Herald OS Setup: Install It + Tour Every Feature (Free)

Herald OS is a free, open-source operating system built around Hermes Agent, so instead of clicking through menus you talk or type to Hermes and it works across your machine.

It was made by an independent developer called Luke The Dev, and it is not an official Nous Research product.

I had Claude set it up for me in about two minutes, and then I went through every single page on camera.

This post is the operator version of that video.

I'll show you what Herald OS is, how to install it on a Mac, the three checks I'd run straight after install, and then a click-by-click tour of every page and every settings area.

I'll also tell you the parts that didn't work for me, because it's an alpha and you deserve to know that before you spend an afternoon on it.

What Herald OS Is In One Minute

The project describes itself as "an agent-native operating system, with Hermes Agent as the interface".

In plain English, it's a full-screen workspace where Hermes sits in the middle of everything you do.

Hermes can open apps, find and organise files, remember what matters to you, run routines on a schedule and build software while you watch.

Every action that changes something goes through a permission system you control.

Here are the basics I checked on the GitHub repo before I wrote this.

Question	Answer
Who made it?	Luke The Dev (iamlukethedev on GitHub) built it as an independent project.
Is it official Hermes?	It isn't, and the README says it is not affiliated with Nous Research.
What does it cost?	Herald OS itself is free under the MIT licence.
What do you pay for?	You pay for the model Hermes uses, unless you pick a free model.
What state is it in?	It is labelled alpha (0.1), and the repo was created on 6 October 2026.
Where does it run?	It runs on Apple Silicon Macs, as its own Linux OS on a PC, on Arch and Omarchy, and in a virtual machine.

Herald OS doesn't fork Hermes.

It runs your normal Hermes Agent install and adds its system abilities as a standard Hermes plugin called herald-os-bridge.

That one design choice is the reason your automations show up everywhere else you use Hermes, which I'll come back to later.

Why I Wanted Herald OS In The First Place

When I first started using Hermes around March and April this year, it lived in the terminal.

That was messy, and it scared off most of the people I showed it to.

Hermes Desktop made things better, but some people still don't like the way it looks.

Herald OS is the new way, because it gives you a beautiful interface over the same Hermes you already run.

Honestly, I think it looks nicer than Hermes Desktop, and you can personalise almost everything about it.

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How To Install Herald OS On A Mac

The Mac is the quickest way to try Herald OS, and it's where most of it gets built.

You need macOS 13 (Ventura) or later on Apple Silicon.

Step 1: install Hermes Agent and pick a model.

If you don't already have Hermes, the README tells you to run the official install script and then hermes setup.

curl -fsSL https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/install.sh | bash
source ~/.zshrc
hermes setup

Hermes needs a model provider, which can be a Nous Portal account or an API key for OpenRouter, OpenAI, Anthropic, a local model and others.

Step 2: download the app.

Grab the HeraldOS-<version>-mac-arm64.dmg file from the releases page on GitHub and drag Herald OS into Applications.

Step 3: let macOS open it.

The build isn't notarized by Apple yet, so macOS blocks it the first time.

The README's fix is one command, and you only run it once.

xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine "/Applications/Herald OS.app"

Step 4: open it and learn the two escape keys.

Herald OS takes over the whole screen when it opens.

Press Cmd+Ctrl+F to leave or re-enter fullscreen, and press Cmd+Q to quit.

On first start it adds its system tools to Hermes, and macOS asks for Screen Recording, Accessibility or Microphone access only when a feature needs it.

If you're on Linux, Arch, Omarchy or want the virtual machine, I've kept those routes short here on purpose.

The full repo walkthrough, with every install route and command, is in my Herald OS GitHub install guide.

Three Checks To Run Straight After You Install

These come straight from the README, and they take about two minutes.

First, open the Hermes page with Cmd+2 and ask it something simple.

If it asks you to sign in, use the card it shows you or run hermes setup again.

Second, ask "what is using the most memory right now?" and check that Hermes answers with its system tool rather than a shell command.

If you ask it to move a file, you should get an approval card before anything happens.

Third, if you want voice, press Alt+Space, allow the microphone, and use the "Say hello" button in Settings > Voice to test it.

If Hermes keeps using shell commands, run hermes plugins list and make sure herald-os-bridge is enabled.

