI agents and local model connections in one workspace.

All Hermes Desktop alternatives