---
title: Hermes Agent
description: Run Nous Research's Hermes Agent with its OpenAI-compatible API, using models through OpenRouter and keeping its memory on a volume.
section: Templates
order: 5
updated: 2026-11-04
---

[Hermes Agent](https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com) by Nous Research is an agent that learns skills and keeps memory as you use it. The **Hermes Agent** template runs the `nousresearch/hermes-agent:stable` image with its API server on, so your apps can call it like any OpenAI-compatible endpoint.

## What the template creates

| Resource | What it is |
| --- | --- |
| `hermes` | The agent's gateway and API on port 8642, started with `gateway run`, with 512 MiB of memory and a 1 GB volume at `/opt/data` |
| `API_SERVER_KEY` | A key Dekka generates, which callers send as a bearer token |

Hermes keeps its memory, skills and settings in `/opt/data`, so they survive every deploy. It needs 512 MiB of memory, which the Starter plan allows.

## What you provide

| Input | What it's for |
| --- | --- |
| OpenRouter API key | Required. Hermes reaches its models through [OpenRouter](https://openrouter.ai). |
| Telegram bot token | Optional, to message Hermes from Telegram. |
| Discord bot token | Optional, to message Hermes from Discord. |

## After it deploys

Reveal `API_SERVER_KEY` on the **Environment** tab by choosing `hermes` and pressing and holding the value. Your apps call the service's URL with that key as a bearer token, using the OpenAI-compatible endpoints described in the [Hermes Agent docs](https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com), so most OpenAI client libraries work once you point them at it. If you added a chat token, message your bot to talk to the same agent.

## Limits

The volume means the service runs a single replica. During the pilot, deploys run on a simulated engine, so Hermes doesn't actually start or answer requests.

Hermes Agent is open source under the [MIT licence](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent). OpenRouter's terms and charges apply to the model requests it makes.