Desktop Guide

Hermes Agent Bot Mode Setup: Bots, Profiles, and a Missing Bots Tab

Set up named Hermes Bots, verify the same profiles from the CLI, connect Hermes Desktop to an always-on gateway, and diagnose the Bots tab when it does not appear.

How Hermes Bot Mode works

Hermes Bot Mode turns named Hermes profiles into a roster in the Desktop app. According to the official Bot Mode documentation, each Bot is a profile with isolated configuration, memory, skills, credentials, and chat history. Bot Mode is the UI over those profiles, rather than a separate kind of agent.

The official docs describe Bots as a bundled desktop plugin that is enabled by default. When it loads normally, a Bots tab appears beside Sessions in the left sidebar. You should not need to download a separate Bots plugin.

Hermes Desktop (Bots roster and chats)
        │ authenticated gateway connection
        ▼
Hermes gateway (profiles, sessions, memory, routines)

Set up your first Hermes Bot

Open Hermes Desktop and select the Bots tab beside Sessions.
Select New Agent.
Enter a profile name, title, and description. The profile name becomes the Bot’s CLI identifier.
Use the advanced options only when you need a specific model, SOUL.md, skills, toolsets, or MCP servers.
Create the agent, then open its persistent Bot Chat from the roster.

You can create specialists such as researcher, coder, or support. Keep names short and distinct because you will also use them with hermes -p <bot> commands.

Verify Bots from the Hermes CLI

The Desktop roster and CLI point to the same profiles when both are using the same gateway and Hermes home. Run these commands in a shell on the machine that owns the profile. Running them locally on your laptop does not inspect profiles stored in a hosted gateway.

# Show named profiles
hermes profile list

# Open the same agent represented by a Bot
hermes -p researcher chat

# Show scheduled Bot routines alongside other cron jobs
hermes cron list

If the profile appears in hermes profile list and hermes -p researcher chat works, do not recreate or delete it just because the desktop pane is absent. That result points toward a Desktop display or bundled-plugin loading problem.

Connect Bot Mode to a hosted Hermes gateway

Deploy a Hermes Agent instance and open its card in the OpenClaw Launch dashboard.
Select Hermes Desktop and copy the Remote URL, username, and connection password.
In Hermes Desktop, open Settings → Gateway → Connection mode and choose Remote gateway.
Paste the Remote URL, save, then sign in with the username and password from the same instance.
Confirm the remote connection works, then check whether the Bots tab and expected remote profiles are available with your Desktop and gateway versions.

The hosted gateway can keep profiles, sessions, and scheduled work available while your laptop sleeps. The Bots interface still belongs to Hermes Desktop. Some group, relay, and cross-machine behavior also depends on the Desktop being open or on separately configured peer connectivity, so do not assume that every Bot Mode interaction continues merely because the remote gateway is online.

The connection password is scoped to one instance and expires. Copy a fresh credential from the dashboard if Desktop rejects it. The Remote URL is intended for Hermes Desktop; a private-dashboard notice in a normal browser is expected.

Hermes Bots tab missing: safe diagnosis

Confirm you are looking in Hermes Desktop. Bot Mode is a desktop plugin, so a server terminal or browser dashboard will not show the Bots sidebar tab.
Check the Bots plugin setting. If your build exposes Settings → Plugins → Bots, confirm it is enabled. The upstream docs identify this as the Bot Mode toggle; some affected builds may not show the Plugins page.
Check the backend profiles. On the machine that owns the profiles, run hermes profile list, then open one with hermes -p <bot> chat.
Check the selected connection. A local and a remote gateway can have different profile rosters. Make sure Desktop is connected to the backend that owns the profile.
Restart Desktop once. Then check beside Sessions again. Avoid deleting profiles or resetting application data when the CLI already proves the profiles are intact.
Compare your symptom with the upstream report. Hermes Agent issue #101535 documents a case where profiles work from the CLI but the Bots tab does not render.

Upstream status checked September 5, 2026: issue #101535 is open and marked as needing reproduction. It does not yet establish a confirmed root cause or universal fix. Use the CLI fallback and follow the issue for a maintainer-confirmed resolution.

Desktop and CLI capability map

Task	Desktop	CLI equivalent or check
See named agents	Bots roster	`hermes profile list`
Chat with one Bot	Open its Bot Chat	`hermes -p <bot> chat`
Inspect routines	Routines pane	`hermes cron list`
Use the visual roster, avatars, and group UI	Requires the Bots tab	No direct visual equivalent

For installer details and other connection modes, continue with the Hermes Desktop guide. For profile isolation and naming, see the Hermes profiles guide.

Hermes Bot Mode FAQ

What is Hermes Agent Bot Mode?

Bot Mode is the Hermes Desktop interface for a roster of named Hermes profiles. Each Bot is a profile with its own configuration, memory, skills, credentials, and chat history.

Do I need to install a Hermes Bots plugin?

The official Hermes documentation says Bot Mode is a bundled desktop plugin that is enabled by default, so a separate plugin install should not be required.

Why is the Bots tab missing in Hermes Desktop?

A missing Bots tab can be a desktop UI or plugin-loading problem rather than missing profiles. Confirm that profiles exist with the Hermes CLI, then check the open upstream issue before changing or deleting profile data.

Can I use a Hermes Bot without the Bots tab?

Yes. Because a Bot is a Hermes profile, you can list profiles and open a bot directly with hermes -p <bot> chat. Its routines also appear in hermes cron list.

Does Bot Mode run inside a hosted Hermes container?

The Bots interface runs in Hermes Desktop. A hosted Hermes gateway can remain online as the remote backend, but availability of Bot Mode features can depend on the connected Desktop and gateway combination.