How to Install Hermes Agent on a Raspberry Pi
Pi 4 or 5, 64-bit OS, direct install or the official aarch64 Docker image — the always-on pocket-server setup. A platform page of the install guide, cross-checked against the official docs.
TL;DR
Yes, Hermes runs on a Raspberry Pi — and there's no Pi-specific build because none is needed. Linux on aarch64 is Tier 1, and so is the official Docker image on aarch64. A Pi 4 or Pi 5 with 4+ GB RAM running a 64-bit OS is the sweet spot. The one mental shift: the Pi runs the agent; the model is a hosted API (Nous Portal, Anthropic, OpenAI) — don't plan on local LLM inference on the Pi itself.
sudo apt install -y git curl xz-utils
curl -fsSL https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/install.sh | bash
source ~/.bashrc
hermes version # prints v0.21.5 (or newer)This guide covers Hermes Agent v0.21.5. On other platforms? See Windows, macOS, Linux, or VPS.
Hardware requirements
| Board | Verdict | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Pi 5 (4/8 GB) | Best fit | Comfortable headroom for agent + gateway + cron, even with browser tools |
| Pi 4 (4/8 GB) | Good | The community workhorse; same install paths |
| Pi 4 (2 GB) | Workable | Install with --skip-browser — Chromium is the memory hog |
| Pi 3 (1 GB) | Borderline | aarch64-capable CPU, but 1 GB is the documented Docker minimum with zero headroom |
| Pi Zero / armv7 boards | No | Not aarch64, or nowhere near the resource floor |
The resource numbers come from the official Docker docs: minimum 1 GB RAM / 1 core, recommended 2–4 GB — and "browser automation (Playwright/Chromium) is the most memory-hungry feature. If you don't need browser tools, 1 GB is sufficient." Two non-negotiables: a 64-bit OS (Raspberry Pi OS 64-bit or Ubuntu Server — official support targets aarch64, not 32-bit armv7), and decent storage (a quality SD card works; USB/NVMe boot is kinder for an always-on box, since sessions and logs grow — budget 500 MB–2 GB+ beyond the ~200 MB install).
Path 1 — direct install on Raspberry Pi OS
Raspberry Pi OS 64-bit is Debian-based, which makes the Pi just another Tier-1 Linux aarch64 box — the standard installer from the TL;DR applies as-is, including the official prerequisites (git, curl, xz-utils). Headless Pi? Add --skip-browser to skip Chromium entirely:
curl -fsSL https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/install.sh | bash -s -- --skip-browserFor an always-on Telegram/Discord bot: hermes gateway setup offers to install a systemd user unit, then sudo loginctl enable-linger <user> so the gateway starts at boot and survives logout. The full service-user recipe (Playwright system libraries, PATH for service accounts) is on the Linux page — everything there applies to the Pi verbatim.
Path 2 — Docker (recommended for set-and-forget)
The official image (nousresearch/hermes-agent) is published for aarch64 and supervises the gateway with s6 — a crashed process restarts itself within seconds, per the Docker docs:
mkdir -p ~/.hermes
docker run -it --rm -v ~/.hermes:/opt/data nousresearch/hermes-agent setup
docker run -d --name hermes --restart unless-stopped \
-v ~/.hermes:/opt/data -p 8642:8642 \
nousresearch/hermes-agent gateway runAll state lives in the mounted ~/.hermes; upgrading is docker pull + recreate (Docker installs intentionally don't support hermes update). Never point two gateway containers at the same data directory — the official docs warn it corrupts session files and memory stores.
What people actually run on Pis
Community reports in our user-story corpus include a Raspberry Pi 5 running Hermes 24/7 as an always-on personal agent, and Pi-hosted gateways serving Telegram from residential IPs. Treat these as community anecdotes rather than official benchmarks — but they match exactly what Tier-1 aarch64 support implies. The same always-on pattern on rented hardware is the VPS setup; the tradeoffs between them are in the modes guide.
FAQ
Can Hermes Agent run on a Raspberry Pi 5?
Yes — aarch64 Linux and aarch64 Docker are both Tier 1. A Pi 5 (4 or 8 GB) handles the agent, gateway, and cron comfortably with a hosted model API.
Can Hermes Agent run on a Raspberry Pi 4?
Yes — same paths. Prefer the 4 GB or 8 GB model; on 2 GB, install with --skip-browser.
What about a Raspberry Pi 3?
Borderline: aarch64-capable but only 1 GB RAM — the documented minimum with no headroom. Gateway-only without browser tools can work; expect swap pressure.
Do I need a 64-bit OS?
Yes. Official support targets aarch64 — use Raspberry Pi OS 64-bit or Ubuntu Server 64-bit, not the 32-bit image.
Can the Pi run the model locally?
Not realistically — pair Hermes on the Pi with a hosted API or a model server on beefier LAN hardware.
Docker or direct install on the Pi?
Docker for set-and-forget uptime (s6 auto-restart, image-based upgrades); direct install for the lightest footprint and in-place hermes update.
Next: pick a model provider, set up verification, and browse community deployment options — Compose stacks and systemd templates that drop straight onto a Pi.