NemoClaw Quickstart with Hermes

Use NemoHermes when you want NemoClaw to create an OpenShell sandbox that runs Hermes instead of the default OpenClaw agent. The nemohermes command is an alias for nemoclaw with the Hermes agent pre-selected.

Review the Prerequisites before starting. The first Hermes build can take several minutes because NemoClaw builds the Hermes sandbox base image if it is not already cached.

Install and Onboard

Start the installer with NEMOCLAW_AGENT=hermes set in your shell. The installer installs the CLI, selects the nemohermes alias, and runs the guided onboarding flow.

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$ export NEMOCLAW_AGENT=hermes
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$ curl -fsSL https://www.nvidia.com/nemoclaw.sh | bash

If NemoClaw is already installed, start Hermes onboarding directly.

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$ nemohermes onboard

Respond to the Wizard

The onboard wizard asks for a sandbox name, inference provider, model, credentials, and network policy preset. At any prompt, press Enter to accept the default shown in [brackets], type back to return to the previous prompt, or type exit to quit.

The default Hermes sandbox name is hermes. Use a distinct sandbox name, such as my-hermes, so you can run Hermes and OpenClaw sandboxes side by side. NemoClaw prevents same-name reuse when an existing sandbox uses a different agent.

Sandbox name [hermes]: my-hermes

Choose the inference provider that matches where you want Hermes model traffic to go. The provider options and credential environment variables are the same as the standard NemoClaw quickstart. For provider-specific prompts, refer to the Respond to the Onboard Wizard section and the Inference Options page. The Hermes wizard does not ask for Brave Web Search because Hermes does not use NemoClaw’s OpenClaw web-search configuration.

After provider and policy selection, review the summary and confirm the build. NemoClaw writes Hermes configuration into /sandbox/.hermes, routes model traffic through inference.local, and starts the Hermes gateway inside the sandbox. The Hermes image includes runtime dependencies for the supported NemoClaw messaging integrations, API service, and health endpoint. The base image does not include unsupported Hermes integrations.

Use Non-Interactive Setup

For CI or scripted installs, set the required environment variables before running the installer. The example below uses NVIDIA Endpoints and creates a sandbox named my-hermes.

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$ export NEMOCLAW_AGENT=hermes
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$ export NEMOCLAW_NON_INTERACTIVE=1
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$ export NEMOCLAW_ACCEPT_THIRD_PARTY_SOFTWARE=1
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$ export NEMOCLAW_SANDBOX_NAME=my-hermes
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$ export NVIDIA_API_KEY=<your-key>
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$ curl -fsSL https://www.nvidia.com/nemoclaw.sh | bash

Use the provider variables from Inference Options when you choose a different provider.

Connect to Hermes

When onboarding completes, NemoClaw prints the sandbox name, model, lifecycle commands, and Hermes API endpoint. Hermes exposes an OpenAI-compatible API on port 8642, not a browser dashboard.

──────────────────────────────────────────────────
Sandbox      my-hermes (Landlock + seccomp + netns)
Model        nvidia/nemotron-3-super-120b-a12b (NVIDIA Endpoints)
──────────────────────────────────────────────────
Run:         nemohermes my-hermes connect
Status:      nemohermes my-hermes status
Logs:        nemohermes my-hermes logs --follow
Hermes Agent OpenAI-compatible API
Port 8642 must be forwarded before connecting.
http://127.0.0.1:8642/v1
──────────────────────────────────────────────────

To chat with the agent from a terminal, follow these steps:

1. Connect to the sandbox and start the Hermes CLI.

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   $ nemohermes my-hermes connect

2. Inside the sandbox, run the Hermes CLI.

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   $ hermes

Check the API Endpoint

The onboard flow starts the port forward automatically. Check the health endpoint from the host to confirm that the Hermes API is reachable.

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$ curl -sf http://127.0.0.1:8642/health

If the command cannot connect after a reboot or terminal restart, start the forward again.

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$ openshell forward start --background 8642 my-hermes

Configure an OpenAI-compatible client with the base URL http://127.0.0.1:8642/v1. Hermes uses API header authentication for client requests. Do not append an OpenClaw #token= URL fragment to the Hermes endpoint.

Manage the Sandbox

Use the same lifecycle commands as a standard NemoClaw sandbox. The nemohermes alias keeps help text and recovery messages aligned with Hermes, while targeting the same registered sandbox. nemoclaw list shows the agent type for each sandbox so you can distinguish Hermes and OpenClaw entries.

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$ nemohermes my-hermes status
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$ nemohermes my-hermes logs --follow
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$ nemohermes my-hermes snapshot create --name before-change
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$ nemohermes my-hermes rebuild

To change the active model or provider without rebuilding the sandbox, use nemohermes inference set. It updates the OpenShell inference route and patches /sandbox/.hermes/config.yaml without restarting Hermes.

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$ nemohermes inference set --model <model> --provider <provider>

To remove the sandbox when you are done, destroy it explicitly.

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$ nemohermes my-hermes destroy

Next Steps

• Inference Options to choose a provider and model.
• Commands to see the full nemohermes alias behavior.
• Backup and Restore to preserve sandbox state before destructive operations.
• Monitor Sandbox Activity to inspect OpenShell events and sandbox logs.