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Use CometAPI as the model provider for Hermes Agent through Hermes’s custom OpenAI-compatible endpoint support.

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Prerequisites

  • Git
  • A CometAPI account with an active API key
  • A terminal on macOS, Linux, or WSL2

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Installation

1

Get your CometAPI API key

Log in to the CometAPI console. Click Add API Key and copy your <COMETAPI_KEY> key.
CometAPI dashboard showing the Add API Key button
CometAPI API key details with the base URL shown
2

Install Hermes Agent

The following command runs the official installer:
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/main/scripts/install.sh | bash
If the current shell does not see the hermes command yet, reload the shell configuration:
source ~/.zshrc
# or
source ~/.bashrc
Hermes stores config in ~/.hermes/, links the hermes command in ~/.local/bin, and may add ~/.local/bin to your shell PATH.

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Configuration

1

Store your CometAPI key

Open ~/.hermes/.env and add the following line:
OPENAI_API_KEY=<COMETAPI_KEY>
Hermes uses OPENAI_API_KEY as the auth fallback for custom OpenAI-compatible endpoints.
2

Configure the CometAPI endpoint

Open ~/.hermes/config.yaml and make sure the model section looks like this:
model:
  provider: custom
  default: your-model-id
  base_url: https://api.cometapi.com/v1
Replace your-model-id with a current text model ID from the CometAPI Models page.
Keep the API key in ~/.hermes/.env. Do not hardcode secrets in config.yaml.
This setup configures the main chat model. Hermes can use separate auxiliary models for tasks such as vision or web extraction.

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Verification

1

Check the configuration

The following commands confirm that Hermes can read the config and the API key:
hermes config check
hermes doctor
hermes status
If hermes config check reports missing options after an update, run hermes config migrate and check again.
2

Run a real chat test

The following command sends a real request through CometAPI:
hermes chat -q "Reply with the single word CONNECTED."
A successful setup returns CONNECTED and no auth or endpoint errors.

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Optional configuration

If you are replacing an older Hermes install, use the built-in uninstaller first:
hermes uninstall
In the uninstaller, choose Full uninstall to remove the CLI, PATH entry, and ~/.hermes/ data. Then rerun the install step and continue with the same CometAPI configuration.
If you prefer the interactive flow, run hermes model and choose Custom endpoint.Then enter the following values:
  • Base URL: https://api.cometapi.com/v1
  • API key: your CometAPI API key
  • Model: a current CometAPI text model ID
This flow writes the same provider settings into config.yaml.