Hermes Autonomous Server Guide for Hermes Agent

Guide to running Hermes Agent headless on a Linux server with a systemd gateway and cron jobs

What Hermes Autonomous Server Guide does

The guide walks through creating a dedicated hermes user, installing Hermes with the official install script, authenticating with hermes login and checking with hermes status. It then creates a recurring cron job from inside hermes chat (the example runs every 10 minutes and writes a short paragraph of at most 180 words) and sets up the gateway as a system-level service, because some VPS environments do not support systemctl --user.

The service file at /etc/systemd/system/hermes-gateway.service runs hermes gateway with Restart=always, so the setup starts again after a reboot. Verification uses systemctl status and hermes cron status, and monitoring uses journalctl -u hermes-gateway -f and hermes cron list. The README estimates roughly 4,320 runs and $8 to $12 a month for its example, and says cron jobs will not run without an active Nous Portal subscription or credits. It states that it is not an official Hermes project and is not affiliated with Nous Research.

Key features

Dedicated non-root user setup for Hermes
Recurring cron job created through hermes chat
System-level systemd unit for hermes gateway with automatic restart
Verification and monitoring commands for gateway and scheduler
Cost estimate for the example schedule

When to use it

Running scheduled Hermes jobs on a VPS without an open terminal
Making a Hermes gateway survive reboots
Adjusting a cron schedule to control model spend

Who it is for: Operators who want Hermes Agent running unattended on a dedicated Linux server.

How it fits with Hermes Agent

A community deployment guide for Hermes Agent, not an official Nous Research project.

How to install Hermes Autonomous Server Guide

These commands are copied from the project's README. Check the repository for the latest steps before you run them.

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/main/scripts/install.sh | bash
hermes login

Requirements: Ubuntu or Debian (tested) on a dedicated server or VPS with systemd, a non-root user recommended, and an active Nous Portal subscription or API credits

Note: It is not an official Hermes project, and cron jobs will not run without an active Nous Portal subscription or credits.

FAQ

What is Hermes Autonomous Server Guide?

Hermes Autonomous Server Guide is a deployment guide for running Hermes Agent headless on a Linux server. It combines the Nous Portal login, Hermes cron jobs and a systemd gateway service.

What do I need to run Hermes Autonomous Server Guide?

You need an Ubuntu or Debian server with systemd, ideally with a non-root user, and an active Nous Portal subscription or credits. Without one, cron jobs will not execute.

Is Hermes Autonomous Server Guide an official Hermes project?

No. The README says it is not an official Hermes project, is not affiliated with Nous Research and is not a hosted service.