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docs: major refresh for Hermes v0.9.0 & v0.10.0 (April 2026) #5

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77 changes: 61 additions & 16 deletions README.md
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# Hermes Optimization Guide

> **Tested on Hermes Agent (latest) — April 2026** · 11 parts · Battle-tested on a live production deployment
> **Tested on Hermes Agent v0.10.0 (v2026.4.16)** · 16 parts · Battle-tested on a live production deployment

### Make Your Hermes Agent Actually Work — Setup, Migration, Knowledge Graphs, Telegram, Skills, Memory, Models, and Recovery
#### Full setup walkthrough, OpenClaw migration, LightRAG graph RAG, Telegram bot integration, on-the-fly skill creation, memory architecture, custom models, and crash recovery
### Make Your Hermes Agent Actually Work — Setup, Migration, Knowledge Graphs, Messaging, Skills, Memory, Models, Dashboard, Tool Gateway, and Recovery
#### Full setup walkthrough, OpenClaw migration, LightRAG graph RAG, 16 messaging platforms, on-the-fly skill creation, memory architecture, custom models, the new local web dashboard, Nous Tool Gateway, Fast Mode, backup/import, and crash recovery

*By Terp - [Terp AI Labs](https://x.com/OnlyTerp)*

---

## What's New (April 10–17, 2026)

Two major Hermes releases dropped this week. This guide is current as of both.

### [v0.9.0 — 2026.4.13 — "Everywhere"](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/releases/tag/v2026.4.13)

- **Local web dashboard** (`hermes dashboard`) — full browser UI for config, API keys, sessions, logs, analytics, cron, and skills. See [Part 12](./part12-web-dashboard.md).
- **Fast Mode** (`/fast`) — priority-tier inference on OpenAI & Anthropic, available on every gateway platform, not just the CLI. See [Part 14](./part14-fast-mode-watchers.md).
- **Three new messaging adapters** — iMessage (via BlueBubbles), WeChat/Weixin, and WeCom (Enterprise WeChat). Brings the total to **16 platforms**. See [Part 15](./part15-new-platforms.md).
- **Android / Termux** tested install path — run the full Hermes CLI on your phone. See [Part 15](./part15-new-platforms.md#android--termux-running-hermes-on-your-phone).
- **Background process monitoring** (`watch_patterns`) — real-time regex event hooks on long-running processes, no more polling. See [Part 14](./part14-fast-mode-watchers.md#background-process-monitoring-watch_patterns).
- **Pluggable context engine** — swap in a custom engine to filter memory, inject domain context, or pre-summarize tool output. See [Part 14](./part14-fast-mode-watchers.md#pluggable-context-engine).
- **`hermes backup` / `hermes import`** — first-class portable backups with interactive conflict resolution. See [Part 16](./part16-backup-debug.md).
- **Dashboard plugins** — third-party tabs that extend the web UI. See [Part 12](./part12-web-dashboard.md#dashboard-plugins-extend-the-ui).
- **Proxy support, webhook secret validation, SSRF protection, log redaction** — hardening pass across every adapter. See [Part 16](./part16-backup-debug.md#security-hardening-v09--v010-notes).

### [v0.10.0 — 2026.4.16 — "Tool Gateway"](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/releases/tag/v2026.4.16)

- **Nous Tool Gateway** — paid [Nous Portal](https://portal.nousresearch.com) subscribers get web search (Firecrawl), image generation (FAL FLUX 2 Pro), TTS (OpenAI), and browser automation (Browser Use) through their subscription — **no extra API keys**. Per-tool `use_gateway: true` with clean precedence over direct keys. See [Part 13](./part13-tool-gateway.md).
- **Native xAI and Xiaomi MiMo providers** — both now have first-class adapters with provider-specific features (Grok's live-X search, MiMo's reasoning modes), not just OpenRouter pass-through. See [Part 9](./part9-custom-models.md).
- **`/compress <topic>`** — guided compression that preserves detail relevant to a topic. See [Part 14](./part14-fast-mode-watchers.md#compress-topic--guided-compression).
- **`/debug` + `hermes debug share`** — single-command diagnostic bundler with upload endpoint for bug reports. See [Part 16](./part16-backup-debug.md#debug-and-hermes-debug-share).
- **Approval bypass inheritance for subagents** — subagents inherit the parent session's approval posture; override per delegation. See [Part 16](./part16-backup-debug.md#approval-bypass-for-trusted-subagents).
- `HERMES_ENABLE_NOUS_MANAGED_TOOLS` env flag **removed** — replaced by clean subscription detection + per-tool `use_gateway`. `hermes upgrade` migrates automatically.

