> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://kernel.sh/docs/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Hermes Agent

> Run Hermes Agent browser tools on Kernel cloud browsers

[Hermes Agent](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent) is an AI agent with browser automation, terminal access, skills, and messaging integrations. The [Kernel browser plugin](https://github.com/kernel/hermes-browser-plugin) routes Hermes's `browser_*` tools through Kernel cloud browsers and handles browser creation and cleanup for you.

## Install the plugin

Install and enable the plugin from the Kernel repository:

```bash theme={null}
hermes plugins install kernel/hermes-browser-plugin --enable
```

You need:

* A current Hermes Agent installation with browser-provider plugin support
* A [Kernel API key](https://dashboard.onkernel.com/api-keys)
* Node.js 20 or newer for Hermes's `agent-browser` dependency

<Note>
  Some Hermes versions prompt for `KERNEL_API_KEY` during plugin installation and some don't. Selecting Kernel as the browser provider doesn't set the API key.
</Note>

## Configure Hermes Desktop

1. Open **Capabilities → Tools → Browser Automation**.
2. Select **Kernel**.
3. If `agent_browser` isn't installed, click **Run setup** and wait for the one-time installation to finish.
4. Open the three-dot menu next to `KERNEL_API_KEY` and enter your [Kernel API key](https://dashboard.onkernel.com/api-keys).
5. Optionally set `KERNEL_PROXY_NAME` and `KERNEL_PROFILE_NAME` from their three-dot menus.
6. In a terminal, run the following command so Hermes's cleanup timer matches the plugin's 10-minute Kernel browser timeout:

```bash theme={null}
hermes config set browser.inactivity_timeout 600
```

7. Restart any running Hermes chat or gateway so it reads the updated settings.

## Configure the Hermes CLI

Select Kernel and match Hermes's cleanup timeout to the plugin's browser timeout:

```bash theme={null}
hermes config set browser.cloud_provider kernel
hermes config set browser.inactivity_timeout 600
```

If plugin installation didn't prompt for your API key, add `KERNEL_API_KEY` to the active Hermes profile's `.env` file. This command prints the file's location:

```bash theme={null}
hermes config env-path
```

Install `agent-browser` once if Hermes hasn't installed it yet:

```bash theme={null}
hermes tools post-setup agent_browser
```

Verify your setup:

```bash theme={null}
hermes plugins list
hermes config show
hermes doctor
```

## Configure a default profile or proxy

The Kernel provider supports these settings in the active Hermes profile:

| Variable              | Required | Purpose                                                |
| --------------------- | -------- | ------------------------------------------------------ |
| `KERNEL_API_KEY`      | Yes      | Authenticates requests to Kernel                       |
| `KERNEL_PROFILE_NAME` | No       | Loads an existing Kernel profile by name               |
| `KERNEL_PROXY_NAME`   | No       | Resolves and attaches an existing Kernel proxy by name |

When you set `KERNEL_PROFILE_NAME`, the plugin saves browser changes back to that profile when the browser ends. This preserves cookies, logins, and other session state for future runs.

## Understand browser cleanup

The plugin creates every Kernel browser with a 10-minute inactivity timeout. Hermes also maintains its own browser cleanup timer, which defaults to two minutes and refreshes whenever Hermes runs a `browser_*` tool. Matching it to 10 minutes prevents Hermes from deleting the browser before Kernel's timeout.

When Hermes cleans up a session, it closes `agent-browser`, deletes the Kernel browser, and removes the session from its local registry. Hermes also runs this cleanup when its process exits normally. Kernel's 10-minute timeout remains the remote fallback if Hermes crashes or loses its connection.

<Note>
  [Kernel standby](/browsers/standby) incurs zero browser usage cost only when no CDP, WebDriver, live-view, or computer-controls client is connected. Hermes maintains an `agent-browser` CDP session while it tracks the browser, so a longer Hermes cleanup timeout improves continuity but can also keep the browser active longer.
</Note>

## Verify browser routing

Start Hermes with browser tools enabled:

```bash theme={null}
hermes chat --verbose --toolsets browser
```

Then ask Hermes:

> Use `browser_navigate`, not web search, to open [https://example.com](https://example.com). Call `browser_snapshot`, report the exact title and `stealth_features`, and tell me whether any cloud fallback warning occurred.

A successful run has these results:

1. The page title is `Example Domain`.
2. `stealth_features` includes `stealth`.
3. The tool result has no `fallback_warning`.
4. A matching browser appears in the [Kernel Dashboard](https://dashboard.onkernel.com/browsers).
5. Exiting Hermes or waiting for cleanup removes the browser.

Hermes can fall back to local Chromium if a cloud provider fails. A successful navigation alone doesn't confirm that Hermes used Kernel; verify both the tool result and the Kernel Dashboard.

## Update the plugin

Pull the latest version and restart Hermes Desktop, your active chat, or the gateway:

```bash theme={null}
hermes plugins update browser-kernel
```

## Next steps

* Use [Live View](/browsers/live-view) to inspect an active Hermes browser
* Create reusable browser state with [Profiles](/auth/profiles)
* Configure a named [Proxy](/proxies/overview)
* Learn how Kernel [terminates browser sessions](/browsers/termination)