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The Herald OS Dashboard: Your Day At A Glance

The first screen is the Overview, and mine greeted me with "Good morning, Julian. Your day already in motion."

You can talk to it with voice input straight from that screen.

It shows today's schedule, which it builds from your scheduled tasks.

There's a "here's what needs attention" panel that pulls the urgent bits to the top.

The smartest part is "Pick up where you left off".

Hermes looks at the names of your recent documents, projects, chats and calendar events, then suggests where you should continue.

The README says it puts up to three threads of work on the Overview, and a suggested next step only starts when you click it.

It's off until you switch it on, and it reads names and dates rather than file contents.

It also surfaced recent screenshots from my desktop, which is handy if you screenshot as much as I do.

Below all that you get a normal Hermes chat with Preview and Sources, where you can add files Hermes can read, and a button for a new conversation.

Spaces: How To Split Clients And Companies

This is the feature that answers a question I get all the time inside the Boardroom.

People ask, "I have separate companies or clients, so how should I set up my agent OS?"

Herald OS ships with three spaces called Ideas, Work and Personal.

You can add new spaces, such as one for each client, and keep their work apart.

There's also a default space setting, so Herald OS always opens where you spend most of your day.

Missions: Hand Hermes A Goal, Not A Prompt

Missions is the page where you give Hermes an active goal.

The page tagline is "From intent to finished work", and the input box asks, "What should Hermes accomplish?"

My example was "build out a new website".

Hermes plans it step by step, and each mission shows its plan, a preview of the files it writes, and an activity timeline.

The difference from a normal chat is that a mission keeps going until the job is done, and you can check in on it any time.

Memory: See Everything Hermes Remembers

The Memory page shows everything Hermes remembers about you, with search and a way to add or forget memories yourself.

When I opened mine on camera, I spotted my Telegram details sitting right there.

So here's the warning I'll give every operator.

Check your Memory page before you screen-share Herald OS, because it can show personal details you forgot you ever gave it.

Files: A Finder That Hermes Can Use

The Files page has recent files, favourites, projects, downloads, shared and deleted.

You can search by name or simply describe what you need.

Hermes can move and rename files for you, but those actions ask first.

The FAQ in the repo says Herald OS never deletes permanently, and moving to the Trash asks every single time.

Automations: Set Them Once And They Sync Everywhere

The Automations page lists your scheduled routines, and you can switch each one on or off.

You can run one now, duplicate it, or make a new one, and every automation shows its recent runs.

Here are the ones I had running.

I get a daily 6am to-do recap.
I get a daily Japanese learning session.
I get inbox triage with a morning inbox summary.

Here's the part that impressed me most.

My automations synced across Herald OS, Hermes Desktop and my own Agent OS, because all three run the same Hermes underneath.

You don't rebuild anything when you switch interfaces.

The manual also says automations can fire on events, such as when you log in, come back after a break, the battery runs low or a program crashes.

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Connections: The Part That Didn't Work For Me

Connections is meant to bring your tools, apps and external services into one workspace.

I'll be straight with you, though, because it didn't connect or sync for me.

That's the trade-off with a two-day-old open-source alpha, and there will be some back-and-forth before it's solid.

You could ask Claude to fix it for you, which is how I'd approach it if I needed it today.

The sidebar is resizable, and the UI was cut off slightly at the top on my screen, which is another rough edge I'd expect to get fixed.

Every Herald OS Settings Area, Explained

Settings is where Herald OS really earns its "operating system" name, so here's the full walkthrough.

Settings area	What you can do there
Hermes & agents	You choose the preferred model, where agents run tasks (including Docker), the number of background agents, and whether Hermes remembers your preferences.
Autonomy and approvals	You pick Ask first, Balanced or Independent, and you can turn "Ask before sending messages" on or off.
Activity history	You can see background work you set up and forgot about.
General	You set launch fullscreen, default space, default folder, projects folder, do not disturb, stay awake, screensaver, dictation and quit session.
Appearance	You change colours and themes, and the README lists twelve themes, two of them light.
Software	You add or remove coding agents and local model apps such as Claude Code, Codex and LM Studio.
Plugins	You paste a GitHub link to add a widget plugin, or ask Hermes to make one.
Usage	You see tokens used this week and over 30 days, your plan and your balance.
Voice	You switch the voice engine, speed and provider, test it, and see the voice commands.
Privacy, notifications, network, storage, accessibility	You get the audit log, the bell sound, and the usual system controls.

