metadata
sidebar_position: 2
title: Environment Variables
description: Complete reference of all environment variables used by Hermes Agent
Environment Variables Reference
All variables go in ~/.hermes/.env. You can also set them with hermes config set VAR value.
LLM Providers
| Variable | Description |
|---|---|
OPENROUTER_API_KEY |
OpenRouter API key (recommended for flexibility) |
OPENROUTER_BASE_URL |
Override the OpenRouter-compatible base URL |
AI_GATEWAY_API_KEY |
Vercel AI Gateway API key (ai-gateway.vercel.sh) |
AI_GATEWAY_BASE_URL |
Override AI Gateway base URL (default: https://ai-gateway.vercel.sh/v1) |
OPENAI_API_KEY |
API key for custom OpenAI-compatible endpoints (used with OPENAI_BASE_URL) |
OPENAI_BASE_URL |
Base URL for custom endpoint (VLLM, SGLang, etc.) |
COPILOT_GITHUB_TOKEN |
GitHub token for Copilot API — first priority (OAuth gho_* or fine-grained PAT github_pat_*; classic PATs ghp_* are not supported) |
GH_TOKEN |
GitHub token — second priority for Copilot (also used by gh CLI) |
GITHUB_TOKEN |
GitHub token — third priority for Copilot |
HERMES_COPILOT_ACP_COMMAND |
Override Copilot ACP CLI binary path (default: copilot) |
COPILOT_CLI_PATH |
Alias for HERMES_COPILOT_ACP_COMMAND |
HERMES_COPILOT_ACP_ARGS |
Override Copilot ACP arguments (default: --acp --stdio) |
COPILOT_ACP_BASE_URL |
Override Copilot ACP base URL |
GLM_API_KEY |
z.ai / ZhipuAI GLM API key (z.ai) |
ZAI_API_KEY |
Alias for GLM_API_KEY |
Z_AI_API_KEY |
Alias for GLM_API_KEY |
GLM_BASE_URL |
Override z.ai base URL (default: https://api.z.ai/api/paas/v4) |
KIMI_API_KEY |
Kimi / Moonshot AI API key (moonshot.ai) |
KIMI_BASE_URL |
Override Kimi base URL (default: https://api.moonshot.ai/v1) |
MINIMAX_API_KEY |
MiniMax API key — global endpoint (minimax.io) |
MINIMAX_BASE_URL |
Override MiniMax base URL (default: https://api.minimax.io/v1) |
MINIMAX_CN_API_KEY |
MiniMax API key — China endpoint (minimaxi.com) |
MINIMAX_CN_BASE_URL |
Override MiniMax China base URL (default: https://api.minimaxi.com/v1) |
KILOCODE_API_KEY |
Kilo Code API key (kilo.ai) |
KILOCODE_BASE_URL |
Override Kilo Code base URL (default: https://api.kilo.ai/api/gateway) |
ANTHROPIC_API_KEY |
Anthropic Console API key (console.anthropic.com) |
ANTHROPIC_TOKEN |
Manual or legacy Anthropic OAuth/setup-token override |
DASHSCOPE_API_KEY |
Alibaba Cloud DashScope API key for Qwen models (modelstudio.console.alibabacloud.com) |
DASHSCOPE_BASE_URL |
Custom DashScope base URL (default: international endpoint) |
DEEPSEEK_API_KEY |
DeepSeek API key for direct DeepSeek access (platform.deepseek.com) |
DEEPSEEK_BASE_URL |
Custom DeepSeek API base URL |
OPENCODE_ZEN_API_KEY |
OpenCode Zen API key — pay-as-you-go access to curated models (opencode.ai) |
OPENCODE_ZEN_BASE_URL |
Override OpenCode Zen base URL |
OPENCODE_GO_API_KEY |
OpenCode Go API key — $10/month subscription for open models (opencode.ai) |
OPENCODE_GO_BASE_URL |
Override OpenCode Go base URL |
CLAUDE_CODE_OAUTH_TOKEN |
Explicit Claude Code token override if you export one manually |
HERMES_MODEL |
Preferred model name (checked before LLM_MODEL, used by gateway) |
LLM_MODEL |
Default model name (fallback when not set in config.yaml) |
VOICE_TOOLS_OPENAI_KEY |
Preferred OpenAI key for OpenAI speech-to-text and text-to-speech providers |
HERMES_LOCAL_STT_COMMAND |
Optional local speech-to-text command template. Supports {input_path}, {output_dir}, {language}, and {model} placeholders |
HERMES_LOCAL_STT_LANGUAGE |
Default language passed to HERMES_LOCAL_STT_COMMAND or auto-detected local whisper CLI fallback (default: en) |
HERMES_HOME |
Override Hermes config directory (default: ~/.hermes). Also scopes the gateway PID file and systemd service name, so multiple installations can run concurrently |
Provider Auth (OAuth)
For native Anthropic auth, Hermes prefers Claude Code's own credential files when they exist because those credentials can refresh automatically. Environment variables such as ANTHROPIC_TOKEN remain useful as manual overrides, but they are no longer the preferred path for Claude Pro/Max login.
