Reference

Choose Between NemoClaw and OpenShell CLIs

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NemoClaw uses two host-side CLIs. Use nemohermes for NemoClaw-managed workflows. Use openshell when you need a lower-level OpenShell operation that NemoClaw intentionally leaves available.

Rule of Thumb

If the task changes how NemoClaw creates, rebuilds, preserves, or configures a sandbox, start with nemohermes.

If the task inspects or changes the live OpenShell gateway, TUI, raw policy, port forwarding, inference route, or sandbox file transfer, use openshell.

Do not create or recreate NemoClaw-managed sandboxes directly with openshell sandbox create unless you intend to manage OpenShell yourself. Run nemohermes onboard afterward if you need to return to a NemoClaw-managed environment.

Use nemohermes For NemoClaw Workflows

Use nemohermes for operations where NemoClaw adds product-specific state, safety checks, backup behavior, credential handling, or agent configuration.

  • Install, onboard, or recreate a NemoClaw sandbox:

    $nemohermes onboard
    $nemohermes onboard --fresh --name <sandbox-name> --recreate-sandbox

Use --resume only when you are recovering an interrupted onboarding session. For a completed sandbox, use --fresh --name <sandbox-name> --recreate-sandbox when you need NemoClaw to recreate it.

  • List, connect to, check, or delete NemoClaw-managed sandboxes:

    $nemohermes list
    $nemohermes my-assistant connect
    $nemohermes my-assistant status
    $nemohermes my-assistant logs --follow
    $nemohermes my-assistant destroy

  • Rebuild or upgrade while preserving workspace state:

    $nemohermes my-assistant rebuild
    $nemohermes upgrade-sandboxes --check

  • Snapshot, restore, or mount sandbox state:

    $nemohermes my-assistant snapshot create --name before-change
    $nemohermes my-assistant snapshot restore before-change
    $nemohermes my-assistant share mount

  • Add or remove NemoClaw policy presets:

    $nemohermes my-assistant policy-add pypi --yes
    $nemohermes my-assistant policy-list
    $nemohermes my-assistant policy-remove pypi --yes

  • Manage NemoClaw credentials, diagnostics, and cleanup:

    $nemohermes credentials list
    $nemohermes credentials reset nvidia-prod
    $nemohermes debug --sandbox my-assistant
    $nemohermes gc --dry-run

  • Manage NemoClaw messaging channels:

    $nemohermes my-assistant channels add slack

Use openshell For OpenShell Operations

Use openshell when the docs explicitly call for a live OpenShell gateway operation or when you need a lower-level view beneath the NemoClaw wrapper.

  • Open the OpenShell TUI for network approvals and live activity:

    $openshell term

  • Manage service port forwards:

    $openshell forward start --background <port> <sandbox-name>
    $openshell forward list

  • Inspect the underlying sandbox state:

    $openshell sandbox list
    $openshell sandbox get <sandbox-name>
    $openshell logs <sandbox-name> -n 20
    $openshell doctor check

  • Move files or run raw one-off commands when you intentionally want to bypass NemoClaw’s sandbox registry and wrappers:

    $openshell sandbox upload <sandbox-name> ./local-file /sandbox/
    $openshell sandbox download <sandbox-name> /sandbox/output ./output
    $openshell sandbox exec -n <sandbox-name> -- env | grep '^HOME='

  • Merge a single endpoint into the live OpenShell policy:

    $openshell policy update <sandbox-name> --add-endpoint api.example.com:443:read-only:rest:enforce

  • Export the round-trippable OpenShell base policy through NemoClaw, then replace it through OpenShell:

    Requires OpenShell 0.0.72+ for the round-trippable policy get --base and policy set --wait syntax.

    $nemohermes <sandbox-name> policy-get > current-policy.yaml

    NemoClaw strips the OpenShell metadata header and exits non-zero if it cannot validate the base policy. Do not use --raw for a file that you plan to reapply.