---

## Table of Contents

1. [Setup](#part-1-setup-stop-fumbling-with-installation) — Install Hermes, configure your provider, first-run walkthrough
1. [Setup](#part-1-setup-stop-fumbling-with-installation) — Install Hermes, configure your provider, first-run walkthrough (with Android/Termux)
2. [SOUL.md Personality](#soulmd--give-your-agent-a-personality) — The Molty prompt, what good personality rules look like, how to fix a bland agent
3. [OpenClaw Migration](#part-2-openclaw-migration-dont-leave-your-knowledge-behind) — Move your OpenClaw data, config, skills, and memory into Hermes
4. [LightRAG — Graph RAG](#part-3-lightrag--graph-rag-that-actually-works) — Set up a knowledge graph that actually understands relationships, not just text similarity
Expand All @@ -20,9 +47,14 @@
7. [Context Compression](./part6-context-compression.md) — Fix the silent context loss bug, configure compression thresholds, survive long sessions
8. [Memory System](./part7-memory-system.md) — The three-tier memory architecture: persistent facts, conversation recall, procedural memory
9. [Subagent Patterns](./part8-subagent-patterns.md) — Orchestrator/worker delegation, ACP subagents, parallel task execution
10. [Custom Model Providers](./part9-custom-models.md) — Cerebras, Fireworks, Ollama, model aliases, fallback chains
10. [Custom Model Providers](./part9-custom-models.md) — Cerebras, Fireworks, Ollama, native xAI/MiMo/z.ai/Kimi/MiniMax/Arcee, Nous Portal, model aliases, fallback chains
11. [SOUL.md Anti-Patterns](./part10-soul-antipatterns.md) — What makes an agent annoying vs useful, the formula that works
12. [Gateway Recovery](./part11-gateway-recovery.md) — Crash detection, auto-recovery, common failure modes, health checks
13. [Web Dashboard](./part12-web-dashboard.md) — **New.** `hermes dashboard`, the full browser UI — config, keys, sessions, logs, analytics, cron, skills, REST API, plugins
14. [Nous Tool Gateway](./part13-tool-gateway.md) — **New.** Web search, image gen, TTS, and browser automation through a single Nous Portal subscription
15. [Fast Mode & Background Watchers](./part14-fast-mode-watchers.md) — **New.** `/fast` priority tier, `watch_patterns` real-time process monitoring, pluggable context engine, `/compress <topic>`
16. [New Platforms (iMessage, WeChat, Android)](./part15-new-platforms.md) — **New.** BlueBubbles/iMessage, Weixin/WeCom, Android via Termux — the full 16-platform lineup
17. [Backup, Import & `/debug`](./part16-backup-debug.md) — **New.** Portable `hermes backup`/`import`, `/debug` bundler, `hermes debug share`, security hardening

---

Expand Down Expand Up @@ -52,10 +84,11 @@ After this guide:

## Prerequisites

- A Linux/macOS machine (or WSL2 on Windows)
- A Linux/macOS machine (or WSL2 on Windows, or **Android via Termux** — see [Part 15](./part15-new-platforms.md#android--termux-running-hermes-on-your-phone))
- Python 3.11+ and Git
- An API key for at least one LLM provider (Anthropic, OpenAI, OpenRouter, etc.)
- An API key for at least one LLM provider (Anthropic, OpenAI, OpenRouter, Nous Portal, etc.)
- Optional: Ollama for local embeddings (free vector search)
- Optional: A paid [Nous Portal](https://portal.nousresearch.com) subscription to use the [Tool Gateway](./part13-tool-gateway.md) — web search, image gen, TTS, and browser automation with no extra keys

---

Expand Down Expand Up @@ -83,16 +116,21 @@ LLM Provider (Claude, GPT, local models)
## Quick Start

```bash
# 1. Install Hermes
# 1. Install Hermes (Linux/macOS/WSL2/Android)
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/main/scripts/install.sh | bash

# 2. Configure
# 2. Configure providers and tools
hermes setup

# 3. Start chatting
# 3a. Start chatting in the terminal
hermes

# 3b. Or launch the new browser dashboard (v0.9+)
hermes dashboard
```

The dashboard is the fastest way to configure everything without touching YAML. See [Part 12](./part12-web-dashboard.md) for the full tour.