| Variable | Description |
|---|---|
HERMES_INFERENCE_PROVIDER |
Override provider selection: auto, openrouter, nous, openai-codex, copilot, copilot-acp, anthropic, zai, kimi-coding, minimax, minimax-cn, kilocode (default: auto) |
HERMES_PORTAL_BASE_URL |
Override Nous Portal URL (for development/testing) |
NOUS_INFERENCE_BASE_URL |
Override Nous inference API URL |
HERMES_NOUS_MIN_KEY_TTL_SECONDS |
Min agent key TTL before re-mint (default: 1800 = 30min) |
HERMES_NOUS_TIMEOUT_SECONDS |
HTTP timeout for Nous credential / token flows |
HERMES_DUMP_REQUESTS |
Dump API request payloads to log files (true/false) |
HERMES_PREFILL_MESSAGES_FILE |
Path to a JSON file of ephemeral prefill messages injected at API-call time |
HERMES_TIMEZONE |
IANA timezone override (for example America/New_York) |
Tool APIs
| Variable | Description |
|---|---|
PARALLEL_API_KEY |
AI-native web search (parallel.ai) |
FIRECRAWL_API_KEY |
Web scraping (firecrawl.dev) |
FIRECRAWL_API_URL |
Custom Firecrawl API endpoint for self-hosted instances (optional) |
TAVILY_API_KEY |
Tavily API key for AI-native web search, extract, and crawl (app.tavily.com) |
BROWSERBASE_API_KEY |
Browser automation (browserbase.com) |
BROWSERBASE_PROJECT_ID |
Browserbase project ID |
BROWSER_USE_API_KEY |
Browser Use cloud browser API key (browser-use.com) |
BROWSER_CDP_URL |
Chrome DevTools Protocol URL for local browser (set via /browser connect, e.g. ws://localhost:9222) |
BROWSER_INACTIVITY_TIMEOUT |
Browser session inactivity timeout in seconds |
FAL_KEY |
Image generation (fal.ai) |
GROQ_API_KEY |
Groq Whisper STT API key (groq.com) |
ELEVENLABS_API_KEY |
ElevenLabs premium TTS voices (elevenlabs.io) |
STT_GROQ_MODEL |
Override the Groq STT model (default: whisper-large-v3-turbo) |
GROQ_BASE_URL |
Override the Groq OpenAI-compatible STT endpoint |
STT_OPENAI_MODEL |
Override the OpenAI STT model (default: whisper-1) |
STT_OPENAI_BASE_URL |
Override the OpenAI-compatible STT endpoint |
GITHUB_TOKEN |
GitHub token for Skills Hub (higher API rate limits, skill publish) |
HONCHO_API_KEY |
Cross-session user modeling (honcho.dev) |
HONCHO_BASE_URL |
Base URL for self-hosted Honcho instances (default: Honcho cloud). No API key required for local instances |
TINKER_API_KEY |
RL training (tinker-console.thinkingmachines.ai) |
WANDB_API_KEY |
RL training metrics (wandb.ai) |
DAYTONA_API_KEY |
Daytona cloud sandboxes (daytona.io) |
Terminal Backend
| Variable | Description |
|---|---|
TERMINAL_ENV |
Backend: local, docker, ssh, singularity, modal, daytona |
TERMINAL_DOCKER_IMAGE |
Docker image (default: python:3.11) |
TERMINAL_DOCKER_FORWARD_ENV |
JSON array of env var names to explicitly forward into Docker terminal sessions |
TERMINAL_DOCKER_VOLUMES |
Additional Docker volume mounts (comma-separated host:container pairs) |
TERMINAL_DOCKER_MOUNT_CWD_TO_WORKSPACE |
Advanced opt-in: mount the launch cwd into Docker /workspace (true/false, default: false) |
TERMINAL_SINGULARITY_IMAGE |
Singularity image or .sif path |
TERMINAL_MODAL_IMAGE |
Modal container image |
TERMINAL_DAYTONA_IMAGE |
Daytona sandbox image |
TERMINAL_TIMEOUT |
Command timeout in seconds |
TERMINAL_LIFETIME_SECONDS |
Max lifetime for terminal sessions in seconds |
TERMINAL_CWD |
Working directory for all terminal sessions |
SUDO_PASSWORD |
Enable sudo without interactive prompt |
SSH Backend
| Variable | Description |
|---|---|
TERMINAL_SSH_HOST |
Remote server hostname |
TERMINAL_SSH_USER |
SSH username |
