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Hermes Agent is Nous Research’s multi-provider AI agent framework. It supports OAuth, API key, and custom endpoint authentication, and can deliver to Telegram, Discord, Slack, WhatsApp, Signal, and more. The cleanest way to point Hermes at RuAPI is its “Custom endpoint” flow (OpenAI-compatible).

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Prerequisites

1

RuAPI account + API key

Console → API Keys → create a sk-... key.
2

OS

Linux / macOS / WSL2 are well-supported. Native Windows is still early beta — use WSL2 if you hit rough edges.

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Install Hermes

One-liner:
Then open a new terminal window, or reload your shell config: source ~/.zshrc in zsh (the macOS default) or source ~/.bashrc in bash.
Confirm:

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Configure RuAPI

Launch the provider wizard:
Follow these steps:
1

Pick 'Custom endpoint'

The wizard lists every built-in provider (Nous Portal / OpenRouter / Anthropic / OpenAI / …). Scroll to the bottom and select Custom endpoint (self-hosted / VLLM / etc.).
2

Base URL

OpenAI-compatible protocol — the URL must end in /v1.
3

API key

Paste your RuAPI key sk-.... Hermes writes it to ~/.hermes/.env.
4

Name the connection

For example, RuAPI. Hermes creates a matching credential pool.
5

Choose a model

Common picks:
  • gpt-5.4 (OpenAI-family)
  • Claude Sonnet (callable via the OpenAI-compatible protocol on RuAPI)
  • deepseek-v4-flash, Kimi, GLM, etc.
Full list at the pricing page.
The wizard writes ~/.hermes/config.yaml:

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First call

Start the CLI:
Inside the prompt:
A normal reply plus a matching RuAPI Console → Usage Logs entry = success.

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Switch models

Inside a session:
Or exit and rerun hermes model to change the default.

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Wire up Telegram / Discord / etc.

Once the model is configured, set up the gateway:
Follow the prompts (Telegram bot token, etc.). Once the gateway is up, messages will route through RuAPI. See the Hermes Messaging Gateway docs for details.

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Troubleshooting

  • Confirm the API key line in ~/.hermes/.env is your RuAPI key, copied correctly.
  • Check the key status in RuAPI Console → API Keys.
  • That model ID isn’t on RuAPI — check the pricing page.
  • base_url must end in /v1.
Hermes’s built-in Anthropic flow is built around Claude Max OAuth — overriding the base URL for third-party gateways isn’t reliable. Custom endpoint (OpenAI-compatible) is the cleanest path on RuAPI, and Claude models work over it too.
Hermes supports multiple providers. Run hermes model again to add another, and use /model mid-session to switch.
Function calling passes through the OpenAI-compatible protocol unchanged. If a tool call fails, first verify the model supports tool use (GPT and Claude models handle it reliably — see function calling).

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Advanced

  • Auxiliary models: Hermes uses an auxiliary model for vision / web summarization / MoA, defaulting to your main model. To save money, override it to a cheaper one — see Auxiliary Models.
  • Credential pools: round-robin keys and auto-failover — see Credential Pools.