Hermes Agent Setup Checklists: Personal, Team & Production

Three checklists. One for personal setup, one for team deployment, one for production security. Print them, bookmark them, run through them.

Checklist 1: Personal Setup (15 Minutes)

Getting Hermes running on your own machine for the first time.

Prerequisites

• Machine has 4GB+ RAM (8GB recommended)
• 2GB+ free disk space
• Running Linux, macOS, or WSL2
• Terminal open and ready

Installation

• Run install script: curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/main/scripts/install.sh | bash
• Verify install: hermes --version returns a version number
• If “command not found”: run source ~/.bashrc or restart terminal

Initial Setup

• Run hermes setup and complete wizard
• Choose LLM provider (Ollama for free local, or paste an API key)
• If using Ollama: confirm ollama serve is running in another terminal
• Run hermes status — all checks show ✓

First Test

• Run hermes to enter interactive CLI
• Ask it something: What is Hermes Agent?
• Got a response? ✅ You’re done

Optional: Connect a Platform

• Choose one: Discord, Slack, or Telegram
• Get bot token (see Platform Guide)
• Run hermes setup again, add platform
• Send a message to the bot — it replies ✅

Checklist 2: Team Deployment (1 Hour)

Setting up Hermes for a team of 2–50 people with Discord or Slack.

Infrastructure

• Server/VPS provisioned (4+ vCPU, 16GB RAM recommended)
• SSH access confirmed
• Firewall rules set (only allow required ports)
• Domain/IP decided for Hermes server

Installation on Server

• Connect via SSH
• Run Hermes install script
• Verify: hermes --version
• Run hermes setup wizard on server

LLM Backend

• Decided: Ollama (free) or cloud API (paid)?
• If Ollama: installed and ollama serve running
• If Ollama: model downloaded (ollama pull mistral)
• If cloud API: API key set in environment variable
• Test LLM: hermes test-llm passes

Platform Setup

• Chosen primary platform: Discord / Slack / Telegram
• Bot created and token obtained
• Token stored in .env file (not hardcoded in config)
• File permissions set: chmod 600 ~/.hermes/.env
• Bot connected: hermes setup → platform config
• Bot visible in platform (Discord server / Slack workspace / Telegram)

Permissions

• Discord: Bot has “Send Messages” + “Read Message History” in channels
• Slack: Bot scopes set correctly in Slack App settings
• Telegram: Bot started with /start command

Verification

• hermes status — all ✓
• Send test message to bot — it responds
• Learning enabled: hermes config show | grep learn
• Memory directory exists: ls ~/.hermes/memory/

Team Onboarding

• Share bot invite link with team
• Document which channels/servers Hermes monitors
• Create brief “how to use Hermes” doc for team
• Set expectations: it gets smarter over time, not immediately

Checklist 3: Production Security (Before Go-Live)

Run through this before exposing Hermes to real users or sensitive data.

Secrets & Credentials

• All tokens in environment variables (zero hardcoded in config files)
• .env file has chmod 600 permissions
• API keys not in version control (.gitignore includes .env)
• Separate API keys for dev and production
• Key rotation schedule documented (recommend: 90 days)

Network Security

• Hermes server NOT directly exposed to public internet
• Platform webhooks (Discord/Slack/Telegram) go through firewall only
• SSH access via key pairs only (password auth disabled)
• Unused ports closed on firewall
• Internal-only access if possible (VPN or private network)

Data & Privacy

• Home directory encrypted (BitLocker / FileVault / LUKS)
• Hermes memory directory permissions: chmod 700 ~/.hermes
• Understand what conversations Hermes logs
• Data retention policy defined and documented
• GDPR/privacy compliance reviewed (if applicable)

Platform Token Security

• Discord bot permissions set to minimum (not “Administrator”)
• Slack app scopes reviewed — remove anything not needed
• Token invalidation process documented (what to do if leaked)
• Monitoring in place for unexpected bot activity

Monitoring & Logging

• Logs enabled: log_level: "info" in config
• Log file writable and rotating: logrotate configured
• Alerts set up for errors (email/Slack notification)
• API usage monitoring in place (watch for unexpected spikes)

Incident Response

• Know how to revoke/rotate all tokens (documented)
• Know how to audit Hermes memory: ls ~/.hermes/skills/
• Emergency stop process documented: pkill hermes
• Team contact list for security incidents

Final Verification

• Run hermes status — all green
• Test all connected platforms respond correctly
• Review ~/.hermes/skills/ — no unexpected skill files
• Check logs are clean: tail -50 ~/.hermes/logs/hermes.log

Quick Diagnostic Commands

Paste these whenever something seems off:

# Overall status
hermes status

# Check LLM connection
hermes test-llm

# View all platform connections
hermes config show

# Check memory size
du -sh ~/.hermes/memory/

# Last 50 log lines
tail -50 ~/.hermes/logs/hermes.log

# List all learned skills
ls ~/.hermes/skills/

# Follow logs in real-time
tail -f ~/.hermes/logs/hermes.log

What to Read Next

• Config Templates — Ready-to-paste config files
• Security Guide — Why each security item matters
• Troubleshooting — Fix specific problems
• Platform Connections — Discord, Slack, Telegram setup