Tutorial 11: Running Hermes on Android (Termux)

This is part of the Hermes Agent official tutorial series. View all tutorials

Imagine turning your Android phone into a pocket-sized AI assistant that can run commands, manage files, and even chat with you—without needing a laptop nearby. That’s exactly what this tutorial shows you: how to install and run Hermes Agent directly on your phone using Termux, a free terminal app for Android.

Important note: This is a “best-effort” setup. It works well for the core features, but some advanced extras (like voice recognition or browser automation) aren’t available on Android yet. Think of it as a reliable pocket knife, not a full Swiss Army toolbox.

Step 1: Install Termux

First, download Termux from the F-Droid store (not the Play Store version, which is outdated). Open the app and wait for it to set up its base system.

Step 2: Update packages

Run these commands to make sure everything is fresh:

pkg update
pkg install -y git python clang rust make pkg-config libffi openssl nodejs ripgrep ffmpeg

Why these packages?

python gives you the runtime.
git lets you download Hermes.
clang, rust, make, pkg-config, libffi, openssl are needed to build some Python libraries that don’t come pre-compiled for Android.
nodejs is optional (for experiments).
ripgrep speeds up file searches.
ffmpeg handles media and text-to-speech conversions.

Step 3: Clone Hermes and set up a virtual environment

git clone https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent.git
cd hermes-agent
python -m venv venv
source venv/bin/activate
export ANDROID_API_LEVEL="$(getprop ro.build.version.sdk)"
python -m pip install --upgrade pip setuptools wheel

The ANDROID_API_LEVEL line is important—it tells Hermes which Android version you’re on, which helps some low-level packages (like jiter) build correctly.

Step 4: Install the tested Termux bundle

Now install the recommended set of features:

python -m pip install -e '.[termux]' -c constraints-termux.txt

This installs the Hermes CLI, cron support (scheduled tasks), background terminal support, Telegram gateway (so you can chat with Hermes via Telegram), MCP support (for connecting external tools), Honcho memory (so Hermes remembers conversations), and ACP support (for app control).

Prefer a minimal install?
Just run:

python -m pip install -e '.' -c constraints-termux.txt

That gives you the bare-bones agent without extras.

Step 5: Use the one-line installer (optional)

If you want a faster, automatic setup, you can use the official installer:

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

On Termux, this script will:

Use pkg for system packages automatically
Create the virtual environment for you
Try the broad .[termux-all] extra first, then fall back to the smaller .[termux] extra
Link the hermes command into your PATH so you can run it anywhere
Skip browser and WhatsApp setup (which aren’t supported yet)

What’s NOT supported on Android (yet)

Voice features – blocked because the underlying speech library (ctranslate2) doesn’t have Android builds.
Automatic browser control – Playwright isn’t set up in the Termux installer.
Docker isolation – not available inside Termux.
Guaranteed background persistence – Android may suspend Termux background jobs, so Telegram gateway runs are “best-effort,” not a managed service.

That said, Hermes works perfectly fine as a phone-native CLI agent—you can chat, run commands, and automate tasks right from your terminal.

Summary

You now have Hermes running on your Android phone! The core features work reliably, and you can extend it later as more Android support lands. Just remember: keep your Termux packages updated, and don’t rely on it for 24/7 background tasks.

Next up: In Tutorial 12, we’ll explore how to set up Hermes as a personal assistant with Telegram—so you can message it from anywhere, even when your phone screen is off. Stay tuned!