Run Hermes Agent on a Raspberry Pi

Is a Raspberry Pi enough?

Hermes Agent supports Linux on aarch64 (64-bit ARM) through its standard installer, and it builds and tests arm64 Docker images too. Its docs don’t mention the Raspberry Pi by name, so treat a Pi as an ordinary 64-bit Linux machine. A Debian-based 64-bit OS, such as Raspberry Pi OS (64-bit), has glibc and systemd, which Hermes’ docs say makes a distribution likely to work well.

The Pi runs the agent, its memory and its tools. With a hosted model provider, the model runs at the provider, not on the Pi. Running a local model on the Pi is a much heavier job, and Hermes doesn’t publish Raspberry Pi requirements or benchmarks.

Requirements

Operating system

A 64-bit OS; uname -m should print aarch64

Hermes Agent

The standard Linux installer

Node.js

20 or newer, for npx herald-setup

Tailscale

Its install script supports Raspberry Pi OS

Access

SSH, or a keyboard and screen

Install Hermes and pair Herald

1. Check the OS is 64-bit

   If it prints armv7l or another 32-bit name, install a 64-bit OS first. Hermes’ support table lists only x86_64 and aarch64 for Linux.

   uname -m

2. Install Hermes Agent

   The installer also adds browser tools with a pinned Chromium. If you don’t need browser automation, its --skip-browser option leaves them out; see the installation guide.

   curl -fsSL https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/install.sh | bash
   source ~/.bashrc
   hermes setup

3. Install Tailscale

   Sign in with the same account as your phone.

   curl -fsSL https://tailscale.com/install.sh | sh
   sudo tailscale up

4. Run herald-setup

   Running it over SSH is fine: the QR code prints in your terminal. The helper waits up to three minutes for Hermes to answer before it gives up.

   npx herald-setup

5. Scan the QR code in Herald

   Tap Scan the QR code in Herald. Keep Tailscale switched on in the phone.

Keep it running

For a Pi that runs all the time, set up the systemd user service from the Linux guide and turn on lingering, so Hermes starts at boot without anyone logging in. Tailscale keeps the Serve mapping across reboots.

If you run herald-setup again later, add --no-serve so it doesn’t compete with the service, and restart the service if it asks. After hermes update, restart the service too, so Hermes runs the new code.

Troubleshooting

• Hermes did not answer within 180 seconds. Run hermes serve --port 9119 in another terminal to see the error, then try again.
• The Pi’s Wi-Fi address changed. On Wi-Fi, herald-setup notices, closes the address and asks you to run it again and rescan. A Tailscale name stays the same unless you rename the machine.
• The phone can’t connect. See Herald can’t connect and Tailscale HTTPS certificates.
• Bots are missing. See gateway not running.