Agent Breaking Changes_

← Hermes Agent

Hermes Agent Hermes Agent v0.16.0 (2026.6.5) — The Surface Release

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2026-06-06 · official notes

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# Hermes Agent v0.16.0 (v2026.6.5)

**Release Date:** June 5, 2026
**Since v0.15.2:** 874 commits · 542 merged PRs · 1,962 files changed · 205,216 insertions · 46,217 deletions · 399 issues closed (2 P0, 62 P1, 16 security-tagged) · 170 community contributors (including co-authors)

> **The Surface Release.** Hermes meets you wherever you work. A brand-new native desktop app — built across 100 PRs and 159 commits in a single week — gives you Hermes as a real macOS/Linux/Windows application: one-click install, in-app self-update, drag-and-drop files into chat, an inline model picker in the status bar, concurrent multi-profile sessions, a full Simplified Chinese translation, and the ability to connect to a remote Hermes gateway over OAuth or username/password. Alongside it, the web dashboard grew a full browser-based administration panel (MCP catalog, messaging channels, credentials, webhooks, memory, pluggable OIDC / username-password login), and first-time setup got a "Quick Setup via Nous Portal" path that gets you from install to first message in seconds. The default skill set was trimmed to what you actually need, NVIDIA/skills joined the trusted Skills Hub taps, the model picker is now fuzzy-searchable everywhere (desktop, web, TUI, CLI), and `/undo` finally lets you take back the last N turns. 2 P0 and 62 P1 closures ride along, plus a security round (CVE-2026-48710 Starlette pin, SSRF off-loop hardening, subprocess credential stripping).

---

## ✨ Highlights

- **Hermes Desktop — a real native app, not a terminal wrapper** — This is the headline. There's now a `apps/desktop/` Electron application that installs like any other desktop app on macOS, Linux, and Windows, updates itself in place from inside the app, and gives you a polished GUI for everything Hermes does. You get a proper chat window with streaming, a session list you can archive and search, drag-and-drop files anywhere in the chat area, clipboard image paste, a Cmd+K command palette, and a model picker right in the status bar. If you've been telling friends "it's a CLI agent" and watching their eyes glaze over — now you can just send them an installer. None of this existed a week ago. ([#20059](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/20059), [#35607](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/35607), [#37099](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/37099), [#37379](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/37379), [#38631](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/38631) — @OutThisLife, @jquesnelle, @ethernet8023, @austinpickett, @benbarclay)

- **Run the desktop app against a remote Hermes — sign in with OAuth or username/password** — The desktop app doesn't have to run Hermes locally. Point it at a remote Hermes gateway (your homelab, a hosted box, a teammate's server) and it connects over a secure WebSocket, authenticating with OAuth or a username/password login — no fiddling with `--insecure` flags or hand-copied session tokens. Each profile can target its own remote host, and you can run concurrent sessions across multiple profiles in one window with cross-profile `@session` links. The practical version: your laptop runs a thin GUI, the heavy agent runs wherever your API keys and compute live. ([#37888](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/37888), [#38851](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/38851), [#39330](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/39330), [#39778](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/39778) — @benbarclay, @OutThisLife, @teknium1)

- **The web dashboard is now a full admin panel — configure everything from the browser** — The dashboard grew from "view your sessions" into a complete administration surface. There's a Channels page that sets up every gateway messaging platform (Telegram, Discord, Slack, etc.) from the browser, an admin panel for the MCP catalog with enable/disable toggles, credential management, webhook and hook creation, memory configuration, gateway controls, and a System page with check-before-update and one-click Debug Share. You no longer have to SSH in and edit `config.yaml` to wire up a new messaging channel or MCP server — it's all point-and-click now. ([#36704](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/36704), [#36736](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/36736), [#37211](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/37211), [#38205](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/38205), [#38600](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/38600) — @teknium1)

- **Hermes Desktop speaks Simplified Chinese — full 简体中文 in the chat GUI** — The desktop app now ships a complete Simplified Chinese (简体中文) translation across every UI surface — the chat window itself, sidebar, settings, command center, cron, messaging, profiles, skills, agents, the lot. English stays the default; switch language in Appearance settings and the choice persists to your config (`display.language`). It's built on a proper typed i18n layer, so adding more languages from here is straightforward. ([#38241](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/38241) — @JimLiu)

- **Leaner default skill set — Hermes ships only what you actually need** — The bundled skill set got a deliberate trim. Skills that were redundant or dead are gone (`spotify` — superseded by the native Spotify plugin's 7 tools; `linear` — superseded by `hermes mcp install linear`; `kanban-codex-lane`, `debugging-hermes-tui-commands`, a stale `domain` orphan, and several empty category markers). Heavier or niche skills moved from bundled to optional (the Baoyu creative set, `dspy`, `subagent-driven-development`, `minecraft-modpack-server`, `pokemon-player`, `hermes-s6-container-supervision`) — still one `hermes skills install` away, just not loaded by default. And a new `environments:` relevance gate keeps context-specific skills (kanban, docker/s6) out of the skills index for users who'll never use them, while still loading them on explicit request. The result: a smaller, sharper default skill list, less noise in the picker, and a lighter prompt. The curator can now prune unused **built-in** skills too (not just agent-created ones), with usage tracked for every skill. ([#39028](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/39028), [#36701](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/36701), [#36228](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/36228) — @teknium1)