    Edit or review current-policy.yaml, then apply it:

    $openshell policy set --policy current-policy.yaml --wait <sandbox-name>

openshell policy update merges specific endpoint and rule changes into the live sandbox policy. openshell policy set replaces the live policy with the file you provide. For normal NemoClaw network access changes, prefer nemohermes <name> policy-add so NemoClaw preserves presets and records the change for rebuilds.

Common Decisions

This section covers common decisions when using the NemoClaw CLI and the OpenShell CLI.

First Setup or Full Recreate

Use nemohermes onboard. It starts the OpenShell gateway when needed, registers providers, builds the selected agent sandbox image, applies NemoClaw policy choices, and creates the sandbox.

Avoid running openshell gateway start --recreate or openshell sandbox create directly for NemoClaw-managed sandboxes. Those commands do not update NemoClaw’s registry, session metadata, workspace-preservation flow, or agent-specific configuration.

Connect to the Sandbox

Use nemohermes <name> connect for an interactive NemoClaw sandbox shell. It waits for readiness, handles stale SSH host keys after gateway restarts, and prints agent-specific hints.

Use openshell sandbox connect <name> only when you intentionally want the raw OpenShell connection path.

For a one-off command in a NemoClaw-managed sandbox, use nemohermes <name> exec instead of opening an interactive shell. It resolves the sandbox by its NemoClaw registry name and runs through the standard NemoClaw CLI surface. The command executes as the sandbox user with HOME=/sandbox inside the provisioned sandbox, where the agent configuration, inference routing, and policy state are already in place.

$nemohermes my-assistant exec -- cat /tmp/gateway.log

Use openshell sandbox exec for the raw OpenShell execution path, such as when you address a sandbox by its gateway name or intentionally bypass the NemoClaw CLI and registry.

$openshell sandbox exec -n my-assistant -- cat /tmp/gateway.log

Check Health or Logs

Use nemohermes <name> status and nemohermes <name> logs first. They combine NemoClaw registry data, OpenShell state, selected agent process health, inference health, policy details, and messaging-channel warnings for that sandbox. Use nemohermes status only for the global all-sandbox and host-service overview.

Use openshell sandbox list, openshell sandbox get, openshell logs <name> -n 20, or openshell doctor check when debugging lower-level OpenShell behavior. When using openshell logs directly, -n <lines> controls the line count; use --tail only when you want live OpenShell log streaming.

Approve Blocked Network Requests

Use openshell term. The OpenShell TUI owns live network activity and operator approval prompts.

Approved endpoints are session-scoped unless you also add them to the policy through a NemoClaw preset or raw OpenShell policy update.

Change Models or Providers

Use the NemoClaw commands for model or provider inspection and switches so the OpenShell route and the running agent config stay consistent:

$nemohermes inference get
$nemohermes inference set --provider nvidia-prod --model nvidia/nemotron-3-super-120b-a12b

For Hermes sandboxes, use the alias; it updates the route and /sandbox/.hermes/config.yaml without a rebuild or restart:

$nemohermes inference set --provider hermes-provider --model openai/gpt-5.4-mini

For a build-time agent setting change, rerun onboarding so the sandbox configuration is recreated consistently:

$nemohermes onboard --fresh --name <sandbox-name> --recreate-sandbox

Verify either path with:

$nemohermes <name> status

Update Network Policy

Use nemohermes <name> policy-add or policy-remove for NemoClaw presets and custom preset files. NemoClaw merges the new policy with the live policy and reapplies presets during rebuilds.

Use openshell policy update for precise live endpoint or REST rule changes. Use nemohermes <name> policy-get and openshell policy set --policy <file> --wait <name> only when you need to edit and replace the round-trippable base policy. Use openshell policy get --full <name> only to inspect the effective policy, including provider-composed rules.

Move Workspace Files

Use nemohermes <name> snapshot create, snapshot restore, or share mount for normal workspace preservation and editing.

Use openshell sandbox upload and openshell sandbox download for manual file copies when you need exact control over source and destination paths.