Hermes Labs: What Nous Research's Experimental Plugins Do, How To Install Them, And The Models That Power Them

Hermes Labs is Nous Research's set of experimental Hermes Agent plugins that Nous built but does not support.

The Hermes Labs repo lists three of them, called Inbox, Workflow Record and Telegram Business Mode.

They arrived in the plugin catalog with the Hermes Agent v0.22.4 release, dated 21 October 2026.

I'm Julian Goldie, and I haven't tested the Labs plugins on video yet, so this post is built from Nous Research's own release notes and READMEs.

I'll explain what Hermes Labs is, how to install and use each plugin and where the limits are, and then I'll show you how the models you'd pair with it score on GoldieBench.

Hermes Labs at a glance

This table is the whole of Hermes Labs on one screen.

All three come from the NousResearch account on GitHub, and the repo is MIT licensed.

What is Hermes Labs?

Hermes Labs is a shelf of working plugins that Nous Research wrote and then chose not to maintain.

Nous says these plugins "started as Hermes features we decided not to put in the core."

Rather than delete that work, Nous published it so anyone who wants it can install it from the catalog.

The official docs site doesn't have a dedicated Hermes Labs page yet, so the repo README is where Nous defines the term.

The v0.22.4 notes say the catalog gained "inbox and workflow-record from Hermes Labs," and that "Telegram Business moves to the Hermes Labs community tier."

A separate GitHub organisation called hermes-labs-ai also has a catalog plugin, and its entry lists the maintainer as independent of Nous Research.

That one is not part of Nous Research's Hermes Labs, so don't mix the two up.

How to install Hermes Labs

Update Hermes first, because the Labs entries arrived through the catalog in the v0.22.4 window.

A command-line install updates with hermes update, the Microsoft Store app updates through the Store, and Docker users pull nousresearch/hermes-agent:stable.

Then you install the plugins you want with the commands in the table above.

You can find any catalog plugin with hermes plugins search <term>, or browse the catalog inside Hermes Desktop.

To back out, hermes plugins disable my-plugin switches a plugin off and hermes plugins remove my-plugin uninstalls it.

How to use Hermes Inbox

Inbox adds one command, hermes inbox, and it adds no model tools, no hooks and nothing that runs during chats.

It reads your profile's process registry, cron jobs, active sessions, state.db and the shared kanban board, and it opens every database read-only.

hermes inbox --json prints the same snapshot as JSON for scripts and dashboards. hermes -p work inbox reads another profile, as long as the plugin is installed in that profile too.

Inbox can't show pending approvals or clarify prompts, because they live only in the memory of the process that asked.

How to use Workflow Record

Workflow Record adds hermes record, which watches a browser task you do once in Chrome, Chromium, Brave or Edge.

It attaches over the DevTools protocol, and the simplest way to start a reachable browser is /browser connect inside a Hermes chat.

You open the starting page, keep that tab in front and run hermes record --slug shop-login.

You do the task, press Ctrl-C, and Hermes saves a JSON recording and prints the exact /learn line to paste into a chat.

The bundled workflow-record:replay-recording skill tells /learn how to rebuild the task as a skill that replays with Hermes's browser tools.

Password, one-time-code and card fields are masked as {SECRET:name} inside the page, and Hermes masks them again before anything is saved.

Recordings stay local in <HERMES_HOME>/recordings, and nothing is sent anywhere until you run /learn, which hands the recording to your active model.

hermes record --list lists recordings, and hermes record --manual lets you type the steps when you can't use CDP.

How to use Telegram Business Mode

Telegram Business Mode turns your Hermes Telegram bot into a secretary for your Telegram Business account.

Every customer message gets a drafted reply in your own DM, with Send, Edit and Discard buttons.

The README says no auto-send exists, so nothing reaches a customer until you tap Send.

You need a Telegram Business subscription, Business Mode switched on for your bot in @BotFather, and Hermes v0.18 or later.

After installing it, you run hermes gateway restart, add the bot under Telegram's Settings, Business and Chatbots, and message it /biz.

/biz pause and /biz resume act as a kill switch, and /biz off <chat_id> mutes one customer chat.

Drafting uses your active Hermes model through the plugin LLM surface, so there's no separate key.

The limits of Hermes Labs

I'd re-run each Labs plugin after every Hermes update before trusting it again.

Hermes Labs vs official Hermes plugins

The easiest way to understand Hermes Labs is to compare it with the official plugins Nous does support.

Every catalog entry is pinned to a reviewed commit, so installing a Labs plugin still gets you the exact code Nous reviewed for the catalog.

What you don't get is anyone on the hook when an update breaks it.

A simple first week with Hermes Labs

On day one, I'd install Inbox and run hermes inbox every morning to see which jobs failed overnight.

Later that week, I'd pick one boring browser chore and record it with hermes record.

I'd review the JSON recording for anything sensitive before running /learn on it.

Then I'd test the new skill on a low-stakes run before letting it near anything important.

I'd only set up Telegram Business Mode if customers already message me on Telegram, because it needs the most setup steps.

Does Hermes Labs ship its own model?

No, it doesn't, and that's the point where GoldieBench becomes useful.

Inbox calls no model at all, so the model you run makes no difference to it.

Workflow Record's /learn step and Telegram Business drafting both use whichever model is active in your Hermes profile.

So the quality of the skill that comes out of a recording, and the quality of every customer draft, depends on the brain you pick.

Which models to run with Hermes Labs

GoldieBench scores models on one-shot builds, not on turning a browser recording into a skill or drafting a Telegram reply.

So treat these numbers as a guide to general build quality, not a direct Hermes Labs score.

For Telegram Business drafting, where each reply is short, I'd lean towards a cheaper or local model and save the top models for /learn.

For private workflows, the local models board shows which models run on your own hardware.

If you're choosing a main model for Hermes more generally, my post on the best Hermes Agent model goes deeper.

Who Hermes Labs is for

Hermes Labs suits operators who are happy to run unsupported code and check it after updates.

Inbox suits almost anyone running more than one agent, because it only reads.

Workflow Record suits people with repeated browser chores, and Telegram Business Mode suits people who sell through Telegram.

If you're moving a Claude Code or Codex setup into Hermes at the same time, read my post on Hermes Import Agent.

Also On Our Network

• Agent Operatorshow to install every Hermes Labs plugin, step by step
• AI Income Deskfive ways a business can use Hermes Labs
• AI Tool VerdictHermes Labs reviewed and scored plugin by plugin
• agentos.guidethe Hermes Labs quick start for an Agent OS
• agentos.guidemy Hermes /learn guide on agentos.guide

If you run an SEO business and want to talk through where agents and plugins like these fit, you can book a free SEO strategy session with my team.

If you'd like a second pair of eyes on your whole agent stack, my team can review it in a free SEO strategy session too.

Install Inbox first, pick a strong model for /learn, and you'll get the most out of Hermes Labs.