For the full walkthrough including optimization, read each part in order.

---
Expand All @@ -118,6 +156,8 @@ curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/main/scri

> **Windows users:** Native Windows is not supported. Install [WSL2](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/wsl/install) and run the command from inside WSL. It works perfectly.

> **Android users (new in v0.9):** the same installer detects Termux and installs the tested `[termux]` extra bundle automatically — CLI, cron, PTY/background terminal, Telegram gateway, MCP, Honcho, ACP. See [Part 15 — Android / Termux](./part15-new-platforms.md#android--termux-running-hermes-on-your-phone).

### What the Installer Does

The installer handles everything automatically:
Expand Down Expand Up @@ -156,15 +196,20 @@ Supported providers and recommended models:

| Provider | Top Models | Best For | Env Variable |
|----------|-----------|----------|-------------|
| **Anthropic** | Opus 4.6, Sonnet 4 | Best reasoning, complex tasks, coding | `ANTHROPIC_API_KEY` |
| **OpenAI** | GPT-5.4 Pro, o3, GPT-4.1 | Strong tool use, fast inference, huge context | `OPENAI_API_KEY` |
| **Xiaomi** | MiMo V2 Pro | Fast, cheap, great for orchestration and routing | `OPENROUTER_API_KEY` |
| **Nous Portal** | Hermes 5, Hermes 4 405B | Built-in [Tool Gateway](./part13-tool-gateway.md) — web search/image/TTS/browser with no extra keys | Auth via `hermes model` |
| **Anthropic** | Opus 4.6, Sonnet 4 | Best reasoning, complex tasks, coding, `/fast` priority tier | `ANTHROPIC_API_KEY` |
| **OpenAI** | GPT-5.4 Pro, o3, GPT-4.1 | Strong tool use, fast inference, huge context, `/fast` priority tier | `OPENAI_API_KEY` |
| **Xiaomi MiMo** | MiMo V2 Pro *(native adapter)* | Fast, cheap, native reasoning modes, great for orchestration | `XIAOMI_API_KEY` |
| **xAI** | Grok 3, Grok 3 Mini *(native adapter)* | Fast, good reasoning, native live-X search | `XAI_API_KEY` |
| **Kimi / Moonshot** | Kimi 2.5 | Big context, excellent for entity extraction / LightRAG ingestion | `MOONSHOT_API_KEY` |
| **z.ai / GLM** | GLM-5, GLM-5 Air | Strongest open-weights model, great for translation + tools | `ZAI_API_KEY` |
| **Google** | Gemini 3.1 Pro | Massive context (2M tokens), multimodal, cheap | `GEMINI_API_KEY` |
| **MiniMax** | M2.7 | Good balance of speed and quality | `OPENROUTER_API_KEY` |
| **xAI** | Grok 3, Grok 3 Mini | Fast, good reasoning, real-time X/Twitter access | `XAI_API_KEY` |
| **MiniMax** | M2.7 | Good balance of speed and quality | `MINIMAX_API_KEY` |
| **Cerebras** | Llama 4 Scout, Qwen 3 32B | Blazing fast inference (2000+ tok/s), cheap | `CEREBRAS_API_KEY` |
| **Groq** | Llama 4, Qwen 3 | Very fast inference, limited context | `GROQ_API_KEY` |
| **OpenRouter** | All of the above + 100 more | Access every model from one key, auto-fallback | `OPENROUTER_API_KEY` |
| **Arcee** | AFM-4.5, Caller | Function-calling specialists, cheap | `ARCEE_API_KEY` |
| **Hugging Face** | Any TGI/TEI endpoint | Self-hosted and Inference Endpoints | `HF_TOKEN` |
| **OpenRouter** | All of the above + 200 more | Access every model from one key, auto-fallback | `OPENROUTER_API_KEY` |
| **Ollama** (local) | Qwen 3.5 Opus Distilled V3, Gemma 4, Nemotron | Free, private, runs on your GPU — great for embeddings and simple tasks | None needed |

### Local Models (Ollama)
Expand Down
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