> For clean Markdown of any page, append .md to the page URL.
> For a complete documentation index, see https://docs.nvidia.com/nemoclaw/llms.txt.
> For full documentation content, see https://docs.nvidia.com/nemoclaw/llms-full.txt.
> For AI client integration (Claude Code, Cursor, etc.), connect to the MCP server at https://docs.nvidia.com/nemoclaw/_mcp/server.

# Workspace Files

> What workspace personality and configuration files are, where they live, and how they persist across sandbox restarts.

Hermes stores durable agent state under `/sandbox/.hermes/` instead of the OpenClaw workspace directory.
The main Hermes configuration lives in `/sandbox/.hermes/config.yaml`, environment settings live in `/sandbox/.hermes/.env`, and runtime state such as logs, memory, platform sessions, and the SQLite state database lives under the same `.hermes` tree.

## Important Hermes State

| Path                           | Purpose                                                                  |
| ------------------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| `/sandbox/.hermes/config.yaml` | NemoClaw-generated Hermes runtime configuration.                         |
| `/sandbox/.hermes/.env`        | NemoClaw-generated environment and messaging placeholders.               |
| `/sandbox/.hermes/state.db`    | Hermes SQLite state database.                                            |
| `/sandbox/.hermes/platforms/`  | Messaging platform state, including QR-paired sessions such as WhatsApp. |
| `/sandbox/.hermes/logs/`       | Hermes runtime logs.                                                     |
| `/sandbox/SOUL.md`             | Durable top-level Hermes persona file preserved by NemoClaw snapshots.   |

## Persistence Behavior

Hermes state lives in the sandbox's persistent state volume, not only in the container image.
Normal restarts preserve that state.
Rebuilds and upgrades use NemoClaw's snapshot flow to preserve manifest-defined Hermes state, including `SOUL.md` and the SQLite database behind `.hermes/state.db`.

Running `nemohermes <name> destroy` deletes the sandbox and its persistent state volume.
Back up important state before destroying a Hermes sandbox.

## Editing State

Prefer NemoClaw host commands for generated configuration such as model, provider, messaging, and policy settings.
Direct edits to `/sandbox/.hermes/config.yaml` or `/sandbox/.hermes/.env` can be overwritten by rebuilds.
Use `nemohermes <name> connect` when you need to inspect runtime files interactively, or use `openshell sandbox download` and `openshell sandbox upload` for manual file transfer.

## Next Steps

* [Backup and Restore workspace files](backup-restore)
* [Commands reference](../reference/commands)