TERMINAL_SSH_PORT |
SSH port (default: 22) |
TERMINAL_SSH_KEY |
Path to private key |
TERMINAL_SSH_PERSISTENT |
Override persistent shell for SSH (default: follows TERMINAL_PERSISTENT_SHELL) |
Container Resources (Docker, Singularity, Modal, Daytona)
| Variable | Description |
|---|---|
TERMINAL_CONTAINER_CPU |
CPU cores (default: 1) |
TERMINAL_CONTAINER_MEMORY |
Memory in MB (default: 5120) |
TERMINAL_CONTAINER_DISK |
Disk in MB (default: 51200) |
TERMINAL_CONTAINER_PERSISTENT |
Persist container filesystem across sessions (default: true) |
TERMINAL_SANDBOX_DIR |
Host directory for workspaces and overlays (default: ~/.hermes/sandboxes/) |
Persistent Shell
| Variable | Description |
|---|---|
TERMINAL_PERSISTENT_SHELL |
Enable persistent shell for non-local backends (default: true). Also settable via terminal.persistent_shell in config.yaml |
TERMINAL_LOCAL_PERSISTENT |
Enable persistent shell for local backend (default: false) |
TERMINAL_SSH_PERSISTENT |
Override persistent shell for SSH backend (default: follows TERMINAL_PERSISTENT_SHELL) |
Messaging
| Variable | Description |
|---|---|
TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN |
Telegram bot token (from @BotFather) |
TELEGRAM_ALLOWED_USERS |
Comma-separated user IDs allowed to use the bot |
TELEGRAM_HOME_CHANNEL |
Default Telegram chat/channel for cron delivery |
TELEGRAM_HOME_CHANNEL_NAME |
Display name for the Telegram home channel |
DISCORD_BOT_TOKEN |
Discord bot token |
DISCORD_ALLOWED_USERS |
Comma-separated Discord user IDs allowed to use the bot |
DISCORD_HOME_CHANNEL |
Default Discord channel for cron delivery |
DISCORD_HOME_CHANNEL_NAME |
Display name for the Discord home channel |
DISCORD_REQUIRE_MENTION |
Require an @mention before responding in server channels |
DISCORD_FREE_RESPONSE_CHANNELS |
Comma-separated channel IDs where mention is not required |
DISCORD_AUTO_THREAD |
Auto-thread long replies when supported |
SLACK_BOT_TOKEN |
Slack bot token (xoxb-...) |
SLACK_APP_TOKEN |
Slack app-level token (xapp-..., required for Socket Mode) |
SLACK_ALLOWED_USERS |
Comma-separated Slack user IDs |
SLACK_HOME_CHANNEL |
Default Slack channel for cron delivery |
SLACK_HOME_CHANNEL_NAME |
Display name for the Slack home channel |
WHATSAPP_ENABLED |
Enable the WhatsApp bridge (true/false) |
WHATSAPP_MODE |
bot (separate number) or self-chat (message yourself) |
WHATSAPP_ALLOWED_USERS |
Comma-separated phone numbers (with country code, no +) |
SIGNAL_HTTP_URL |
signal-cli daemon HTTP endpoint (for example http://127.0.0.1:8080) |
SIGNAL_ACCOUNT |
Bot phone number in E.164 format |
SIGNAL_ALLOWED_USERS |
Comma-separated E.164 phone numbers or UUIDs |
SIGNAL_GROUP_ALLOWED_USERS |
Comma-separated group IDs, or * for all groups |
SIGNAL_HOME_CHANNEL_NAME |
Display name for the Signal home channel |
SIGNAL_IGNORE_STORIES |
Ignore Signal stories/status updates |
SIGNAL_ALLOW_ALL_USERS |
Allow all Signal users without an allowlist |
TWILIO_ACCOUNT_SID |
Twilio Account SID (shared with telephony skill) |
TWILIO_AUTH_TOKEN |
Twilio Auth Token (shared with telephony skill) |
TWILIO_PHONE_NUMBER |
Twilio phone number in E.164 format (shared with telephony skill) |
SMS_WEBHOOK_PORT |
Webhook listener port for inbound SMS (default: 8080) |
SMS_ALLOWED_USERS |
Comma-separated E.164 phone numbers allowed to chat |
SMS_ALLOW_ALL_USERS |
Allow all SMS senders without an allowlist |
SMS_HOME_CHANNEL |
Phone number for cron job / notification delivery |
SMS_HOME_CHANNEL_NAME |
