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102 changes: 102 additions & 0 deletions src/content/open-source/guides/use-hermes.mdx
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---
title: Use Hermes Agent
description: Run Hermes Agent with Lightpanda as the browser backend.
---

# Use Hermes Agent

[Hermes Agent](https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com) is an open source autonomous agent built by [Nous Research](https://nousresearch.com). It runs autonomously for long stretches, builds persistent memory, spawns subagents in parallel, and reaches you on Telegram, Discord, Slack, and other platforms while working on a remote VM. From version `v0.13.0`, Hermes has native support for Lightpanda as a browser backend.

When configured to use Lightpanda, Hermes will route browser actions through Lightpanda, with automatic Chrome fallback for actions Lightpanda doesn't yet support (such as screenshots).

## Prerequisites

- Hermes Agent `v0.13.0` or later
- Lightpanda installed and on your `PATH`

If you don't yet have Lightpanda installed, follow the [installation guide](/docs/open-source/installation).

## Install Hermes

If you don't have Hermes Agent yet, install it with the official one-liner:

```bash
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/main/scripts/install.sh | bash
```

If you already have Hermes installed, update to `v0.13.0` or later:

```bash
hermes update
```

Confirm the version:

```bash
hermes --version
```

## Configure Lightpanda as the browser backend

Open Hermes' config file:

```bash
open ~/.hermes/config.yaml
```

Find the `browser:` block and add the `engine: lightpanda` line:

```yaml
browser:
engine: lightpanda
```

Save and close the file.

## Verify the configuration

Start Hermes:

```bash
hermes
```

Run the `/browser` slash command:

```
/browser
```

You should see:

```
🌐 Browser: local Lightpanda (agent-browser --engine lightpanda)
⚡ Lightpanda: faster navigation, no screenshot support
Automatic Chrome fallback for screenshots and failed commands
```

Hermes will now route browser actions through Lightpanda.

## Run a quick test

Inside Hermes, try a prompt that involves browsing:

```
Visit https://news.ycombinator.com and list the top 5 story titles.
```

Hermes will spawn its browser tools and route them through Lightpanda. You'll see streaming tool calls (`browser_navigate`, `browser_snapshot`) executing against Lightpanda.

## Automatic Chrome fallback

Lightpanda doesn't yet support every browser action Hermes might call. When Hermes invokes an unsupported action (e.g. screenshots), or when a command errors out on Lightpanda, Hermes transparently retries on Chrome.

This means enabling `engine: lightpanda` is non-disruptive: Lightpanda handles the actions it supports, Chrome handles the rest, and your agent's behavior remains unchanged.

The current set of actions supported by Lightpanda inside Hermes covers the core agent workflow: navigate, snapshot, click, type, scroll, back, press, and eval. Actions that fall back to Chrome include screenshots, PDF generation, file uploads, and clipboard operations.

## Further reading

- [Hermes Agent documentation](https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/docs/)
- [Pull request that added Lightpanda support to Hermes](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/pull/7144)
- [Lightpanda installation guide](/docs/open-source/installation)
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