Hermes Agent on Windows: how to install it, and a GUI for it (2026)

Short answer: Hermes Agent runs natively on Windows 10 and 11, with no WSL and no admin rights. Open PowerShell, run iex (irm https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/install.ps1), open a new terminal, and run hermes setup to pick a model. If you'd rather click than type, install Hermes Desktop, Nous Research's own app, or run Hermes as a chat in a desktop app like Morphy.

Everything below is from Hermes Agent's own documentation and README, checked on November 6, 2026. (I build Morphy, which runs Hermes next to Claude Code and Codex; it comes up near the end.)

What is Hermes Agent?

An open-source AI agent by Nous Research, under the MIT license, with about 261,000 stars on GitHub (version 0.23.0 came out on November 5). What sets it apart is its learning loop: it saves skills from what it does, improves them as it uses them, and keeps a memory of your projects. Around that:

It runs on any model: a Nous Portal subscription, OpenRouter, OpenAI, your own endpoint or a model on your computer.
It lives where you chat: Telegram, Discord, Slack, WhatsApp, Signal and more, from one background "gateway", as well as in the terminal.
It works on its own: scheduled jobs in plain language (a daily report, a weekly audit), and subagents for parallel work.

Three ways to run it on Windows

	What you get	Best for
Native, in PowerShell	The command line, its full-screen terminal app, the gateway and the tools, all on Windows itself	Most people; it's what the docs recommend
Hermes Desktop	Nous Research's own app, a window around Hermes	You'd rather not use a terminal
WSL2	Hermes in Linux on your PC	Linux tools, or the few Linux-only parts

Install Hermes Agent natively

Open PowerShell or Windows Terminal (no need to run it as administrator) and run:

iex (irm https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/install.ps1)

The installer brings what Hermes needs (Python, Node.js, ripgrep, FFmpeg and its Python packages), and if you don't have Git, it adds a copy of Git for Windows for itself without replacing yours. It installs to %LOCALAPPDATA%\hermes and adds hermes to your PATH. Open a new terminal when it's done, so the PATH change takes effect.

Then set it up. One of:

hermes setup --portal   # the quickest: Nous Portal
hermes model            # pick a provider and a model yourself
hermes setup            # the full setup wizard

And start it with hermes. To type a message over several lines in Windows Terminal, press Ctrl+Enter for a new line.

What works natively, and what doesn't

Almost everything works on Windows itself: the command line, the terminal app, the messaging gateways, scheduled jobs, the browser tool, MCP servers, local models through Ollama and the web dashboard. When Hermes runs shell commands, it uses Git Bash, as Claude Code does.

The exceptions are small:

Matrix's encrypted chats need Linux.
On ARM64 Windows, the Google Chat connection, the openWakeWord wake word and local Faster-Whisper speech-to-text aren't available.

Hermes Desktop: the official GUI

Hermes Desktop is Nous Research's own app for Hermes, for Windows and Macs with Apple silicon. On Windows, you open its .appinstaller download with Windows App Installer, which installs a signed package and keeps it up to date. Hermes's Windows guide says this package needs Windows 11 22H2 or later; on Windows 10, use the PowerShell install above.

The desktop app comes with its own Python, Node and the rest, and it can sit next to a command-line install. Download it from hermes-agent.nousresearch.com.

Watch out for the names: there's also a community project called hermes-desktop on GitHub (a separate "desktop companion", MIT-licensed), which isn't Nous Research's app.

Install it in WSL2 instead

If you want Hermes in Linux, install WSL2 from an administrator PowerShell, then restart when it asks:

wsl --install

Open Ubuntu (or run wsl) and use the Linux installer:

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

Keep it running in the background

Hermes's gateway, the part that answers you on Telegram or Discord, can start by itself when you sign in to Windows, through a scheduled task (no admin needed):

hermes gateway install
hermes gateway status

hermes gateway start, stop, restart and uninstall do what they say.

Update or uninstall it

hermes update
hermes uninstall --dry-run   # see what would go, first
hermes uninstall

hermes uninstall --full also deletes your Hermes data, and --data deletes only the data. Hermes Desktop uninstalls like any app, in Settings → Apps → Installed apps.

Common problems

What you see	What it means	The fix
`hermes` isn't recognized	The terminal was open before the install	Open a new terminal
Your antivirus quarantines `uv.exe`	A false positive: it's Astral's `uv`, the Python tool Hermes uses	Hermes's README shows how to verify the file; then allow the folder `%LOCALAPPDATA%\hermes\bin` (the folder, not the file, since `uv` updates)
Hermes Desktop won't install	The package needs Windows 11 22H2 or later	Update Windows, or use the PowerShell install
Matrix encryption doesn't work	It's Linux-only	Run Hermes in WSL2 for that

In Morphy

Morphy runs Hermes Agent as a chat on one canvas, next to Claude Code, Codex and other AIs, on Windows and on a Mac. Install Hermes with the PowerShell line above, then click Set up on its card in Settings → Account: Hermes's own setup opens to pick a provider and a model, and Hermes keeps its own keys. A Hermes chat asks before it edits a file or runs a command Hermes thinks is risky, and Morphy's permission modes answer for you if you like. See Connect your AI.

Questions

Does Hermes Agent work on Windows? Yes, natively on Windows 10 and 11: the command line, its terminal app, the gateway and the tools. WSL2 is optional.

Is there a GUI for Hermes Agent? Yes. Hermes Desktop is Nous Research's own app (Windows 11 22H2 or later, or a Mac with Apple silicon). Hermes also has a web dashboard, and desktop apps like Morphy run it as a chat.

Does Hermes Agent need WSL on Windows? No. Use WSL2 only if you want Linux tools or one of the Linux-only parts, like Matrix's encrypted chats.

Is Hermes Agent free? The agent is free and open source (MIT). You pay for the model it runs on: a Nous Portal plan (from free to $200 a month), an API key, or nothing, with a local model through Ollama.

Hermes Agent or OpenClaw? Both are free, open-source agents that live in your chat apps and run on any model. Hermes's signature is its learning loop (skills and memory it builds itself); OpenClaw, the bigger of the two (about 394,000 stars), centres on its gateway across apps and devices. Both run on Windows.

References

Hermes Agent: website, README, installation, Windows (native) guide, Windows (WSL2) guide
OpenClaw: GitHub
Morphy: Connect your AI