What is Hermes Desktop?

Hermes Desktop is an open-source AI agent from Nous Research, now available as a native application for macOS, Windows, and Linux. It’s designed to be a persistent, learning assistant that lives across your devices and platforms — remembering context, automating tasks, and growing more capable over time without requiring constant reconfiguration.

Who it's for

• Developers and power users who want a local-first, open-source agent with CLI access and sandboxed execution environments.
• Remote workers and freelancers who need a single agent that can operate across Telegram, Discord, Slack, WhatsApp, Signal, and email without losing context.
• Automation enthusiasts who want natural-language scheduling for reports, backups, and briefings — running unattended through the gateway.

Key features

Persistent memory across platforms

Hermes Desktop learns your projects, auto-generates skills, and never forgets how it solved a problem. Its memory persists across every surface — Telegram, Discord, Slack, WhatsApp, Signal, email, and CLI — so you can switch platforms without losing context.

Focused automation with natural-language scheduling

You can schedule reports, backups, and briefings using plain language. These tasks run unattended through the gateway, executing reliably without manual intervention.

Isolated subagents for parallel work

Hermes can delegate tasks to isolated subagents, each with its own conversations, terminals, and Python RPC scripts. This zero-context-cost pipeline lets you multiply your output without cross-contamination.

Sandboxed execution with five backends

Run experiments safely using local, Docker, SSH, Singularity, or Modal backends — each with container hardening and namespace isolation. This makes Hermes suitable for testing code, running untrusted scripts, or exploring new tools without risk.

What stands out

One agent, one memory, every surface.

Hermes Desktop’s defining edge is its cross-platform persistence. Most agents reset context when you switch apps or devices; Hermes remembers everything, everywhere. Combined with its open-source foundation and native desktop clients, it offers a rare blend of privacy, flexibility, and continuity that closed-source alternatives can’t match.

Worth checking out if…

You want an open-source AI agent that lives on your desktop, remembers everything, and works across messaging apps, CLI, and email — without locking you into a single platform or vendor.