Install Hermes Agent on WSL2 (Advanced Windows Path)

Installing in WSL2 is identical to Linux: run the official one-liner in your WSL2 shell. The differences: keep the gateway alive with foreground mode or tmux, and use an MCP bridge for browser automation.

Who this is for：Windows users who want the full Linux toolchain. For a quick start, see the Desktop path on the Windows download page.

Steps

  1. Prepare WSL2

    In an elevated PowerShell, install WSL2 (Ubuntu by default), reboot, and finish Linux user setup.

    wsl --install

  2. Install prerequisites inside WSL2

    sudo apt update && sudo apt install curl xz-utils

  3. Run the official installer

    Same one-liner as Linux.

    curl -fsSL https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/install.sh | bash

  4. Reload shell and start

    source ~/.bashrc
hermes

  5. Keep the gateway alive (important)

    Official FAQ: systemd is unreliable in WSL; use foreground mode or tmux.

    hermes gateway run
# or
tmux new -s hermes 'hermes gateway run'

How to verify

FAQ

How do I control Windows Chrome from WSL2?

Officially recommended: use chrome-devtools-mcp as an MCP server so Hermes accesses browser tools through MCP, which is more reliable than /browser connect.

Why not just PowerShell?

The native PowerShell path works for daily chat; the Linux environment has more complete terminal tooling, which is why community guides commonly recommend WSL2.

Hermes cannot find tools installed via nvm/pyenv?

Official FAQ: Hermes sources ~/.bashrc by default; add other init files in config.yaml under terminal.shell_init_files (e.g. ~/.zshrc, ~/.nvm/nvm.sh).

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