- **NVIDIA/skills is now a built-in trusted skills tap** — `NVIDIA/skills` joins OpenAI, Anthropic, and HuggingFace as a default trusted tap in the Skills Hub — discoverable, browsable, searchable, and auto-updating through the same pipeline. NVIDIA's verified skills for CUDA-X, AIQ, cuOpt and the rest of their product stack are one install away, with real category labels from the repo's `skills.sh.json` sidecar. ([#34333](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/34333) — @teknium1)

- **Quick Setup via Nous Portal — from install to first message in seconds** — First-time setup was thinned down to two clear paths: Quick Setup (sign in with Nous Portal, get a model picker, start chatting immediately) or Full Setup (the detailed wizard for power users). `hermes portal` is now the human-readable alias that runs the full quick-setup Nous flow. The first-run menu explains the difference inline so newcomers aren't guessing. The goal: a brand-new user shouldn't need to read docs to send their first message. ([#35723](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/35723), [#36227](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/36227), [#38449](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/38449), [#38465](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/38465) — @teknium1, @kshitijk4poor)

- **Fuzzy model picker, everywhere — type a few letters, find your model** — The model picker now does fuzzy search across the desktop app, web dashboard, TUI, and CLI. Type "v4fl" and `deepseek-v4-flash` surfaces; multi-endpoint providers are grouped under one row instead of cluttering the list with duplicates, and each row carries a description so you know what you're picking. The catalog refreshes hourly instead of daily, so new models show up the same day they launch. New this window: `deepseek-v4-flash`, `MiniMax-M3` with 1M context, `qwen3.7-plus`. ([#36928](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/36928), [#35227](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/35227), [#35756](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/35756), [#35659](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/35659), [#36214](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/36214) — @kshitijk4poor, @teknium1)

- **`/undo [N]` — take back the last N turns** — Said the wrong thing, or sent the agent down a bad path? `/undo` backs up N user turns, prefills your last message so you can edit and resend, and soft-deletes the turns in between. It works in the CLI, the TUI, and across messaging platforms (Telegram, Discord, etc.) with full parity. Closes a long-standing request ([#21910](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/issues/21910)). ([#36229](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/36229), [#36699](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/36699) — @teknium1)

- **Choose your default interface — `cli` or `tui`** — You can now set whether `hermes chat` drops you into the classic CLI or the Ink TUI by default, with a `--cli` flag to override per-invocation. The TUI also got a single unified `/model` command and a Sessions overlay for switching between live sessions. Use the interface you actually like. ([#37782](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/37782), [#37112](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/37112) — @OutThisLife)

---

## 🖥️ Hermes Desktop App (NEW)

### Install & lifecycle
- macOS desktop install + in-app self-update; rebuild-and-relaunch cleanly on macOS ([#35607](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/35607), [#36198](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/36198), [#38296](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/38296) — @OutThisLife)
- macOS installer renamed to "Hermes" and turned into a launcher ([#37516](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/37516) — @OutThisLife)
- Build desktop in its own `desktop` stage on macOS/Linux instead of silently skipping; content-hash build stamp, `--build-only` / `--force-build` flags ([#36134](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/36134) — @OutThisLife, [#37597](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/37597) — @ethernet8023)
- Boot-failure recovery + live API-key validation; cancellable install; recover from corrupt cached Electron download ([#35864](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/35864), [#37379](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/37379), [#39032](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/39032) — @OutThisLife, @teknium1)
- Windows: recover from corrupt Electron cache in bootstrap install; stop racing our own backend during in-app update ([#39465](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/39465), [#39828](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/39828) — @teknium1, @OutThisLife)
- Linux: configure Electron sandbox helper; detect linux arm64 binary; disable GPU acceleration on remote displays to stop flicker ([#37691](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/37691), [#38594](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/38594), [#37932](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/37932) — @ethernet8023, @OutThisLife)
- Require Node ≥20.19/22.12 for the desktop build; zero eslint/typecheck debt + prettier pass ([#38255](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/38255), [#39100](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/39100) — @OutThisLife)

### Remote-gateway & multi-profile
- Connect to OAuth-gated remote gateways; username/password login for remote gateways; per-profile remote gateway hosts ([#37888](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/37888), [#38851](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/38851), [#39778](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/39778) — @benbarclay, @teknium1, @OutThisLife)
- Concurrent multi-profile sessions, cross-profile `@session` links; re-mint OAuth WS ticket on gateway reconnect; gate OAuth remote connect on AT-or-RT ([#39330](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/39330), [#38886](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/38886), [#39464](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/39464) — @OutThisLife, @teknium1, @benbarclay)
- Offer remote sign-in on a gated-gateway boot failure; validate live WebSocket in remote gateway test ([#39402](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/39402), [#39511](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/39511) — @teknium1)

