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Lesson 8 of 815 min read
By the SetupOpenClaw teamPublished Apr 23, 2026

Reference: A Tour of Every Hermes CLI Command

A grouped tour through every `hermes …` command — chat, model, sessions, skills, cron, gateway, doctor, dashboard and the rest — so you always know which one you want.

Table of contents

Every Hermes CLI Command, Grouped by Purpose

The Hermes CLI surface is broad — over 25 top-level commands, each with its own subcommand tree. This lesson groups them by purpose so you can find the one you want without scrolling the full reference. Every command is listed with a one-line description and its most useful flags.

Primary source: the canonical command reference at https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/docs/reference/cli-commands. Treat that page as authoritative; commands and flags evolve between releases.

Chat and Model

  • hermes chat — interactive or one-shot chat. Flags: -q for non-interactive, -m to override model, -t for toolsets, --provider to force a provider, -s to preload a skill.
  • hermes model — provider and model selector. Use from the terminal to add providers; use /model inside a session to swap between already-configured ones.

Configuration and Setup

  • hermes setup — interactive wizard covering model, TTS, terminal, gateway, tools, agent. Flags: --non-interactive, --reset.
  • hermes config — manage config files. Subcommands: show, edit, set, path, check, migrate.
  • hermes whatsapp — the WhatsApp pairing and QR-code flow, separated out because it's unusual.

Authentication and Status

  • hermes auth — credential pool management. Subcommands: add, list, remove, reset. Handles OAuth and API keys.
  • hermes status — agent + auth + platform status. Flags: --all for shareable output, --deep for extended checks.

Sessions, Logs and Memory

  • hermes sessions — browse, export, manage. Subcommands: list, browse, export, delete, prune, stats, rename.
  • hermes logs — view logs. Flags: -n line count, -f follow, --level, --session, --since.
  • hermes memory — configure external memory providers (Honcho, Mem0, OpenViking, Hindsight, others). Subcommands: setup, status, off.
  • hermes honcho — Honcho-specific: peer identity, session mapping, recall mode.

Skills and Tools

  • hermes skills — browse, search, install, inspect, audit, update, publish. Flags: --source, --force to override policy blocks.
  • hermes tools — interactive per-platform tool configuration. Flag: --summary to print current state.

Scheduling and Webhooks

  • hermes cron — scheduled jobs. Subcommands: list, create, edit, pause, resume, run, remove, status, tick. Supports --skill attachment.
  • hermes webhook — event-driven subscriptions. Subcommands: subscribe (with --prompt, --events, --skills, --deliver), list, remove, test.

Profiles and Integrations

  • hermes profile — multiple isolated Hermes installs on one machine. Subcommands: list, use, create (with --clone), delete, show, alias, rename, export, import.
  • hermes acp — start as an ACP stdio server for editor integration (VS Code, Zed, JetBrains).
  • hermes mcp — manage MCP servers. Subcommands: serve, add, remove, list, test, configure.
  • hermes plugins — unified plugin management. Subcommands: install, update, remove, enable, disable, list.

Messaging Gateway

  • hermes gateway — the messaging daemon. Subcommands: run, start, stop, restart, status, install, uninstall, setup.
  • hermes pairing — approve / revoke messaging pairing codes. Subcommands: list, approve, revoke, clear-pending.

Diagnostics and Maintenance

  • hermes doctor — diagnose config and dependency issues. Flag: --fix for automatic repairs.
  • hermes dump — setup summary for support. Flag: --show-keys for redacted API key prefixes.
  • hermes debug share — upload debug report to a paste service. Flags: --lines, --expire, --local.
  • hermes backup / hermes import — zip archives of config + skills + sessions, using SQLite backup API for concurrency safety.
  • hermes insights — token, cost, and activity analytics. Flags: --days, --source.
  • hermes claw migrate — migrate from OpenClaw to Hermes. Flags: --dry-run, --preset, --overwrite.
  • hermes dashboard — launch the web UI on --port.

Housekeeping

  • hermes completion — print bash/zsh completion scripts for tab-completion.
  • hermes version — print the version.
  • hermes update — pull the latest changes and reinstall dependencies.
  • hermes uninstall — remove Hermes. Flag: --full to also delete all configuration and data.

How to Use This Reference

Bookmark this page. Use Ctrl+F for whatever command you half-remember. When a command's behaviour surprises you, go to the canonical upstream reference — the linked Hermes docs page above is always the source of truth.

If you're coming from OpenClaw and want a side-by-side comparison of the two command surfaces, hermes claw migrate --dry-run is a useful first step — it prints what it would change without actually doing it, giving you a safe read of the translation.

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The four pillars that make Hermes more than a chatbot — persistent memory files, on-demand skills, toolsets, and voice interaction — and how they fit together.

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