2026-03-28 07:42

Status: active

Tags: [[3 - Tags/llm|llm]] [[3 - Tags/project|project]] [[3 - Tags/reference|reference]]

Hermes Setup Guide

Complete setup guide for Hermes AI agent with Discord, Slack, and Telegram integration.

Overview

Hermes is an AI agent platform that connects to multiple messaging platforms. This guide covers the full setup process completed on 2026-03-28.

1. Model Provider Setup (Moonshot/Kimi)

Moonshot AI / Kimi 2.5 API

• Platform: https://platform.moonshot.ai
• Console: https://platform.moonshot.ai/console
• Pricing: Token-based, per 1M tokens (input/output separate)

Recommended Models

Quick Start Code

from openai import OpenAI

client = OpenAI(
    api_key="your-kimi-api-key",
    base_url="https://api.moonshot.ai/v1"
)

Links

• Docs: https://platform.moonshot.ai/docs
• Quickstart: https://platform.moonshot.ai/docs/guide/kimi-k2-5-quickstart
• Pricing: https://platform.moonshot.ai/docs/pricing/chat

2. Discord Bot Setup

Create Bot Application

1. Go to https://discord.com/developers/applications
2. Click “New Application” → name it (e.g., “Abel_Hermes”)
3. Select “Build a Bot” when asked what brings you to the portal

Bot Configuration

Navigate to Bot section in left sidebar:

Token

• Click Reset Token → copy and save securely (only shown once!)
• Store in Hermes config or .env file

Authorization Flow

• ☐ Public Bot - keep unchecked for personal use
• ☐ Requires OAuth2 Code Grant - leave off

Privileged Gateway Intents ⚠️ CRITICAL

• ☑️ Message Content Intent - MUST enable to read messages
• ☑️ Server Members Intent - recommended
• ☐ Presence Intent - optional

Bot Permissions

Enable these in the permissions calculator:

• ✅ Send Messages
• ✅ Read Message History
• ✅ Embed Links
• ✅ Attach Files
• ✅ Add Reactions
• ✅ Use Slash Commands
• ✅ Manage Messages (optional)

Get Your Discord User ID

1. Discord → Settings → Advanced → Enable Developer Mode
2. Right-click your name anywhere → Copy ID
3. Use this to restrict bot access in Hermes config

3. Hermes CLI Installation

Initial Setup

# Install Hermes (if not already)
# Follow installation instructions from Hermes repo

# Run setup wizard
hermes setup

Setup Wizard Flow

Model Selection

• Selected: anthropic/claude-opus-4-5

TTS Provider

• Edge TTS - recommended, no dependencies
• NeuTTS requires espeak-ng (phonemizer) - optional

# If you want NeuTTS:
brew install espeak-ng
python -m pip install -U neutts[all]

Discord Configuration

• Enter bot token from Developer Portal
• Set allowed users (your Discord username or user ID)
• Home channel: skip and set later with /set-home in Discord

Search Provider

Chose Tavily for web search:

• Free tier: 1000 searches/month
• Get API key: https://app.tavily.com/home

Other Tools Configured

• ✅ Browser Automation - Local browser (no config needed)
• ✅ Text-to-Speech - Edge TTS (no config needed)
• ✅ Vision - Built-in
• ⏭️ Image Generation (FAL.ai) - skipped for now
• ⏭️ Mixture of Agents - needs OPENROUTER_API_KEY

4. File Locations

All Hermes files in ~/.hermes/:

5. Running Hermes

Commands

# Start interactive chat
hermes

# Start messaging gateway (Discord/Slack/Telegram)
hermes gateway

# Check for issues
hermes doctor

# View/edit config
hermes config
hermes config edit

# Re-run setup
hermes setup
hermes setup model      # Change model
hermes setup tools      # Configure tools
hermes setup gateway    # Configure messaging

Gateway Service

# Run in foreground (recommended for testing)
hermes gateway

# Install as background service (starts on boot)
hermes gateway install

6. Post-Setup Tasks

Set Home Channel in Discord

Once bot is in a server, type in a channel:

/set-home

This sets where cron jobs and notifications go.

Add Missing API Keys Later

Edit ~/.hermes/.env to add:

• FAL_KEY - Image generation
• OPENROUTER_API_KEY - Mixture of Agents
• GITHUB_TOKEN - Skills Hub

Invite Bot to Server

1. Go to Discord Developer Portal → OAuth2 → URL Generator
2. Select scopes: bot, applications.commands
3. Select permissions (same as configured above)
4. Copy URL and open in browser to invite

7. Discord vs Slack Comparison

Verdict: Discord for AI bot development, Slack for enterprise integration.

8. Firecrawl Notes (Future Reference)

Self-Hosted Considerations

• Pros: Free, unlimited, full control
• Cons: RAM hungry (1-2GB+), your IP gets used, maintenance burden

Alternative: Tavily

Better for starting out - zero maintenance, generous free tier.

Troubleshooting

Bot can’t read messages

→ Enable Message Content Intent in Discord Developer Portal

Gateway won’t start

→ Run hermes doctor to check for issues

Missing API keys

→ Run hermes setup tools to configure

Related Notes

• [[Hermes Agent Launch - Competitive Intelligence]] — Strategic analysis vs OpenClaw
• [[Friction Apocalypse Thesis]] — Macro context for platform competition
• [[AI Agent Platform Cost Analysis - Kimi K2.5 vs Claude Max vs Self-Hosted]]
• [[Moonshot Kimi API]]

External References

• Discord Developer Portal
• Tavily
• Moonshot AI Console