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hermes-windows-setup

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Updated 10-18 09:46

About this skill

Hermes Windows Setup

Repo-centric Hermes agent installation and configuration for Windows machines. This produces the same workspace pattern as the Linux workspace-hub: skills, memory, and configs live inside the git repo so all agents share them.

⚠️ Rules for This Skill

  • This skill is Windows-only. On Linux, use the standard workspace-hub pattern.
  • The workspace repo (.claude/) is the source of truth — not any global agent config.
  • All skills and memory files MUST be git-tracked.
  • Never commit .env files or API keys.
  • Use python not python3 on Windows.
  • Use uv run <script.py> for script execution.
  • Git core.autocrlf MUST be true on Windows.

Phase 1: Prerequisites

1.1 — Git for Windows

git --version

If not installed, download from https://git-scm.com/download/win During install: use defaults, ensure "Git from command line" is enabled.

1.2 — Python 3.12+

python --version

If missing, install from https://python.org CRITICAL: Check "Add Python to PATH" during install.

1.3 — uv Package Manager

uv --version

If missing:

powershell -c "irm https://astral.sh/uv/install.ps1 | iex"

Restart terminal after install so uv is on PATH.

1.4 — GitHub CLI

gh --version

If missing:

winget install GitHub.cli

Then authenticate:

gh auth login

Follow interactive flow (browser-based OAuth recommended).

1.5 — Windows Terminal (Recommended)

Install from Microsoft Store or:

winget install Microsoft.WindowsTerminal

PowerShell 7+ is strongly preferred over cmd.exe for better Unicode, pipelining, and git integration.

Phase 2: Workspace Directory Structure

# Create workspace root
mkdir C:\workspace-hub
cd C:\workspace-hub

# Clone the main workspace-hub repo
git clone <workspace-hub-repo-url> .

# Clone additional repos as subdirectories (if applicable)
git clone <digitalmodel-repo-url> digitalmodel

On Windows, paths use \ but git/tools also accept /.

Phase 3: Python Environment

cd C:\workspace-hub

# Create virtual environment
uv venv

# Activate
.\.venv\Scripts\activate

# Install dependencies (if requirements.txt exists)
uv pip install -r requirements.txt

# Core packages if no requirements.txt:
uv pip install python-dotenv openai anthropic requests pyyaml rich click

On Windows, use python directly after activation, or uv run script.py without activation:

# Both work:
python -c "import yaml; print('ok')"
uv run python -c "import yaml; print('ok')"

Phase 4: Agent Installation

Option A — Hermes Agent

# Install via installer script
irm https://raw.githubusercontent.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/main/scripts/install.ps1 | iex

# Verify
hermes --version

# Run setup wizard
hermes setup

# Configure workspace path in config.yaml
hermes config edit

In config.yaml, set external skill directories:

skills:
  external_dirs:
    - C:\workspace-hub\.claude\skills

Option B — Claude Code

npm install -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code
claude --help

Claude Code reads .claude/CLAUDE.md and .claude/skills/ automatically from the workspace directory.

Phase 5: Skills System (Repo-Centric)

The skills system is the core of repo-centric agent memory. Skills live in the repo, not in a global directory, so all agents share them.

5.1 — Create Structure

mkdir -p C:\workspace-hub\.claude\skills
mkdir -p C:\workspace-hub\.claude\memory

5.2 — Key Skill Files to Ensure Exist

Copy or create these in .claude/skills/:

  • workspace-cli/ — CLI conventions
  • repo-structure/ — source layout conventions
  • clean-code/ — coding standards
  • memory-bridge-operation/ — Hermes ↔ repo memory sync
  • repo-structure/ — project directory conventions

If cloning from an existing workspace-hub repo, these are already present.

5.3 — How External Skills Work

Hermes indexes .claude/skills/ as an external skill directory:

  • Read-only — Hermes reads but never writes to external skills
  • Full integration — appear in system prompt, skills_list, and slash commands
  • Local precedence — local ~/.hermes/skills/ overrides external if same name

Phase 6: Memory Bridge

The memory bridge syncs agent memory into git-tracked files:

# Create memory files
New-Item -Path "C:\workspace-hub\.claude\memory\user.md" -ItemType File -Force
New-Item -Path "C:\workspace-hub\.claude\memory\project.md" -ItemType File -Force

These files are git-tracked and serve as persistent memory accessible to ALL agents working in this workspace.

Configure your agent to read these files at session start. For Hermes, add to config:

memory:
  memory_enabled: true
  user_profile_enabled: true

Phase 7: Git Configuration

cd C:\workspace-hub
git config user.name "Your Name"
git config user.email "you@example.com"
git config core.autocrlf true
git config core.eol crlf

# SSH agent (if using SSH)
Start-Service ssh-agent

Create .gitignore if not present:

.venv/
__pycache__/
*.pyc
.env
node_modules/
*.log
.DS_Store

Phase 8: Verification

Run these checks in order:

# 1. Clean working tree
git status

# 2. Python version
uv run python -c "import sys; print(sys.version)"

# 3. GitHub auth
gh auth status

# 4. Agent test — simple task
hermes chat -q "List all .md files in .claude/skills/"

Expected:

  1. git status → clean working tree (or untracked .env is OK)
  2. Python 3.12+ shown
  3. "Logged in to github.com" shown
  4. Agent completes task without errors

Phase 9: First Run

Start your agent pointing at C:\workspace-hub:

cd C:\workspace-hub
hermes

Test prompt: "Read .claude/AGENTS.md and confirm you understand the workspace conventions."