On my machine, the preferred model showed GPT-6 Astra, which I had plugged in through a CLI.

The do not disturb switch matters, because there's a bell notification sound that gets old fast.

Plugins install turned off, so you see what a plugin asks for before it runs, and each one runs in a sandbox.

Usage is useful if you're paying for a model, because the README says it warns you at 90% of your plan.

The voice settings let you choose a local voice or the "live" voice, test it, and read a list of voice commands, which makes it feel very Jarvis-like.

The repo docs say the free voice engine replies in about two seconds, while the optional Live engine uses OpenAI's gpt-live-1 at $0.05 a minute with your own OpenAI key.

Herald OS vs Hermes Desktop For Operators

Both run the same Hermes, so your brain, memory and automations carry across.

What matters	Herald OS	Hermes Desktop
Look and feel	It's a full-screen OS with a dashboard, and I think it's the nicer design.	It's a normal desktop app window.
Who makes it	An independent developer makes it.	It's the dedicated Hermes desktop app I've covered before.
Maturity	It's an alpha with rough edges.	It's the more settled option.
Plugins	It takes widget plugins from a GitHub link.	It has the one-click plugin marketplace with around 500 community plugins.
Best for	It suits people who want a beautiful UI and don't like Hermes Desktop.	It suits people who want stability today.

If you want the plugin side, I covered it in my Hermes Agent plugins marketplace guide.

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Herald OS Tips And Limits Before You Rely On It

Keep backups of anything you let an agent touch, because the README itself says to do that during the alpha.
Leave autonomy on Ask first until you've watched Hermes work for a few days.
Check the Memory page before you record or share your screen.
Expect Connections to be unreliable for now, and don't build a client workflow on it yet.
Remember the Mac build isn't notarized, so only download it from the official releases page.
Remember Herald OS is free, but your model provider can still bill you, so watch the Usage page.

If you want to run it without paying for a model at all, my free Hermes Agent OS breakdown covers the free model routes.

My Verdict On Herald OS

Herald OS is super clean, it synced with my existing Hermes setup almost instantly, and it's genuinely nice to use.

It's a great fit if you want a beautiful UI for Hermes and you don't like Hermes Desktop.

It's not a fit yet if you need every connection working perfectly, because it's an alpha.

My advice is to install it on a Mac, run the three checks, set up one space and one automation, and see how it feels after a week.

Also On Our Network

FAQ: Herald OS

What is Herald OS?

Herald OS is a free, open-source, agent-native operating system that uses Hermes Agent as the interface.

It was made by the independent developer Luke The Dev and is not an official Nous Research product.

Is Herald OS free?

Herald OS is free and MIT-licensed.

The model Hermes uses is billed by its provider, unless you choose a free model, and the Usage page shows what you've used.

How do I install Herald OS on a Mac?

Install Hermes Agent and run hermes setup, download the Herald OS DMG from the GitHub releases page, drag it to Applications, and run the xattr command once because the build isn't notarized yet.

You need macOS 13 or later on Apple Silicon.

Does Herald OS replace Hermes Desktop?

It doesn't have to, because both run the same Hermes install.

My automations synced across Herald OS, Hermes Desktop and my Agent OS, so you can use whichever interface you prefer.

Is Herald OS safe to use?

Actions that change something ask first, destructive actions ask every time, and folders like ~/.ssh are always refused.

It is still an alpha, so keep backups and leave autonomy on Ask first while you learn it.

Why aren't my Herald OS connections working?

Connections didn't connect or sync for me either, which is a known rough edge of an early alpha.

You can wait for updates, report it on GitHub, or ask Claude to help you fix it.

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About Julian

I'm Julian Goldie, an SEO entrepreneur, author and founder of the AI Profit Boardroom, which has 3,400+ members.

I help business owners scale with AI agents, automation and SEO.

I've built a 7-figure agency, Goldie Agency, with a team of around 50 people.
I've grown a YouTube channel to 400,000+ subscribers.
I wrote the Amazon best-sellers "SEO Link Building Mastery" and "Agency Marketing Mastery".
My Udemy courses have taught over 50,000 students.

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Install it, run the three checks, and you'll have the cleanest Hermes interface I've tested running inside Herald OS.