Alex Finn Hermes Agent Video Brief

High — direct Hermes Desktop walkthrough.

• 00:54Use Desktop sessions/threads for each area of life and pin important ones so scheduled sessions do not bury them.
• 03:07Use Artifacts as a second brain for links, files, images, and generated outputs.
• 04:43Disable unused skills/toolsets to reduce context, tokens, noise, and cost.
• 06:13Use the Cron UI to verify, manually create, test, and pause scheduled jobs.
• 07:27Use profiles only when roles need different memories, skills, personalities, tools, or models; otherwise use subagents.
• 10:22Store API keys in the settings/API-key UI instead of pasting secrets into chat logs.

High — full Hermes setup/tutorial.

• 01:51Think of Hermes as a 24/7 AI employee that learns goals, workflows, and preferences.
• 08:33Install from the Hermes website command, then choose model and messaging channel; Alex favors Telegram.
• 09:28Model tradeoff: Claude/Anthropic best but expensive; ChatGPT subscription is a moderate option; local/open models can be cheaper but less capable.
• 13:44First task: brain-dump who you are, what you are working on, and goals so Hermes can save useful memories.
• 15:23Schedule a nightly 2am proactive cron to build a micro-app/UI/system that advances your goals.
• 21:02Use Kanban triage: add goals/tasks, let Hermes split subtasks, move them to to-do, and assign subagents.
• 29:41Memories and skills are local markdown files; Hermes can review execution and improve future repetitions.

High — direct Hermes use cases.

• 00:49Use /goal for long-running tasks, but meta-prompt first so the goal is detailed rather than vague.
• 03:23Morning Kanban workflow: put AI-doable tasks into triage while you do human-only work.
• 06:29Use browser/computer control for competitor app research: inspect site, console, features, and stack, then produce a report.
• 08:58Build a memory wiki with subjects and daily logs so you and Hermes can review past work.
• 10:36Use Tailscale to let Hermes administer/test across trusted devices.
• 12:51Schedule a morning priority prompt: ask the #1 priority, propose support tasks, and update memories.

High — direct Hermes feature update.

• 00:37Improved session recall lets Hermes retrieve prior sessions by date/time/topic without bloating current context.
• 02:21/background lets Hermes run tasks in parallel while remaining available for normal chat.
• 05:22Native Codex CLI support lets Hermes spin up Codex as a coding worker.
• 07:02Computer use lets Hermes inspect and control apps remotely, e.g. calendar or Notion workflows.
• 10:43Auto-Kanban task generation breaks triage goals into subtasks assigned to agents/subagents.

High — direct Hermes local-model setup.

• 01:27Local models make 24/7 Hermes work more private and effectively free after hardware/electricity.
• 05:40Use cloud-powered Hermes on the main computer to configure the headless/local model box.
• 06:58Install Tailscale so Hermes can control the local machine over a private network.
• 09:55Prompt Hermes to install a local model such as Qwen and validate it with a simple chat frontend.
• 13:37Create a separate Hermes profile connected to the local model.
• 16:25Use local Hermes for recurring research, transcript repurposing, self-improvement from videos, and lightweight coding.

High — direct Hermes setup/use cases.

• 02:42Hermes self-improves by creating/updating skills when it encounters new or repeated tasks.
• 04:31Hermes supports swarms/profiles; ask it to build a new profile for specialized agents.
• 05:05Setup flow: terminal command, Telegram channel, and model choice; Opus best if budget allows.
• 10:03Brain-dump career, goals, interests, and workflows into Hermes after setup.
• 11:28Reverse-prompt Hermes for workflows based on what it knows about you.
• 13:08Starter cron: daily AI news plus new AI tool recommendations based on your workflows/memory.

High — direct Hermes dashboard/Kanban guide.

• 03:34Open the Hermes dashboard with `hermes dashboard`; use Kanban for many parallel tasks.
• 04:44Kanban flow: triage → memory enrichment → ready → assigned execution.
• 08:08Create a cron that checks Kanban every 10 minutes, expands triage tasks, and executes ready tasks.
• 08:54Use a second admin/librarian profile for recurring Kanban management so the main agent is not blocked.
• 13:35Profiles can have separate memories, skills, env vars, and roles; baseline: main, coding, research, admin.
• 16:21Lower compression threshold to about 0.5 and use curator reports to reduce memory/skill bloat.

High — direct Hermes + ChatGPT setup/use cases.

• 01:01Hermes can act as a 24/7 computer employee: build apps, send email, check calendars, move files, and act on the computer.
• 01:23Self-improvement through skills is a core advantage; repeated usage makes future tasks better.
• 03:53ChatGPT 5.5 via OAuth is positioned as a lower-cost/high-limit Hermes brain versus Claude Opus.
• 04:57Use Telegram BotFather setup to communicate with Hermes from multiple devices.
• 06:35Use mobile Telegram prototyping and /steer to correct an active task mid-run.
• 10:42Use cron for daily research or checking another agent every few hours.

High — OpenClaw tutorial with direct Hermes comparison and transferable setup workflows.

• 13:53Use messaging surfaces intentionally: Telegram for daily chat; group topics for separate contexts.
• 19:49Brain-dump identity, business, goals, and workflows to personalize the agent.
• 20:36List manual computer tasks for a day, then ask the agent which workflows it can automate.
• 23:00Use a project board/Linear-style workflow to assign tasks, branch, and PR code.
• 30:50Hermes is described as faster/more token-efficient, while OpenClaw memory was stronger in his experience; use both if helpful.
• 32:42Two-agent reliability: if one agent breaks, the other can inspect configs/code and fix it.

High — direct OpenClaw + Hermes multi-agent setup.

• 00:31Use two agents for reliability: when one breaks, the other can diagnose and fix it.
• 02:28Run Hermes as a lighter/faster assistant or monitor while another agent handles heavier main work.
• 03:53Allocate models by role: strong expensive model for main/orchestrator, cheaper model for monitoring/execution.
• 07:57Planner/builder/reviewer workflow: strong agent plans, Hermes executes, strong agent reviews.
• 12:11Schedule Hermes cron jobs to monitor systems built by another agent and alert on failures.
• 13:44Use shared memory folders so agents have private logs plus shared decisions, mistakes, plans, and context.

High — memory/wiki workflow explicitly useful for Hermes too.

• 00:00An Obsidian-backed memory system can improve both OpenClaw and Hermes memory.
• 00:26Use daily logs that capture discussions, tasks, and work done.
• 00:58Keep a mistakes file so corrections become future behavior improvements.
• 01:18Use an agent-shared workspace for multi-agent context handoff.
• 03:56Keep large memory in files checked on demand, not injected into every prompt.
• 09:04Verify the agent is writing memories; if not, add the memory rules to AGENTS.md/agent instructions.

High — direct Hermes guide/comparison.

• 01:52Hermes is described as lightweight and performant compared with OpenClaw.
• 02:21Hermes can perform a complex briefing workflow and capture it as a reusable skill.
• 03:21Hermes is transparent about tool calls, websites visited, snapshots, and what it is doing.
• 03:42Hermes creates a Hacker News daily AI briefing skill, updates a cron job, and delivers via Telegram.
• 07:22Obsidian-style memory improved both Hermes and OpenClaw memory.
• 08:45Use Hermes and OpenClaw side by side; one can spin up or fix the other.
• 12:38Model choices: Claude most agentic, ChatGPT cheaper/strong, local models possible for advanced users.