How to start one morning automation with Hermes
A short guide to install Hermes Agent, confirm one chat works, then schedule a single morning task. The prompt must stand alone, because a schedule does not remember the chat you just had.
Hermes Agent is an AI agent from Nous Research. You can chat with it on your computer, then ask it to run a task at a set time. The most useful first job is a morning briefing, delivered at the same hour on weekdays.
This guide is for the first run. One install, one successful chat, one schedule. Do not add a Telegram bot or a pile of tools before that base is stable.
1. Install Hermes
On Windows or Mac, the simplest path is the Hermes Desktop installer from the Nous Research site.
If you want the command line only on Windows, open PowerShell and run the official install command from their guide:
iex (irm https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/install.ps1)
After it finishes, close and reopen the terminal so the hermes command is recognized.
2. Choose a model, then test one chat
Run:
hermes setup --portal
That logs you into Nous Portal, picks a model, and turns on web search in one step. If you already have another API key, use hermes model and choose that provider.
Then start a chat:
hermes
Ask for something easy to check, for example: "List the files in the current folder and tell me which one looks like the main project file."
Stop here if the reply is empty or broken. The official guide says not to add a schedule until a normal chat succeeds. If you get stuck, run hermes doctor, then hermes model.
3. Schedule one morning task
When chat is stable, create one weekday job at 8:00 in the morning:
hermes cron create "0 8 * * 1-5" "Find three AI news stories since yesterday. For each one, give a title, a one-sentence summary, and a source link. Skip rumors that have no link."
You can create the same schedule from inside a chat with /cron add.
Two rules from the Hermes docs that save time:
- Each scheduled run is a fresh session. It does not remember the chat you just had. Put every instruction in the prompt itself: how many items, the language, and what must be linked.
- Add a schedule only after basic chat works. A broken job fails quietly, or spends tokens with nothing useful back.
Check the list with hermes cron list. If you want the result sent to Telegram or Slack, connect that platform first with hermes gateway setup. Without the gateway, the schedule can still run, but it has nowhere to deliver a message.
What to try today
One schedule only. Let it run tomorrow morning. If the result is useful, add a second job. If the result is vague, shorten the prompt and name the answer format. Do not add new tools yet.