What Is Hermes Agent? 2:44
Hermes Agent is an AI employee that grows with you through a self-improvement loop. It does a task, learns from it, saves the approach as a skill, and a curator cleans up stale knowledge. Unlike OpenClaw, which gets bloated over time, Hermes stays reliable through active memory curation.
- Self-improvement loop: task → learn → save as skill → curator cleanup
- OpenClaw comparison: OpenClaw accumulates bloat; Hermes curates and archives
- Memory curation: keeps the agent reliable and performant over time
- AI employee mindset: treat it as a team member that improves with experience
Model vs Harness & Good/Bad/Ugly 5:26
The car analogy: the model (GPT, Claude, etc.) is the engine, but Hermes is the entire car — chassis, wheels, GPS, and everything else. Understanding this distinction is key to grasping why Hermes matters beyond just picking a good LLM.
- Model = engine: the raw intelligence (GPT-5.5, Claude, etc.)
- Harness = the car: memory, tools, skills, integrations — Hermes is the harness
- Good: memory, skills, self-improvement, multi-platform support
- Bad: terminal-based setup, occasional hallucinations
- Ugly: costs can add up with heavy usage on premium models
Full Setup From Scratch 8:36
Walking through the full installation: choosing between self-hosting and cloud, making cost decisions, setting up the buddy system (using Codex as a "repair doctor" when Hermes breaks), installing the desktop app, and connecting GPT 5.5 as the primary model.
- Hosting options: self-host for control vs cloud for convenience
- Buddy system: use Codex as a repair doctor when Hermes breaks
- Desktop app: install and configure the Hermes desktop client
- GPT 5.5: connecting as the primary model for best performance
- Cost planning: understand token costs before committing
News Portal & Computer Use 15:01
The news portal serves as a backup brain for staying current with AI developments. Enabling computer use capability unlocks desktop automation. A tour of a real Telegram setup shows multiple topics and threads in action.
- News portal: backup brain for staying current with AI news
- Computer use: enabling the capability for desktop automation
- Telegram tour: real setup with multiple topics and threads
- Practical demo: seeing how all the pieces fit together
Channels: Telegram, Slack & iMessage 21:22
Connecting Hermes to multiple platforms. Telegram via BotFather with topics for multi-thread workflows. Slack integration to make Hermes an AI teammate. iMessage via Photon — where Hermes configures itself automatically.
- Telegram: connect via BotFather, use topics for multi-thread workflows
- Slack: integrate Hermes as an AI teammate in your workspace
- iMessage: connect via Photon — Hermes self-configures
- Multi-platform: same AI, different interfaces for different contexts
Identity & Memory: soul.md & user.md 41:53
soul.md defines Hermes's personality and identity — how it speaks, what it values, its role. user.md stores persistent memory about you — your preferences, context, history. Together, they create a personalized AI that knows you.
- soul.md: personality, identity, communication style, values
- user.md: persistent memory about the user — preferences, context, history
- Memory accumulation: improves over time as you interact
- Customization: shape the agent's personality to match your needs
Honcho: Shared Memory Across Agents 47:08
Memory is hard — each agent is isolated with its own context. Honcho solves this by providing one shared brain across agents. Connecting Hermes + Honcho beats standalone agents by enabling persistent, cross-agent memory.
- The problem: memory is hard, each agent is isolated
- Honcho: one shared brain across all your agents
- Hermes + Honcho: beats standalone agents with shared context
- OAuth connection: secure authentication to link the systems
Multica: Chat + Project Board 56:50
Multica combines chat with project management in one interface. Install, configure, and turn Hermes into your AI project manager that tracks tasks, manages workflows, and keeps everything organized.
- Multica: combines chat with project management
- Installation: setting up and configuring Multica
- AI project manager: Hermes tracks tasks and manages workflows
- Unified interface: chat and boards in one place
Profiles & Squads 1:06:58
Profiles let you run one Hermes installation as many AI employees with different personalities and roles. Squads take it further — build a team of agents that collaborate on complex workflows.
