This guide walks you through installing Hermes in a Docker container, keeping it fully isolated from your host system while preserving a clean main environment. The installation is configured to use OpenRouter with a free AI model by default, making it easy to get started at no cost. You can switch to a different supported model at any time directly from the Hermes prompt. Finally, we'll configure Telegram as the messaging gateway so you can interact with your personal AI assistant from anywhere.

• Open Telegram.
• Search for @BotFather (the verified account).
• Send:

/newbot

• Choose a bot name and username.
• Copy the bot token. You will use it later in the .env file.

Replace YourUsername with your Windows username:

mkdir C:\Users\YourUsername\hermes-data

The setup wizard will create the initial configuration files inside your hermes-data directory:

docker run -it --rm -v C:\Users\YourUsername\hermes-data:/opt/data nousresearch/hermes-agent:latest setup

Create a custom Docker network:

docker network create hermes-net
ocker network connect hermes-net hermes-agent

Create or edit the docker-compose.yml

services:
  hermes:
    image: nousresearch/hermes-agent:latest
    container_name: hermes

    restart: unless-stopped

    volumes:
      - C:\Users\KdeK\hermes-data:/opt/data

    ports:
      - "8642:8642"
      - "9119:9119"

    stdin_open: true
    tty: true

Create or edit the .env file, get the value from the specified service:

OPENROUTER_API_KEY=sk-or-v1-ABCDEFGabcdefg0123456789
TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN=0123456789:ABCDE123456--abcde123456-aABbCc
TELEGRAM_ALLOWED_USERS=123456789

Start the docker:

cd hermes-data
docker compose up -d

To enter the hermesh :

docker exec -it hermes bash