Hermes Agent Skills: Desktop App and SKILL.md Setup
Set up SKILL.md skills in Hermes Agent with the new Desktop app, Profile Builder, and MCP connections.
Quick Answer: Hermes Agent by Nous Research supports SKILL.md skills and now has a native Desktop app (macOS, Windows, Linux). It features a Profile Builder for configuring identity, model, skills, and MCP servers. Skills from the Agensi marketplace work with Hermes.
Nous Research has been shipping fast. Hermes Agent now has a native desktop app, a Profile Builder for unified configuration, streaming tool output, and strong benchmark performance. Here is how to set it up with SKILL.md skills.
What is Hermes Agent
Hermes Agent is Nous Research's self-improving AI coding agent. It is open-source, model-agnostic, and designed for developers who want control over their agent's behavior. The agent can reflect on its own performance and adjust its approach, which is unique in the category.
Hermes recently topped OpenRouter's global rankings, outperforming other agent frameworks on real-world coding tasks.
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Desktop app setup
Hermes Desktop is a native cross-platform app for macOS, Windows, and Linux. It provides a GUI frontend for Hermes Agent v0.15.2+ with streaming tool output, conversation management, and settings.
Download from the Nous Research GitHub releases page. Install the Hermes Agent CLI separately if you want to use the same configuration from the command line.
Profile Builder and skills
The Profile Builder is Hermes Agent's unified configuration dashboard. From one interface, you define your agent's identity (system prompt and behavior), the model it uses (any provider via API key), the skills it has available, and the MCP servers it connects to.
To add SKILL.md skills: place them in your Hermes skills directory or use the Profile Builder to point to a skills folder. Skills from the Agensi marketplace work without modification.
MCP server connections
Hermes supports MCP (Model Context Protocol) servers, including the Agensi MCP server which gives your agent access to 1,600+ skills as installable tools.
For more agent setup guides, see best AI coding assistant 2026.