Wow, Hermes Can Now Run Natively on Windows?!

Friends playing with AI Agents on Windows, are you feeling overwhelmed by the OpenClaw upgrade? You wanted to migrate to Hermes, but running it on WSL was inconvenient due to the lack of control over the local environment.

Well, good news: the native Windows version is here.

Although it still carries an “Early Beta” label, at least it runs! I immediately tested it on my old Windows laptop and am sharing my fresh impressions with you.

Installation? Done with One Command

Open your PowerShell (or Windows Terminal, highly recommended), then paste this:

No administrator privileges required. You heard that right, no right-clicking “Run as administrator.” It installs everything into %LOCALAPPDATA%\hermes, keeping it separate from the rest of your system.

I was skeptical: is it really this simple? Won’t it make me install Visual Studio Build Tools again?

It actually installed Python 3.11, Node.js 22, and even Git (portable versions that don’t pollute the system) on its own. I just pressed Enter, went to make a coffee, and by the time I returned, the installation was complete.

The only catch: after installation, you need to close PowerShell and reopen it to refresh the user PATH. I didn’t close it the first time, and typing hermes --version told me the command wasn’t found. I almost swore. Closing and reopening solved the issue.

First Impression: It Actually Runs

Running hermes setup walks you through the initial configuration—selecting a model, setting the API Key (I used OpenRouter)—and the entire process is identical to Mac.

Then I tried running something simple:

hermes chat

After entering, I typed spinner to let it look up some information, and it actually worked. The command-line interface (officially called TUI) looks exactly like the Linux version, with no features missing.

I also tried setting up a Telegram bot (hermes gateway) to start automatically on Windows login. It uses Windows Task Scheduler, so no service setup is needed—it just runs automatically upon login. This design is quite clever.

A Few Things to Note (It’s a Beta, After All)

Of course, since it’s an Early Beta, I encountered a few issues, so here’s a heads-up:

• Editor Issues: If you press Ctrl-X Ctrl-E in the chat to open an external editor for writing long prompts, it defaults to opening Notepad. Yes, the most basic notepad. It works, but if you’re a VSCode fan like me, remember to set the environment variable: $env:EDITOR = "code --wait". The --wait flag is crucial; otherwise, VSCode will pop up and immediately return without capturing your content.

• Chinese Character Display: My Windows setup had no issues with Chinese paths or characters, but the documentation specifically mentions that “Chinese characters might turn into question marks in older cmd versions.” I used Windows Terminal, and everything worked fine. If you do encounter issues, there’s a UTF-8 fix toggle, so there’s no need to worry too much.

• Terminal Tab in Dashboard Doesn’t Work: The web console (hermes dashboard) has a /chat tab with an embedded terminal, which doesn’t work on native Windows for now (because Windows lacks POSIX PTY). Clicking it will kindly tell you: “Hey, use WSL2.” Other features work normally.

• Command-Line Tool Execution: It executes shell commands internally via Git Bash, so it’s best to have Git for Windows installed on your system. The installation script will automatically download a portable version of Git for you, so even if you didn’t have Git installed before, it will work. However, if you have some odd bash environment in your PATH (like an old Cygwin installation), you might encounter surprises. I got lucky and didn’t hit this.

How to Choose Between Native Windows and WSL2?

The documentation provides a comparison table, and I’ve summarized it for you:

• Use Native Windows: If you simply want to chat via CLI, run Telegram/Discord bots, schedule tasks, control the browser, or use local Ollama—all of these are fully supported.

• Stick with WSL2: If you need the embedded terminal panel in the Dashboard, rely heavily on POSIX fork semantics, or are accustomed to Linux-style file watching. Additionally, if you prioritize extreme stability (for production environments), the WSL2 route is more mature.

The good news is that both can be installed simultaneously without conflicting data directories: native Windows data is stored in %LOCALAPPDATA%\hermes, while WSL data is in ~/.hermes. You can even switch between them if you want.

How Am I Using It Now?

I run daily chats and the Telegram bot on native Windows to save resources and ensure hassle-free auto-start. For the Dashboard tab that requires a terminal, I connect via WSL2. It’s a bit more cumbersome, but I can make use of both.

Anyway, the biggest benefit for me is: when recommending this tool to Windows-using friends, I finally don’t need to give them a lecture on “What is WSL2?” Just one command, and it runs.

A Small Request

The official release is an Early Beta. I’ve used it for two days without major issues, but there are definitely rough edges. If you encounter any weird errors on Windows (especially regarding Chinese paths, subprocesses, or strange console outputs), remember to file an issue on their GitHub. Their documentation explicitly says “expect rough edges,” but their attitude is quite sincere.

Feel free to play around with it on a secondary machine or virtual machine first, and move it to your main machine once you’re confident. Installation is free and easy, right?

By the way, if you find that the hermes command is not found after installation, remember to close PowerShell and reopen it. If that doesn’t work, go to %LOCALAPPDATA%\hermes\bin, double-click hermes.cmd, and see what error it reports.

Go ahead and stress-test your Windows. 😄

For more detailed information, refer to the official documentation. I’ll put the link in the comments below ⬇️