Descriptions:
Sharbel A. installs Hermes Agent live on camera for the first time, walking through every configuration step and encountering the real friction that polished tutorials typically edit out. Hermes is an open-source AI agent from Now Research designed to compete with OpenClaw: it runs on a local machine or VPS, accepts commands via Telegram or Discord, controls the computer autonomously, and adds a self-improving skill loop — every roughly 15 tool calls, it pauses, evaluates its performance, and saves the result as a reusable skill for future sessions.
The setup exposes two important failure modes. First, Hermes’s OpenClaw import feature reuses the existing Telegram bot token, which breaks both agents simultaneously — the presenter’s strong recommendation is to create a fresh Telegram bot before migrating. Second, Anthropic’s Max subscription ($200/month) does not authenticate correctly with Hermes’s API layer, forcing a switch to OpenRouter with a separate API key and Kimi K2 as the backing model. Both issues are resolved on camera, giving viewers a clear picture of the actual install path.
Once running, Hermes receives a real recurring task — compile the top three AI news stories each morning and send a Telegram briefing — and the video shows the agent not just completing the task but capturing the workflow as a persistent skill. The presenter, who has run OpenClaw for over three months, offers a candid comparison by the end, making this a useful practical reference for developers evaluating always-on agent infrastructure on Mac Mini or similar hardware.
📺 Source: Sharbel A. · Published April 02, 2026
🏷️ Format: Tutorial Demo
