Hermes Agent OS Q&A: Fallback Keys, Skill Transfer, and Mobile Access

Key Takeaways

• Move Claude skills to Hermes as-is. Skill files are just markdown — copy them from a local Claude CLI setup to Hermes on a VPS and Hermes will learn them the same way. Smoothness depends on the API/model you point Hermes at, but the transfer is direct.
• Five things to configure first (per Goldie's own setup): the Hermes Oracle inside the agent OS, image/video generation, giving the agent its own email inbox so it can send mail, Firecrawl access for web search, and the /learn feature to have Hermes read a guide and turn it into a new skill.
• Use Hermes' built-in fallback instead of a custom multi-agent chain. Configure a primary model fallback so Hermes auto-switches providers when your main model fails, plus an auxiliary task fallback for vision/web-search steps. Backup API keys plugged into Hermes are simpler than orchestrating Paperclip + Ollama + OpenRouter yourself.
• Reach the agent OS from your phone via Tailscale (or Cloudflare). A tunnel connects a VPS-hosted agent OS to mobile and desktop. Goldie flags that this adds security surface, so weigh it before exposing your setup.
• Host generated sites on Netlify. AI connects quickly with a personal access token, you can run many sites, and analytics are built in — he finds it simpler to manage than WordPress for agent-generated content.
• Keep memory automated, not hand-maintained. His stack pipes an ambient capture tool into Obsidian, which feeds the agent OS memory so agents read context and update it on every interaction — the point being to never edit memory files manually.

Commands & Code Mentioned

/learn        # Hermes: read a guide/URL and turn it into a reusable skill