Download and Install Hermes Agent on Linux

One official command installs Hermes Agent on Linux: curl -fsSL https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/install.sh | bash. Prerequisites are just git, curl, and xz-utils.

Who this is for:Linux desktop or server users, including anyone running a long-lived agent on a VPS.

Steps

  1. Install prerequisites

    On Debian/Ubuntu ensure curl and xz-utils; the desktop app additionally needs build-essential.

    sudo apt install curl xz-utils
    git --version
  2. Run the official installer

    The installer handles Python 3.11, Node.js v22, ripgrep, and ffmpeg automatically.

    curl -fsSL https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/install.sh | bash
  3. Reload your shell and start

    Reload the shell config, then start.

    source ~/.bashrc
    hermes
  4. Configure a model provider

    Choose an LLM provider and set an API key.

    hermes model
  5. (Servers) service-user deployment

    Per official docs: install Playwright dependencies as admin first, then run the installer as the service user; add --skip-browser to skip browser setup.

    sudo npx playwright install-deps chromium

How to verify

FAQ

Where does it install?

Per-user default is ~/.hermes/hermes-agent/; root mode installs to /usr/local/lib/hermes-agent/.

Python too old?

Hermes needs Python 3.11+, but the official installer handles it. In self-managed setups check python3 --version and upgrade via your package manager.

Can I install on Android?

Yes, Termux is officially supported with the same one-line command as Linux.

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