Set it up

Eight stages, checked against v0.19.0 (July 2026). The order matters.

You need an always-on Linux or macOS box (the one running Home Assistant is ideal), Docker for the member sandboxes, a Telegram or WhatsApp account for the bot, and API access to a model provider (Nous Portal, OpenRouter, OpenAI or your own endpoint).

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

Windows uses iex (irm https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/install.ps1), but pick Linux for an always-on box. Run hermes once to finish onboarding and connect a model provider. Config goes in ~/.hermes/config.yaml, secrets in ~/.hermes/.env.

hermes profile create household
hermes --profile household

Each profile is a separate agent with its own config, model, credentials, toolsets, memory, skills and sessions. The Home Assistant token, the calendar and Notion MCP servers and the Portal browser tools go in this profile and no other.

hermes --profile household gateway
# lead DMs the bot, receives a one-time code, then on the box:
hermes pairing approve telegram <code>
hermes gateway list

Connect Telegram or WhatsApp following the messaging docs. Both support group chats. Pairing is the security model: unknown senders get a one-time code, you approve it on the box, and revoking works the same way. The gateway runs as a systemd or launchd service, so it survives reboots. Then add the bot to the family group. Leave every allow-all option off. It’s checked before pairing and makes your bot public (trap 1).

hermes profile create sam-agent --clone-from household
hermes --profile sam-agent gateway
# Sam DMs the member bot, gets a code:
hermes pairing approve telegram <code>

Then trim it in its own config:

• Delete credentials from its .env: HASS_TOKEN and the MCP and Portal keys. Cloning copies them. Ask the member agent to list its tools. You should see no ha_* or browser_*.
• Trim toolsets to roughly messaging, memory, todo, file, skills and session_search. Drop cronjob (one scheduler per house), delegation and homeassistant.
• Set the terminal backend to docker in the terminal section. The container (all capabilities dropped, no-new-privileges, 256-process cap, 512 MB tmpfs) is the boundary for anything a member can trigger. execute_code on the local backend isn’t sandboxed.
• Set approvals.mode and add approvals.deny fnmatch globs for package managers, network tools and paths outside the vault.
• Limit writes by pointing HERMES_WRITE_SAFE_ROOT at the family vault (stage 6). Hermes already protects ~/.ssh/ and .env files.

Repeat for each member who wants a private line. People who only use the group chat, or aren’t paired at all, need no profile.

# in the household profile's .env:
HASS_TOKEN=<long-lived access token>
HASS_URL=http://homeassistant.local:8123

With HASS_TOKEN set, the ha_list_entities, ha_get_state, ha_list_services and ha_call_service tools switch on, and the gateway can stream state changes. Limit those with watch_domains or watch_entities under platforms.homeassistant.extra and avoid watch_all. cooldown_seconds defaults to 30. The smart home plan covers the rest.

mkdir -p ~/family-vault/members
touch ~/family-vault/groceries.md

The vault is a plain folder that skills in both profiles read and write (see architecture). Add a Google Calendar MCP server and a Notion MCP server to the household profile only, with credentials in its .env. Good server options change monthly, so pick maintained ones and expect to swap them.

hermes gateway list   # expect: household + one per member profile
hermes cron list      # empty now; the prompts page fills it

You want at least two gateways, each paired with the right people, and member profiles that can’t see house credentials. The prompts add cron jobs through the agent’s cronjob tool. They land in ~/.hermes/cron/ and you manage them with hermes cron list/pause/resume/remove.

8 · Stop

Don’t configure more tonight. Let the morning brief fire once and tune from there. The prompts are the rest of the build.