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Hermes Agent: The New OpenClaw?

| 17 products mentioned
Greg Isenberg Greg Isenberg host
Imran Muthuvappa guest
Watch on YouTube ai agents automation productivity tools personal agent setup token cost optimization android deployment workflow customization

This episode provides a step-by-step installation and usage guide for Hermes Agent, positioning it as a superior alternative to OpenClaw with built-in memory, stability, and cost efficiency. Imran Muthuvappa demonstrates how to set up Hermes across devices (Mac, Linux, Android), connect it to productivity tools, and build custom skills that learn and adapt to your workflows over time—ultimately helping builders save 90%+ on token costs while automating repetitive personal and business tasks.

Key takeaways
  • • Hermes Agent solves three critical OpenClaw problems: built-in memory that learns from completed tasks, stable operation without constant restarts, and transparent token cost visibility.
  • • Switching from OpenClaw to Hermes Agent with OpenRouter can reduce token spending by 90%+ (from ~$130 per 5 days to ~$10) by using cheaper models, free weekly offerings, and writing deterministic code instead of relying on agent-in-the-loop processing.
  • • Hermes Agent runs on Android phones via Termux, enabling always-on, low-power automation for social media posting, SMS-based 2FA, text message automation, and sensor control—without needing expensive Mac Minis.
  • • Connect Hermes to Obsidian for automatic daily organization of tasks, travel, and priorities; integrate with GStack (Y Combinator's startup methodology framework) to automate weekly product improvement decisions.
  • • Start with one or two agents (personal + work), build custom skills around areas you already pay for (finance, fitness, email triage), and use meta-prompts like "What should I automate daily?" and "What tool would make my life easier tomorrow?" to identify opportunities.
  • • Set up security isolation via Docker containers or Tailscale VPN access, ask Hermes to audit your security setup directly, and update the agent daily—it's still beta software with frequent commits (535+ in one week).

Recommendations (12)

Hermes Agent uses

"I highly suggest using Hermes. I've been using it for over 3 weeks now, which in this space is a lot of time."

Imran Muthuvappa · ▶ 2:36

Nebula
Nebula recommends

"If you're looking to have just like a AI co-worker, Nebula is probably the better tool."

Imran Muthuvappa · ▶ 2:28

Xcode
Xcode uses

"If it's your first time installing a tool like this on a Mac, you'll probably need to install the Xcode developer tools."

Imran Muthuvappa · ▶ 7:30

OpenRouter
OpenRouter uses

"By just switching to Hermes agent and OpenRouter, I basically got my token spend down from like $130 every five days down to like maybe like 10 bucks every 5 days. So about like a little bit over a..."

Imran Muthuvappa · ▶ 12:04

Anthropic
Anthropic uses

"You can use an Anthropic API key, you also have access to the new router as well."

Imran Muthuvappa · ▶ 8:52

Tailscale
Tailscale recommends

"I highly recommend for any of these tools is that you install Tailscale and you configure Tailscale correctly. Tailscale will allow your phone and all of your computers to be on the same kind of vi..."

Imran Muthuvappa · ▶ 20:47

GStack uses

"I actually ported over GStack by Gary Tan into Hermes before it was widely available on Hermes. If you're working on a startup, it's definitely like a really cool skill to use, GStack."

Imran Muthuvappa · ▶ 32:48

Things
Things uses

"I use Things, the to-do app, and I just have personal and work."

Greg Isenberg · ▶ 23:51

Solana Seeker uses

"This Cookie Monster one is actually running on a Solana Seeker Android phone that I have right here."

Imran Muthuvappa · ▶ 12:51

Termux uses

"The first thing is that you need an app called Termux. Termux is basically like a terminal inside of Android."

Imran Muthuvappa · ▶ 13:43

Obsidian
Obsidian uses

"I would not have been able to go through like the painstaking effort of like putting this together by myself every single morning. But now like I have an agent that does it for me and it's just so ..."

Imran Muthuvappa · ▶ 24:50

Apple Notes
Apple Notes uses

"I was never a big Obsidian fan. I kind of just stored everything in my Apple notes and kind of hoped for the best."

Imran Muthuvappa · ▶ 24:15

Mentioned (5)

SQLite
SQLite "It also uses a typical like normal SQLite database which is the same type of database as you know..." ▶ 2:58
Honcho "I've seen some people install the Honcho dev memory skill. I haven't needed to set that up yet, t..." ▶ 31:58
F-Droid
F-Droid "It's available on the F-Droid, which is an open-source Android app store." ▶ 14:03
Docker
Docker "It's built to also out of the box be able to be ran inside of a Docker container in case you want..." ▶ 6:40
Modal
Modal "You can also run it on Modal as like a serverless service as well." ▶ 6:46

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