Herald OS is a free, open-source, agent-native operating system with Hermes Agent as the interface — and honestly, it’s the best-looking way to use Hermes I’ve seen. You talk or type to Hermes, and it works across your whole machine. I set it up and gave you the full tour in the video below. Here’s what it does, how to get it, and how it compares with Hermes Desktop.
Key takeaways
- Herald OS is free and MIT-licensed, built by independent developer Luke The Dev.
- It wraps Hermes Agent in a full OS-style interface: dashboard, spaces, missions, memory, files and automations.
- It runs as a Mac app (Apple Silicon) or a full Linux system.
- It’s early alpha — brilliant design, a few rough edges.
What Herald OS is
Herald OS describes itself as an agent-native operating system with Hermes Agent as the interface. Instead of opening apps and clicking around yourself, you tell Hermes what you want — open an app, sort your files, run a routine — and it does it, asking permission before it changes anything.
It’s built by Luke The Dev, who posts loads of Hermes content on X. Shout out to Luke — this is a seriously impressive project. It’s independent, not made by Nous Research, but it runs on Hermes Agent, which is installed alongside it.
| Herald OS at a glance | |
|---|---|
| What it is | An agent-native operating system with Hermes Agent as the interface |
| Made by | Luke The Dev (iamlukethedev) — independent, not affiliated with Nous Research |
| Price | Free — MIT licence; you only pay for the AI model you connect |
| Version | 0.1 alpha — early software |
| Platforms | macOS app (Apple Silicon, macOS 13+), Herald OS Linux (Fedora-based ISO), Arch/Omarchy package, Linux tarball |
| Needs | Hermes Agent, plus a Nous Portal account or an API key for a supported provider |
| Source | github.com/iamlukethedev/Herald-OS |
How I set up Herald OS
I literally opened Claude and said, “Can you set this up?” About two minutes later, Herald OS was running. If you’d rather do it yourself, the steps for every platform are in my Herald OS GitHub install guide.
Why bother with an operating system for your agent? Because it makes Hermes far easier to navigate and command. When Hermes first came out, back around March or April, we all ran it in the terminal and it was messy. A proper interface changes how much you actually use it.
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A tour of the Herald OS dashboard
When you open it, it says “Good morning, Julian — your day already in motion.” It pulls in your scheduled tasks for the day, shows what needs attention, and suggests where to pick up where you left off, based on your recent documents, projects, chats and calendar events. You can switch that on or off. You can talk to it with your voice, and it even used screenshots I’d recently taken on my desktop to show what I’ve been working on.
| Section | What it does |
|---|---|
| Overview | Your day at a glance: scheduled tasks, what needs attention, and up to three “pick up where you left off” suggestions |
| Hermes | Chat with Hermes normally, with a preview pane and sources Hermes can read |
| Spaces | Separate Ideas, Work and Personal spaces — add more for clients or companies |
| Missions | Give Hermes a goal and it plans it out step by step |
| Memory | See and manage everything Hermes remembers about you |
| Files | Recent, favourites, projects, downloads, shared and deleted files Hermes can access |
| Automations | Switch scheduled routines on and off |
| Connections | Bring apps and tools into your agents |
| Settings | Models, where agents run (including Docker), background agents, approvals, history, themes, plugins, voice and privacy |
Herald OS spaces and missions
Spaces are one of my favourite features. You get Ideas, Work and Personal out of the box, and you can add more. Inside the AI Profit Boardroom I constantly get the question: “If I have separate companies or clients, how should I set up my agent OS?” This is a really clean answer — one space per client or company.
Missions are where you give Hermes a bigger goal — “build out a new website for me” — and it plans the work out step by step and gets going.
Herald OS settings worth knowing
- Preferred model — I had GPT-6 Astra running through its CLI.
- Where agents run — including Docker, which a lot of people ask about.
- Background agents — how many can run at once.
- Approvals — auto-approve on or off, and ask before sending messages.
- Activity history — see everything Hermes has done.
- General — full screen, default space, projects folder, do not disturb, stay awake, screen saver, dictation.
- Themes — twelve built in, and you can make your own.
- Software — manage coding agents and local models like Claude Code, Codex and LM Studio.
- Plugins — paste a GitHub link and click add.
- Usage — tokens used, plan and balance.
- Voice — choose a local or live engine and see all the voice commands.
Herald OS vs Hermes Desktop
| Option | What it is | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Herald OS | A full, free agent-native OS UI around Hermes — open source, alpha | People who want the nicest-looking Hermes interface and don’t mind early software |
| Hermes Desktop | Nous Research’s official Hermes app, with a plugin catalogue | Stability and official support |
| My Agent OS (AI Profit Boardroom) | My agentic operating system — manages Hermes and other agents in one place | Running several agents, not just Hermes, with training and support |
| Hermes in the terminal | The original way to run Hermes | Developers who live in the command line |
Here’s the cool part: my automations synced across Herald OS, Hermes Desktop and my Agent OS — my daily 6am to-do recap, daily Japanese practice and morning inbox triage showed up in all three. So you don’t have to pick just one. Hermes Desktop has the official plugin marketplace; Herald OS has the nicer design.
Herald OS: what to watch out for
- It’s alpha software — expect rough edges. In my test the top of the window cut off slightly and Connections didn’t sync for me.
- The Mac app isn’t notarised by Apple yet, which is why the setup removes the quarantine flag — only do that for a build you downloaded from the official releases page.
- Check what’s on screen before you share it — the Memory page showed my Telegram details while I was recording.
- Keep approvals on — leave “ask before sending messages” switched on until you trust your setup.
- Review the activity history — Hermes can set things up in the background that you forget about.
My verdict on Herald OS
Herald OS is super clean, easy to use and synced up quickly. If you want a beautiful interface for Hermes and you don’t love Hermes Desktop, it’s a great free option — just remember it’s alpha, and expect to fix the odd thing along the way.
FAQ: herald os
Is Herald OS free?
Yes — it’s free and open source under the MIT licence. You only pay for the AI model you connect to Hermes.
Is Herald OS made by Nous Research?
No — it’s an independent project by Luke The Dev. It runs on Hermes Agent, which is made by Nous Research.
What is Herald OS?
An agent-native operating system with Hermes Agent as the interface — you talk or type to Hermes and it works across your machine.
What platforms does Herald OS run on?
A Mac app for Apple Silicon (macOS 13+), a Fedora-based Herald OS Linux ISO, an Arch/Omarchy package and a Linux tarball.
Is Herald OS better than Hermes Desktop?
It looks nicer and organises work into spaces and missions; Hermes Desktop is official and more stable. Your automations can sync across both.
Is Herald OS safe?
It asks before changing anything and logs actions, but it’s alpha software — keep approvals on and check the activity history.
Two ways I can help from here. Join the AI Profit Boardroom — it’s where your Hermes agent operating system gets built with 3,400+ members doing the same.
Or grab a free strategy session and bring your questions.
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About Julian Goldie
I’m Julian Goldie — founder of Goldie Agency, best-selling author, and an AI educator with 428K+ YouTube subscribers. I’ve spent 10+ years in SEO and online business and I test every AI agent on my own work before I recommend it. Join the AI Profit Boardroom for the daily builds, or book a free strategy session to talk through yours.
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Last updated October 2026. This page is a living guide to herald os — the facts here move fast and it is updated as they do.