- Profiles: one Hermes, many AI employees with different personas
- Squads: building an agent team that works together
- Different roles: researcher, writer, developer, manager
- Business functions: multiple profiles for different departments
Connectors, MCPs & Cron Jobs 1:14:52
Understanding the integration landscape: MCPs vs CLIs vs APIs. Composio as an MCP gateway to hundreds of apps. Google Workspace CLI for direct integration. Cron jobs enable autonomous autopilot — Hermes works while you sleep.
- MCPs vs CLIs vs APIs: understanding the integration landscape
- Composio: MCP gateway connecting to hundreds of apps
- Google Workspace CLI: direct integration with Google services
- Cron jobs: autonomous autopilot for scheduled tasks
BUILD: Morning Briefing Autopilot 1:20:26
First build project: creating a morning briefing cron job that runs automatically. Then packaging it into a reusable skill. Introduction to agentic workflows and the 5-step recipe for building automated systems.
- Morning briefing: build a cron job that delivers daily summaries
- Skill packaging: save the workflow as a reusable skill
- Agentic workflows: understanding the automation paradigm
- 5-step recipe: a repeatable framework for building agentic systems
BUILD: Animated Website & Property Kit 1:32:37
One-shot animated website creation with the /goal command. Installing Higgsfield and Firecrawl. Building a property marketing kit with scraped realtor contacts. Strategies for getting clients through three channels.
- Animated website: one-shot creation with /goal command
- Higgsfield: AI-powered animations and visual effects
- Property marketing kit: scraping realtor contacts for outreach
- Autopilot leads: automated lead generation pipeline
- Getting clients: three channels for client acquisition
BUILD: Content Engine & Octopus 1:55:50
Building a full content engine: Instagram thread carousels, pixel-style designed carousels, auto-posting with Blotato and content calendar. The content repurpose octopus turns one piece into many formats. Two-pass AI video editing and an e-commerce ad factory.
- Carousels: Instagram thread carousels and pixel-style designs
- Auto-posting: Blotato integration with content calendar
- Content octopus: one piece → multiple formats automatically
- Video editing: two-pass AI editing (cut + B-roll)
- Ad factory: e-commerce ad generation at scale
BUILD: Trading Bot, Community & Health 2:19:59
Community management with an AI inbox and Skool bot. AgentMail for agent-native email. A self-improving trading bot (Coinvest) and copy-trading Congress members via QuiverQuant. Plus a health and longevity coach.
- Community manager: AI inbox and Skool bot for community management
- AgentMail: email built for agents, not humans
- Trading bot: self-improving Coinvest trading system
- QuiverQuant: copy-trading Congress members' disclosed trades
- Health coach: longevity and health optimization agent
Jarvis Command Center & Selling Your Builds 2:41:24
Jarvis is the unified command center for all your agents. The five-part recipe for building your own Jarvis. Mark Cuban on the AI integrator opportunity. A complete offer menu — installs, executive assistant, websites, property kits, content, ads, community management — with pricing strategies.
- Jarvis: one command center for all your agents
- Five-part recipe: building your own Jarvis system
- Mark Cuban: the AI integrator opportunity
- Offer menu: installs, EA, websites, property kits, content, ads, community
- Pricing: outcome-based, retainer model, risk reversal
🎯 Key Takeaways
- Hermes Agent = AI employee that grows with you via self-improvement loop
- Model is the engine, harness is the car — Hermes is the harness
- Self-improving memory: curator cleans skills, archives stale ones
- Multi-platform: Telegram, Slack, iMessage, web
- soul.md = personality, user.md = persistent memory
- Honcho = shared brain across multiple agents
- Multica = chat + project board for AI project management
- Profiles = one Hermes, many AI employee personas
- Squads = team of agents working together
- Cron jobs enable autonomous autopilot (morning briefings, monitoring)
- 5-step agentic workflow recipe for building systems
- Content octopus: one piece of content → multiple formats automatically
- Trading bot with copy-trading Congress members via QuiverQuant
- Jarvis = unified command center for all agents
- Selling AI builds: setup fee + retainer model, outcome-based pricing
🔗 Resources
- 🏠 Hermes Agent — Official site
- 🎬 Higgsfield — AI animations
- 🔥 FireCrawl — Web scraping
- 📊 QuiverQuant — Congress trading data
- 💰 Co-Invest — AI trading
- 📋 Miro Board — Course companion board