Multi-Agent Coordination on Windows

Running Multiple Agents

All agents (Hermes, Claude Code, Codex) point at the same C:\workspace-hub directory and read from the same .claude/skills/ and .claude/memory/.

Git Contention Prevention

When running multiple agents simultaneously:

# Use git worktree mode in Hermes
hermes -w  # or --worktree

# Or use separate worktrees for each agent
git worktree add ../workspace-hub-agent-a
git worktree add ../workspace-hub-agent-b

Windows-Specific Notes for Background Processes

# Background with Start-Process (PowerShell)
Start-Process -NoNewWindow -FilePath "uv" -ArgumentList "run", "script.py"

# Background with hermes
hermes chat -q "Long running task"  # Fire-and-forget mode

Windows vs Linux Differences

Aspect Linux Windows
Python command uv run python3 or python3 python or uv run python
Path separator / \ (but / works too)
Shebangs #!/usr/bin/env python3 Don't rely — use uv run
Git line endings core.autocrlf=input core.autocrlf=true
Background & or nohup Start-Process
Terminal bash/zsh PowerShell 7+
SSH agent eval $(ssh-agent) Start-Service ssh-agent
Home dir ~/.hermes/ %USERPROFILE%\.hermes\

Workspace-Hub Parity Audit Findings (2026-04-11)

When using Claude Code directly on a Windows machine inside the workspace-hub ecosystem, the repo preserves most Hermes advantages via git-tracked .claude/skills/, .claude/memory/, .claude/state/, and exported orchestrator logs. However, full parity is not automatic yet. Apply these checks before calling the setup complete:

Required for high-confidence parity

  1. Git Bash is required — current Claude project hooks invoke bash commands extensively.
  2. Node.js + Claude Code auth must be working — verify with claude --version and claude auth status --text.
  3. Install uv on Windows Git Bash unless you have patched the hooks — several tracked hooks still call uv run ....
  4. Provide a python3 shim/alias or patch hooks to use python — some hooks still call python3 even though Windows conventions say python.
  5. jq should be installed in Git Bash — readiness and hook scripts expect it.

Repo-side caveats to check

  • scripts/readiness/harness-config.yaml may still have licensed-win-1.ws_hub_path: null. Set the actual Windows workspace path (for example <workspace-root>\\workspace-hub) when hardening a real machine.
  • A tracked readiness proof file should exist after setup: .claude/state/harness-readiness-ace-win-1.yaml.
  • Windows write-back parity is still incomplete if issue #1918 (Windows auto-memory sync back to repo) is still open. Windows can consume shared context now, but may not automatically publish all new learnings back into the ecosystem.
  • Treat Windows as repo-parity first: Claude Code reads .claude/ directly, so you retain most Hermes advantages even without installing Hermes locally.

Practical interpretation

If the machine can:

  • git pull
  • run Claude Code from repo root
  • execute .claude/settings.json hooks successfully under Git Bash
  • see shared .claude/skills/, .claude/memory/, .claude/state/

then it is good enough for productive Claude-on-Windows work, even if full Hermes runtime parity is not yet complete.

Common Windows Pitfalls

Antivirus Blocking

Windows Defender or enterprise AV may block uv, hermes, or Python scripts. Add exclusions:

# Example: Add Windows Defender exclusion
Add-MpPreference -ExclusionPath "C:\workspace-hub"

PowerShell Execution Policy

If scripts won't run:

Set-ExecutionPolicy -Scope CurrentUser -ExecutionPolicy RemoteSigned

Path Length Limit

Windows has MAX_PATH=260. Enable long paths:

# Registry
Set-ItemProperty -Path "HKLM:\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\FileSystem" -Name "LongPathsEnabled" -Value 1
# Or group policy: Computer Configuration → Administrative Templates → System → Filesystem → Enable Win32 long paths

Python in VS Code Terminal

If Python isn't found in VS Code integrated terminal:

  1. VS Code may use cmd.exe by default — switch to PowerShell
  2. Ensure Python is in system PATH (not just user PATH)
  3. Restart VS Code after PATH changes

WSL2 (Optional)

If you need Linux compatibility:

wsl --install

Keep workspace files on Windows filesystem (/mnt/c/workspace-hub) for cross-tool accessibility. WSL2 tools can access Windows files, but Windows tools CANNOT access WSL2 files (\\wsl$\).

Troubleshooting

"uv is not recognized"

  • The installer added uv to user PATH but terminal wasn't restarted
  • Close and reopen PowerShell, or run: $env:Path = [System.Environment]::GetEnvironmentVariable("Path","Machine") + ";" + [System.Environment]::GetEnvironmentVariable("Path","User")

"python is not recognized"

  • Python wasn't added to PATH during install
  • Reinstall Python and check "Add to PATH", or manually add to PATH

Git SSL certificate errors

  • Corporate proxy may be interfering
  • Configure git proxy: git config --global http.proxy http://proxy.company.com:8080
  • Or disable SSL verification (not recommended): git config --global http.sslVerify false

Skills not loading

  • Check hermes config edit → skills.external_dirs points to correct path
  • Verify .claude/skills/ exists and has SKILL.md files
  • Restart Hermes session with /new to reload skills

Memory not persisting

  • Check .claude/memory/ files exist and are not empty
  • Verify config has memory.memory_enabled: true
  • Check the memory bridge script runs on session start