About Nous Research
Overview
Nous Research is an independent AI research organization that trains open models, builds agents, and develops infrastructure to speed the adoption of open intelligence. The company created Hermes Agent, which it describes as the most widely used open-source agent harness in the world.
Its research covers agents, model architecture, data synthesis, fine-tuning, and reasoning, with a stated mission to create and proliferate open access to intelligence.
- Hermes improves itself: it creates skills from experience and refines them during use.
- It persists knowledge on its own and builds a deepening model of the user across sessions.
- Users can assign a different model to every job and switch models mid-conversation, including cheaper or local models.
- The agent can run offline on a machine that never touches the internet, or while the laptop is closed.
- Users can read the prompt, inspect every tool, turn tools off, and export or modify the agent's code.
- Hermes installs via terminal, a desktop app for Mac, Windows, and Linux, or the cloud-based Nous Portal.
How It Works
Hermes installs through a terminal command, the Hermes Desktop app, or the Nous Portal. During use, the agent creates new skills from each experience, improves those skills as you work, records knowledge, and carries a model of your preferences into future sessions. You stay in control of the models it calls, the tools it can use, and the data it keeps.
- Travelers can delegate trip planning: a demo shows Hermes booking a flight to NYC and finding the cheapest hotel.
- Developers can build and customize their own agent harness, reading and changing the open MIT-licensed code.
- Privacy-focused users can run the agent fully offline on a machine with no internet connection.
- Power users can route each task to the best-fit model, whether smart, cheap, or local, and switch mid-task.
- Researchers can draw on Nous's work in model architecture, data synthesis, fine-tuning, and reasoning.
Why Choose This Product
Nous positions Hermes as the internet's own AI and leads with transparency: every prompt, tool, and line of code is inspectable, and the agent can be exported and taken elsewhere. The MIT license, along with support for local, offline, and cloud models, sets it apart from closed agent products.
Nous Research Pros & Cons
- Open source under the MIT License
- Created Hermes Agent, the most widely used open source agent harness
- Agent improves itself with a built-in learning loop
- Runs on Mac, Windows, and Linux desktops plus terminal and portal
- Supports local, offline, and cloud model use
Key Features
Self-improving learning loop
Hermes creates skills from experience and refines them during use, making it the only agent with a built-in learning loop.
Persistent memory
The agent nudges itself to persist knowledge and builds a deepening model of who you are across sessions.
Any-model flexibility
Users can pick smarter, cheaper, or local models, assign a different model to every job, and switch models mid-conversation.
Offline operation
Hermes can run on a machine that never touches the internet or while your laptop is closed.
Full transparency
Users can read the prompt it runs on, see every tool it has, and turn off the ones they do not want.
Open source code
The harness is MIT-licensed, and users can read, change, and export their agent.
Desktop and terminal
Hermes installs via terminal or the Hermes Desktop app for Mac, Windows, and Linux.
Nous Portal
The cloud-based Nous Portal hosts models that power Hermes, with access through the web.
Research focus
Nous's research covers agents, model architecture, data synthesis, fine-tuning, and reasoning to advance understanding of models.
Frequently asked questions about Nous Research
What makes Nous Research different?
Nous created Hermes Agent, the most widely used open-source agent harness in the world, and advances open AI training and research across agents, model architecture, data synthesis, fine-tuning, and reasoning. Its mission is to put powerful AI in the hands of the many rather than the few.
How do I get Hermes?
Hermes installs via terminal, through the Hermes Desktop app for Mac, Windows, and Linux, or through the cloud-based Nous Portal, which powers your Hermes with hosted models.
What can I build with Hermes?
The page cites 326 use cases from real users and demonstrates examples like booking a flight to NYC and finding the cheapest hotel. You can also read and modify the agent's code, choose its models and tools, and export it.
What platforms does Nous Research support?
Nous Research is available on: Web, macOS, Windows, Linux.