Hermes Agent (Beta) - concentrate

Hermes integration is currently in beta. Some features may not work, some may only work with certain models.

Why Use Concentrate with Hermes?

Hermes Agent is an open-source agent from Nous Research that runs in your terminal, with tools for the shell, files, the web, MCP servers, subagents and computer use. It accepts any OpenAI- or Anthropic-compatible API as a custom provider. By routing Hermes through Concentrate, you use models from every provider in our catalog with one API key, and get centralized visibility and control over your team’s usage: spend tracking, budget limits, and everything visible in your Concentrate dashboard in real time.

What Works

Feature	Status	Notes
Chat and coding	Supported	All models on Concentrate
Tool calls	Supported	Including several tool calls at once. Needs a model that supports tool use
MCP servers	Supported	Tools from MCP servers in your Hermes config
Subagents	Supported	`delegate_task` runs child agents in parallel
Images	Supported	Pasted images and images read by tools. Needs a model that accepts images
Computer use	Supported	Hermes’ `computer_use` tool, with screenshots sent back to the model. Needs a model that accepts images
Sessions	Supported	Resume with `hermes chat --continue` or `--resume <session-id>`
Switching models	Supported	Switch with `/model` mid-session, including across providers

Prerequisites

A Concentrate AI account with an active API key (starts with sk-cn)

Hermes Agent installed:

Bash

curl -fsSL https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/install.sh | bash

Quick Setup

Bash

curl -fsSL https://concentrate.ai/scripts/setup-hermes.sh | bash

The script saves your API key to Hermes’ own ~/.hermes/.env as CONCENTRATE_HERMES_API_KEY, so it doesn’t change your shell profile, and Hermes can use a different key from your other tools. If you already have CONCENTRATE_API_KEY set, it asks whether to reuse it. It adds a concentrate provider to ~/.hermes/config.yaml that uses our Responses API (for the other API formats, see Other API formats), and makes Concentrate your default provider, asking first if you already have one. Your other settings are kept, and config.yaml is backed up first. Without a terminal (for example in CI), the script can’t ask, so it keeps any default provider you already have, and uses a saved key or CONCENTRATE_API_KEY. If neither is set, pass the key with --key <API_KEY>. Then start Hermes in a project directory:

hermes

Manual Setup

If you prefer to configure Hermes manually or the script doesn’t work for your environment:

Save your API key

Add this line to Hermes’ .env file, ~/.hermes/.env (create it if it doesn’t exist):

CONCENTRATE_HERMES_API_KEY=sk-cn-v1-...

Editing the file keeps the key out of your shell history.

Add Concentrate to ~/.hermes/config.yaml

Add a concentrate provider and make it the default. Keep any other settings already in the file. key_env is the name of the variable, not the key itself:

model:
  provider: concentrate
  default: anthropic/claude-sonnet-5-5
providers:
  concentrate:
    name: Concentrate
    base_url: https://api.concentrate.ai/v1
    key_env: CONCENTRATE_HERMES_API_KEY
    transport: codex_responses

codex_responses makes Hermes use our Responses API. Use any model from the supported models page with its provider/model ID.

Verify the connection

Send a one-off prompt, then start Hermes in a project directory:

hermes chat --oneshot -q "Reply with exactly: hermes ok"
cd /path/to/project
hermes

Switch models

Inside a session, name the model and the provider:

/model openai/gpt-6-luna --provider concentrate

To start a session on a different model, pass it on the command line:

hermes chat --provider concentrate -m ai-studio/gemini-3.8-flash

Don’t use the provider:model form (for example /model concentrate:openai/gpt-6-luna) with a custom provider. Hermes sends the whole string as the model ID, which Concentrate rejects.

Other API formats

We recommend the Responses API (codex_responses) shown above. It gets the best prompt-cache hit rate, which keeps long agent sessions cheaper. Hermes can also use our Chat Completions and Messages APIs, which are in beta. To use them, add them under providers: in the same file:

  concentrate-chat:
    name: Concentrate (Chat Completions)
    base_url: https://api.concentrate.ai/v1
    key_env: CONCENTRATE_HERMES_API_KEY
    transport: chat_completions
  concentrate-messages:
    name: Concentrate (Messages)
    base_url: https://api.concentrate.ai
    key_env: CONCENTRATE_HERMES_API_KEY
    transport: anthropic_messages

Then select one with --provider, for example hermes chat --provider concentrate-messages -m anthropic/claude-haiku-4-5.

Claude models on Chat Completions don’t use prompt caching yet, so every turn pays the full input price. In a long agent session that can cost several times more than Responses or Messages. Use Responses or Messages for Claude.

Tips

Context window. Hermes needs a model with a context window of at least 64K tokens, because its tools and system prompt take up a large part of every request. Check a model’s context window on the supported models page.
Images on text-only models. If you send an image to a model that can’t read images, Hermes first describes it with a vision model and passes the description on. That extra call is billed like any other request.
Side requests. Besides your conversation, Hermes makes short side requests, for example to title sessions or describe images. They appear in your Concentrate dashboard alongside the main requests.
Costs. The Concentrate dashboard is the source of truth for spend.

Remove Concentrate AI

Bash

curl -fsSL https://concentrate.ai/scripts/uninstall-hermes.sh | bash

This removes the concentrate provider and CONCENTRATE_HERMES_API_KEY. Remove any providers you added by hand yourself. Other settings are kept. If Concentrate was your default provider, run hermes model afterwards to choose a new one.

Troubleshooting

401 Invalid API key

Check the key is saved: hermes config get CONCENTRATE_HERMES_API_KEY shows its first and last characters. To replace it, re-run the setup script or edit the line in ~/.hermes/.env.
Check key_env in config.yaml is the variable’s name (CONCENTRATE_HERMES_API_KEY), not the key itself.

400 Invalid request: model

The model ID isn’t one Concentrate knows. Use the exact provider/model ID from the supported models page, and switch with /model <model> --provider concentrate, not concentrate:<model>.

402 Insufficient funds

Your balance is empty. Add funds on the billing page.

​Why Use Concentrate with Hermes?

​What Works

​Prerequisites

​Quick Setup

​Manual Setup

​Switch models

​Other API formats

​Tips

​Remove Concentrate AI

​Troubleshooting

Why Use Concentrate with Hermes?

What Works

Prerequisites

Quick Setup

Manual Setup

Switch models

Other API formats

Tips

Remove Concentrate AI

Troubleshooting