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Hermes USB Portable is a cross-platform launcher that lets you run Nous Research’s Hermes Agent from any folder or USB drive without installing anything on the host computer. Double-click a single file on Windows or run one command on macOS/Linux, and Hermes downloads its own runtimes, sets up an isolated environment, and presents a polished terminal dashboard — all self-contained inside your portable directory. It’s designed for developers, privacy-conscious users, and anyone who wants a fully capable AI agent they can carry in their pocket.

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How It Works

Hermes Portable solves the host-dependency problem by establishing a sandboxed runtime context that points entirely inward to the portable folder. There are three pillars to this isolation design:
  1. Custom Data Directory — The launcher overrides the HERMES_HOME environment variable to point at the local data/ folder inside your portable directory. This forces Hermes to write all configuration, sessions, memories, and skills locally rather than to ~/.hermes/ on the host machine.
  2. Local Path Sandboxing — The setup scripts download self-contained Python 3.11 and Node.js 22 binaries into .cache/runtimes/ and prepend those paths directly to the active process PATH. No system Python or Node.js is ever invoked.
  3. No Registry/Host Pollution — System configurations, global environment variables, and packages on the host machine are left completely untouched. When you unplug the drive or delete the folder, the host is exactly as it was before.

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Launch Flow

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Key Features

Zero Host Dependencies

No pre-installed Python, Node.js, or package managers are required on the host computer. All runtimes are downloaded and kept locally inside the portable folder.

100% Portable

Copy the entire directory to a USB flash drive or external SSD and run it instantly on any Windows, macOS, or Linux computer.

True Privacy & Isolation

Your API keys (data/.env), conversations (data/sessions/), persistent memory, and custom skills are kept strictly within the portable folder — never in the host’s home directory.

Interactive Console Launcher

A polished terminal dashboard tracks setup status, your active LLM provider and model, and gateway state — all from a single numbered menu.

Full Hermes Capabilities

Retains all features of Nous Research’s Hermes Agent, including persistent memory storage, reusable skill generation, and tool use.

Local Ollama Support

Connect to a locally running Ollama instance using any OpenAI-compatible endpoint such as http://127.0.0.1:11434/v1 — no cloud API key required.

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Directory Structure

A clean, modular layout where runtime caches are separated from your personal data and configurations. 
hermes-portable/
├── launch.bat                 # Windows interactive launcher script
├── launch.sh                  # macOS & Linux interactive launcher script
├── scripts/
│   ├── setup-windows.ps1      # Windows first-run configuration script
│   └── setup-unix.sh          # Unix (macOS/Linux) first-run configuration script
├── data/                      # ⚠️ [BACKUP THIS] All your private files
│   ├── config.yaml            # Hermes LLM provider configurations
│   ├── .env                   # API Keys and active credentials
│   ├── sessions/              # Chronological chat histories
│   ├── memories/              # Persistent memory databases
│   └── skills/                # Learned custom skills
├── src/                       # Downloaded Hermes Agent source code
│   └── hermes-agent/
└── .cache/                    # Sandbox cache & binaries
    └── runtimes/              # Platform-specific portable interpreters
        ├── windows-x64/
        ├── macos-arm64/
        ├── macos-x64/
        ├── linux-x64/
        └── linux-arm64/
Your portable directory contains your identity. The data/.env file stores raw API keys and data/sessions/ contains your conversation logs. Anyone with physical access to your drive can access your accounts. Encrypt your USB drive using BitLocker (Windows), FileVault (macOS), or a cross-platform tool like VeraCrypt.

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Credits

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