Nous Research says you can go from install to your first chat with Hermes in under five minutes. That holds if you do things in the right order. Here is the order, and what to do once it works.
The Hermes quickstart has one rule that saves most first installs: if Hermes cannot finish a normal chat, do not add anything else yet. No Telegram, no cron jobs, no skills. Get one clean conversation, then build on it. Every step below follows that rule.
Step one: install it
On Linux, macOS or WSL2, run the line below in a terminal. Native Windows has its own PowerShell installer, which needs no WSL and brings Python, Node.js and the other tools itself.
curl -fsSL https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/install.sh | bash
source ~/.bashrc # or: source ~/.zshrciex (irm https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/install.ps1)Step two: pick a model
The docs call this the most important step. Run hermes model and choose a provider. An OpenRouter or Anthropic key works, and so does a ChatGPT or Codex subscription. Would you rather not collect separate keys for search, images and voice? Nous Portal covers them in one subscription. Run hermes setup --portal instead.
Want the full wizard? hermes setup walks through everything at once. If it finds an OpenClaw install on your computer, it offers to import your memories, skills and settings first.
Step three: have one clean chat
Type hermes and ask it something that needs a tool, like what is in a folder on your computer. If the answer comes back, the install is done. If it is empty or broken, run hermes model again before you change anything else, and run hermes doctor if that does not fix it.
Then: message it from your phone
Now add a chat app. hermes gateway setup lets you pick Telegram, Discord, Slack, WhatsApp, Signal, email and more. Each one asks for its own details, such as a bot token from Telegram. hermes gateway start runs it.
This is where most setups stall. The gateway runs on the computer you installed it on, so it stops when that computer sleeps. hermes gateway install keeps it running as a service, and on Linux sudo hermes gateway install --system starts it at boot. For an agent that answers at 3am, that means a server that never sleeps, which you then keep updated and secure.
Get one clean chat working. Then decide where it lives.
Or skip the terminal
Hermes on Faivelo runs the Hermes Agent image from Nous Research, unmodified. It gets a box of its own for $9 a month. You give it a name, a model key and your phone number. WhatsApp, Telegram, Discord and Slack are already linked through Faivelo's apps, so there is no bot to register. It also gets its own email address with the email gateway set up, and it restarts on its own if it crashes.
Still choosing? OpenClaw vs Hermes Agent compares the two from their own docs, and getting started with OpenClaw covers the other one.
Hermes, always on
Your own Hermes on its own box, with WhatsApp and Telegram linked and an email address of its own. Bring any model key. Month to month.