At a glance
- Members
- Two to six bots per room
- Across computers
- Yes. Members can come from any connected computer.
- Per message
- Up to three rounds and ten member replies
- Shared with
- Bot Mode in Hermes Desktop, through your Hermes profiles
- Attachments
- Sent inline, up to 8 MB per file
How a room takes turns
A group room is one conversation log. When you send a message, Herald runs up to three rounds of member turns, one bot at a time and never in parallel. Bots you mention with @ speak; if you mention nobody, everyone gets a turn. A bot only replies when it has something to add and otherwise passes, so expect the bots you addressed to answer and the rest to stay quiet. A cap of ten member replies per message stops a room from spinning.
Each member keeps a hidden session in its own profile on its own computer, titled Group: <room>. On each turn it receives only what is new in the room since it last spoke. Bots pull each other in with @name, and @everyone or @all addresses the whole room.
Start a group
- Tap + on the roster
Choose New group. The screen says it plainly: “Bots talk to you and to each other.”
- Name it and pick the bots
Choose at least two and at most six. Bots on another computer are listed under “Members on” that computer’s name.
- Create the group and say hello
Tap Create group. The empty room reminds you: address one bot with @, or everyone with @everyone.
- Adjust it later
Open the room’s settings to rename it, change its picture, add or remove members, or delete it. Member changes apply immediately.
Mentions in a room
| You type | Who answers |
|---|---|
| No mention | Every member may take a turn |
| @name | The bots you mention; they can pull others in with @name |
| @everyone or @all | The whole room |
Rooms across computers and apps
Members can sit on different machines: a bot on your home Mac and one on a VPS can share a room, and each member’s turn runs on its own computer. Herald keeps a bounded copy of every room in the default profile of each connected Hermes, which is how the room reaches Hermes Desktop with its history and survives one machine going away.
Herald runs the room’s turn-taking from your phone. If you leave the app mid-discussion, Herald collects the replies that landed meanwhile when you come back. If a member fails, the notice, such as “Fixer couldn’t reply”, appears on your phone above the composer instead of in the shared log.
What works in rooms
- Approvals and questions: a card names the member that needs approval or is asking
- Photos and files, sent inline up to 8 MB each
- Voice notes from the composer’s microphone
- Rooms on Apple Watch and in CarPlay
Limits
- Two to six bots per room.
- Files over 8 MB can’t go to a room, because the same attachment is sent to every member.
- Hands-free “Hey Herald” conversations work in one-to-one chats, not in rooms.
- Deleting a room removes it and its log for every member. Each bot keeps its own chats and memory.
Questions
Do rooms show up in Hermes Desktop?
Yes. Herald shares rooms with the desktop app through your Hermes profiles, so a room made on your phone appears on the desktop and the other way round.
Can I mention a bot in an ordinary chat?
Yes. Herald tells the bot you are talking to who you mean, and that bot reaches the other one with its own messaging tool. For a bot on another computer, that delivery needs Hermes Desktop’s relay to be running.
Why didn’t every bot reply?
Speaking is each member’s choice. Bots pass when they have nothing new to add, and a mention limits the round to the bots you named.
Does a room use more tokens?
Each member turn is an ordinary prompt to that bot, so every member that speaks uses its own model and tokens.
What if a member’s computer is offline?
The room carries on with the members Herald can reach. If none can be reached, the composer says your message sends when they are back online.
