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2026-04-13

Hermes Agent v0.9.0: Local Dashboard, Fast Mode, iMessage, and 16 Platforms

Local web dashboard, Fast Mode, iMessage and WeChat support, pluggable context engine, security hardening, and more.

Just one week after v0.8.0, Hermes Agent ships v0.9.0. 487 commits, 269 merged PRs, 24 contributors — this is a dense release.

There's no way to cover every change, so this post highlights what's most worth paying attention to.

Local Web Dashboard

The most visible new feature. Hermes now has a browser-based management interface for viewing configuration, monitoring sessions, browsing skills, and managing the gateway — all locally.

For users who don't want to live in the terminal, this is a big step. Everything that previously required CLI now has a visual entry point.

Fast Mode

The new /fast command toggles low-latency mode. It routes through priority queues on OpenAI and Anthropic, covering GPT-5.4, Codex, and Claude fast tier variants.

When you need speed, turn it on. When you don't, turn it off. No model switching, no config changes.

Messaging Platforms: 8 to 16

v0.8.0 supported 8 messaging platforms. v0.9.0 doubles that to 16.

The most notable additions:

iMessage (via BlueBubbles)

macOS users can now chat with Hermes through iMessage. Auto-webhook registration, setup wizard integration, and crash resilience are all included.

WeChat (Weixin)

Native personal WeChat support via the iLink Bot API. Streaming messages, media uploads, and Markdown link handling. A significant addition for Chinese-speaking users.

WeCom Callback Mode

New self-built enterprise app adapter with atomic state persistence. Designed for teams deploying Hermes in corporate environments.

Other Platform Improvements

  • Discord: Allowed channels whitelist, forum channel topic inheritance for threads
  • Matrix: Migrated from matrix-nio to mautrix-python, SQLite crypto store fixing E2EE decryption issues
  • Slack: Consolidated improvements from 7 community PRs

Pluggable Context Engine

A lower-level change with far-reaching implications.

Context management is now a pluggable slot configured via hermes plugins. You can write custom context engines that control what the agent sees each turn — filtering, summarization, or domain-specific injection.

This opens a new dimension for Hermes extensibility.

Background Process Monitoring (watch_patterns)

The new watch_patterns feature performs real-time pattern matching on background process output, triggering notifications when patterns are detected.

Use cases:

  • Monitor error logs
  • Wait for specific events
  • Watch build output

New Provider Support

  • xAI (Grok): Native provider with direct API access and model catalog
  • Xiaomi MiMo: First-class support with setup wizard integration and empty response recovery
  • Qwen: OAuth provider with portal request capability

Combined with the existing 200+ models, Hermes keeps getting less picky about which models it works with.

Termux / Android Support

Hermes now runs on your phone. Native Android support through Termux with adapted install paths, TUI optimizations for mobile screens, voice backend support, and a working /image command.

Backup & Restore

New hermes backup and hermes import commands for full backup and restore of configuration, sessions, skills, and memory.

Two typical scenarios:

  • One-command migration when switching machines
  • Snapshot before making major config changes

Security Hardening

This release invested heavily in security, fixing several high-severity vulnerabilities:

  • Twilio webhook signature validation: Fixed an SMS remote code execution vulnerability
  • Shell injection prevention: Path quoting hardened in sandbox writes
  • Path traversal protection: Boundary checks in checkpoint manager and skill manager
  • SSRF protection: Redirect bypass fixed in Slack image uploads
  • API bind guard: Enforces API_SERVER_KEY for non-loopback binding
  • Git argument injection prevention
  • Approval button authorization: Session continuation now requires authentication

If you expose Hermes to the public internet or multi-user environments, upgrading is strongly recommended.

Other Notable Improvements

  • Context compression: Higher limits, tool tracking, degradation warnings, token budget protection. New /compress <focus> for topic-focused compression
  • Unified proxy support: SOCKS proxy, DISCORD_PROXY, system proxy auto-detection — corporate firewall friendly
  • /debug command: New debugging toolkit. hermes debug share uploads full debug reports to pastebin
  • Multi-arch Docker image: amd64 + arm64, runs as non-root user
  • Skills ecosystem: Centralized skills index with tree cache, eliminating rate-limit failures on install

How to Upgrade

Run the install script to upgrade in place:

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/main/scripts/install.sh | bash

Or if Hermes is already installed:

hermes update

Full changelog available on the GitHub Release page.