### Chat UX & settings
- Drop files anywhere in the chat area; clipboard image paste with dedupe; attachments on Enter, IME composition handling ([#36262](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/36262), [#38306](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/38306), [#38677](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/38677) — @OutThisLife, @teknium1)
- Background needs-input indicator, clarify redesign, Cmd+K palette & UI consistency pass; inline model picker in the status bar; YOLO toggle in the status bar (TUI parity) ([#38631](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/38631), [#37738](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/37738), [#38517](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/38517) — @OutThisLife)
- Session-list overhaul, session hygiene/archive, media streaming + connecting overlay; search sessions by id (SQL-bounded) ([#37379](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/37379), [#37099](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/37099), [#39062](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/39062) — @OutThisLife, @teknium1)
- Dedicated Providers settings + polished Accounts/API-keys UX; consolidate skills + tools management into one pane; move model management into Settings ([#38551](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/38551) — @austinpickett, [#37310](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/37310), [#37330](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/37330) — @jquesnelle)
- Render approval/sudo/secret prompts so tools stop silently timing out; surface skill & quick-command slash commands in the palette; first-class xAI Grok OAuth provider in the launcher ([#38578](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/38578), [#38531](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/38531), [#37697](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/37697) — @teknium1, @OutThisLife)
- "Choose provider later" skip on first-run onboarding; onboarding can configure a local/custom endpoint without an API key; custom zoom shortcuts ([#39483](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/39483), [#38572](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/38572), [#37894](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/37894) — @teknium1, @ethernet8023)
- macOS helper microphone entitlement; scroll-jump fixes (native anchoring, at-rest jump, wheel-up snap-back); thinking block stays open mid-streaming ([#37745](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/37745) — @xxxigm, [#37866](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/37866), [#38221](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/38221), [#38809](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/38809) — @OutThisLife, @teknium1, @stremtec)
- GUI quality-of-life triage batch; salvaged AhmetArif0 desktop/dashboard fixes; rename session via `session.title` RPC so `/title` works ([#37536](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/37536) — @austinpickett, [#39070](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/39070), [#39410](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/39410) — @teknium1, @benbarclay)
- `hermes debug share` / `/debug` / `hermes logs` now include `desktop.log` ([#38203](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/38203) — @teknium1)
- **Simplified Chinese (简体中文) translation** across every desktop UI surface — typed i18n layer, switch in Appearance settings, persisted via `display.language` (English remains default) ([#38241](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/38241) — @JimLiu)
- Full multi-profile support over one global-remote dashboard; remote-profile sessions are first-class (resume, read, rename/archive/delete); new chats honor their profile in global-remote mode ([#39921](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/39921), [#39894](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/39894), [#39993](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/39993) — @OutThisLife)

## 📊 Web Dashboard

### Administration panel (NEW)
- Full administration panel — MCP catalog with enable/disable toggles, pairing, webhooks, credentials, memory, gateway, hook creation, system settings ([#36704](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/36704), [#36736](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/36736) — @teknium1)
- Channels page — set up every gateway messaging channel from the browser ([#37211](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/37211) — @teknium1)
- System page: check-before-update flow + Debug Share ([#38205](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/38205), [#38600](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/38600) — @teknium1)
- nous-blue theme, bulk sessions, schedule picker; enriched profiles dashboard + de-dupe channel env vars; configurable terminal background via theme ([#37383](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/37383), [#37872](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/37872) — @austinpickett, [#37156](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/37156) — @teknium1)
- Always enable embedded chat; remove dashboard `--tui` flag ([#38591](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/38591) — @benbarclay)

### Auth
- Pluggable username/password login (Option B); generic self-hosted OIDC provider + multi-provider verify fix; `hermes dashboard register` for self-hosted OAuth client ([#38819](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/38819) — @benbarclay, [#38917](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/38917), [#38802](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/38802) — @teknium1)
- Rotate dashboard sessions via refresh token; share `/api/*` public allowlist between legacy and OAuth gates; drop `/api/*` paths from OAuth `next=` round trip ([#37247](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/37247), [#34254](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/34254), [#36244](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/36244) — @benbarclay)
- Chat tab works in gated (OAuth) mode; trust non-web WS origins on OAuth-gated binds after ticket auth; authenticate server-spawned PTY child WS; sanction plugin WS/upload auth via SDK helpers ([#34793](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/34793), [#37870](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/37870), [#37972](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/37972), [#38549](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/38549) — @teknium1, @benbarclay, @kshitijk4poor)
- Allow desktop websocket origins on remote binds ([#37747](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/37747) — @teknium1)

## 🏗️ Core Agent & Architecture

### Provider & model support
- New models: `deepseek-v4-flash` (+ trimmed variants, maker-grouped curated lists), `MiniMax-M3` with 1M context on native minimax providers, `qwen3.7-plus` (Nous + OpenRouter), `gemini-3.5-flash` to Gemini OAuth + API-key pickers ([#35659](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/35659), [#36214](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/36214), [#39409](https://github.com/NousResearch/he
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