Display name for the SMS home channel |
EMAIL_ADDRESS |
Email address for the Email gateway adapter |
EMAIL_PASSWORD |
Password or app password for the email account |
EMAIL_IMAP_HOST |
IMAP hostname for the email adapter |
EMAIL_IMAP_PORT |
IMAP port |
EMAIL_SMTP_HOST |
SMTP hostname for the email adapter |
EMAIL_SMTP_PORT |
SMTP port |
EMAIL_ALLOWED_USERS |
Comma-separated email addresses allowed to message the bot |
EMAIL_HOME_ADDRESS |
Default recipient for proactive email delivery |
EMAIL_HOME_ADDRESS_NAME |
Display name for the email home target |
EMAIL_POLL_INTERVAL |
Email polling interval in seconds |
EMAIL_ALLOW_ALL_USERS |
Allow all inbound email senders |
DINGTALK_CLIENT_ID |
DingTalk bot AppKey from developer portal (open.dingtalk.com) |
DINGTALK_CLIENT_SECRET |
DingTalk bot AppSecret from developer portal |
DINGTALK_ALLOWED_USERS |
Comma-separated DingTalk user IDs allowed to message the bot |
MATTERMOST_URL |
Mattermost server URL (e.g. https://mm.example.com) |
MATTERMOST_TOKEN |
Bot token or personal access token for Mattermost |
MATTERMOST_ALLOWED_USERS |
Comma-separated Mattermost user IDs allowed to message the bot |
MATTERMOST_HOME_CHANNEL |
Channel ID for proactive message delivery (cron, notifications) |
MATTERMOST_REPLY_MODE |
Reply style: thread (threaded replies) or off (flat messages, default) |
MATRIX_HOMESERVER |
Matrix homeserver URL (e.g. https://matrix.org) |
MATRIX_ACCESS_TOKEN |
Matrix access token for bot authentication |
MATRIX_USER_ID |
Matrix user ID (e.g. @hermes:matrix.org) — required for password login, optional with access token |
MATRIX_PASSWORD |
Matrix password (alternative to access token) |
MATRIX_ALLOWED_USERS |
Comma-separated Matrix user IDs allowed to message the bot (e.g. @alice:matrix.org) |
MATRIX_HOME_ROOM |
Room ID for proactive message delivery (e.g. !abc123:matrix.org) |
MATRIX_ENCRYPTION |
Enable end-to-end encryption (true/false, default: false) |
HASS_TOKEN |
Home Assistant Long-Lived Access Token (enables HA platform + tools) |
HASS_URL |
Home Assistant URL (default: http://homeassistant.local:8123) |
WEBHOOK_ENABLED |
Enable the webhook platform adapter (true/false) |
WEBHOOK_PORT |
HTTP server port for receiving webhooks (default: 8644) |
WEBHOOK_SECRET |
Global HMAC secret for webhook signature validation (used as fallback when routes don't specify their own) |
API_SERVER_ENABLED |
Enable the OpenAI-compatible API server (true/false). Runs alongside other platforms. |
API_SERVER_KEY |
Bearer token for API server authentication. Strongly recommended; required for any network-accessible deployment. |
API_SERVER_CORS_ORIGINS |
Comma-separated browser origins allowed to call the API server directly (for example http://localhost:3000,http://127.0.0.1:3000). Default: disabled. |
API_SERVER_PORT |
Port for the API server (default: 8642) |
API_SERVER_HOST |
Host/bind address for the API server (default: 127.0.0.1). Use 0.0.0.0 for network access only with API_SERVER_KEY and a narrow API_SERVER_CORS_ORIGINS allowlist. |
MESSAGING_CWD |
Working directory for terminal commands in messaging mode (default: ~) |
GATEWAY_ALLOWED_USERS |
Comma-separated user IDs allowed across all platforms |
GATEWAY_ALLOW_ALL_USERS |
Allow all users without allowlists (true/false, default: false) |
Agent Behavior
| Variable | Description |
|---|---|
HERMES_MAX_ITERATIONS |
Max tool-calling iterations per conversation (default: 90) |
HERMES_TOOL_PROGRESS |
