The first time Hermes Agent configures the model, don't connect to complex local endpoints as soon as you come up. The safest route for beginners is to first configure a remote provider with hermes setup interactively, make sure Hermes can chat and call the tool normally, and then consider the local model or multi-provider routing.
What to choose first
If you want to save yourself the trouble, first choose a provider with clear support for official documentation, such as Nous, OpenRouter, Anthropic, and OpenAI compatible services. You need to prepare the corresponding API key and then let setup write to the ~/.hermes/.env or configuration file.
How to verify after configuration
- Run
hermes. - Ask a simple question to confirm that the model can respond.
- Let it read a small file to confirm that the tool works.
- Finally, test the extension capabilities of web search, memory, or Telegram.
Don't change too many model parameters at the same time. The first time you only need to run through the main provider, then add fallback, auxiliary, and smart routing.
In a word: The first time you configure a model, first use hermes setup to run through a stable provider.
Official open source address: https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent; Official document entry: https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/.