Deprecated compatibility variable for tool progress display. Prefer display.tool_progress in config.yaml. |
HERMES_TOOL_PROGRESS_MODE |
Deprecated compatibility variable for tool progress mode. Prefer display.tool_progress in config.yaml. |
HERMES_HUMAN_DELAY_MODE |
Response pacing: off/natural/custom |
HERMES_HUMAN_DELAY_MIN_MS |
Custom delay range minimum (ms) |
HERMES_HUMAN_DELAY_MAX_MS |
Custom delay range maximum (ms) |
HERMES_QUIET |
Suppress non-essential output (true/false) |
HERMES_API_TIMEOUT |
LLM API call timeout in seconds (default: 900) |
HERMES_EXEC_ASK |
Enable execution approval prompts in gateway mode (true/false) |
HERMES_ENABLE_PROJECT_PLUGINS |
Enable auto-discovery of repo-local plugins from ./.hermes/plugins/ (true/false, default: false) |
HERMES_BACKGROUND_NOTIFICATIONS |
Background process notification mode in gateway: all (default), result, error, off |
HERMES_EPHEMERAL_SYSTEM_PROMPT |
Ephemeral system prompt injected at API-call time (never persisted to sessions) |
Session Settings
| Variable | Description |
|---|---|
SESSION_IDLE_MINUTES |
Reset sessions after N minutes of inactivity (default: 1440) |
SESSION_RESET_HOUR |
Daily reset hour in 24h format (default: 4 = 4am) |
Context Compression (config.yaml only)
Context compression is configured exclusively through the compression section in config.yaml — there are no environment variables for it.
compression:
enabled: true
threshold: 0.50
summary_model: google/gemini-3-flash-preview
summary_provider: auto
summary_base_url: null # Custom OpenAI-compatible endpoint for summaries
Auxiliary Task Overrides
| Variable | Description |
|---|---|
AUXILIARY_VISION_PROVIDER |
Override provider for vision tasks |
AUXILIARY_VISION_MODEL |
Override model for vision tasks |
AUXILIARY_VISION_BASE_URL |
Direct OpenAI-compatible endpoint for vision tasks |
AUXILIARY_VISION_API_KEY |
API key paired with AUXILIARY_VISION_BASE_URL |
AUXILIARY_WEB_EXTRACT_PROVIDER |
Override provider for web extraction/summarization |
AUXILIARY_WEB_EXTRACT_MODEL |
Override model for web extraction/summarization |
AUXILIARY_WEB_EXTRACT_BASE_URL |
Direct OpenAI-compatible endpoint for web extraction/summarization |
AUXILIARY_WEB_EXTRACT_API_KEY |
API key paired with AUXILIARY_WEB_EXTRACT_BASE_URL |
For task-specific direct endpoints, Hermes uses the task's configured API key or OPENAI_API_KEY. It does not reuse OPENROUTER_API_KEY for those custom endpoints.
Fallback Model (config.yaml only)
The primary model fallback is configured exclusively through config.yaml — there are no environment variables for it. Add a fallback_model section with provider and model keys to enable automatic failover when your main model encounters errors.
fallback_model:
provider: openrouter
model: anthropic/claude-sonnet-4
See Fallback Providers for full details.
Provider Routing (config.yaml only)
These go in ~/.hermes/config.yaml under the provider_routing section:
| Key | Description |
|---|---|
sort |
Sort providers: "price" (default), "throughput", or "latency" |
only |
List of provider slugs to allow (e.g., ["anthropic", "google"]) |
ignore |
List of provider slugs to skip |
order |
List of provider slugs to try in order |
require_parameters |
Only use providers supporting all request params (true/false) |
data_collection |
"allow" (default) or "deny" to exclude data-storing providers |
:::tip
Use hermes config set to set environment variables — it automatically saves them to the right file (.env for secrets, config.yaml for everything else).
:::