Hermes: The AI Agent That Remembers Everything and Gets Smarter Daily
Tired of repeating instructions to your AI assistant? Hermes learns from every interaction, remembers your preferences forever, and even creates custom skills to automate your workflow. Discover how this self-improving agent outperforms traditional AI tools for business automation.
What Makes Hermes Different
Most AI assistants suffer from "memory loss" - they forget your preferences between sessions and require repetitive retraining. Hermes solves this fundamental limitation by maintaining a persistent memory of every interaction. Unlike traditional AI tools that treat each conversation as independent, Hermes builds upon previous knowledge to deliver increasingly personalized responses.
During testing, Hermes demonstrated remarkable adaptability. After being trained on writing style preferences for social media posts, it could recall those preferences weeks later in completely new sessions. This persistent learning capability makes it ideal for business workflows where consistency matters.
Key differentiator: Hermes compresses and stores session memories in an SQLite database using FTS5 for full-text search, allowing it to recall specific details from past conversations without consuming your token limit.
The Powerful Memory System
Hermes' memory architecture solves one of the biggest pain points in AI assistants - the token limit. While most AI tools struggle with context windows, Hermes stores memories externally and retrieves them intelligently when needed.
The system works by:
- Storing raw conversations in memory.md files or external processors
- Compressing sessions when they exceed 50% of the context window
- Maintaining an SQLite database with FTS5 search capabilities
- Prefetching a compacted memory version (∼3,500 characters) at session start
This approach means Hermes can recall specific details from weeks ago while keeping current conversations responsive. At 3:22 in the video demo, you can see Hermes perfectly recall tweet writing preferences from a previous session without any prompting.
Automatic Skill Creation
Hermes doesn't just remember - it learns. The AI can analyze repetitive tasks and package them into reusable skills. For example, after being trained on writing tweets, Hermes created a "Tweet Writer" skill that could:
- Generate multiple tweet options in your preferred style
- Maintain consistent tone and formatting
- Suggest relevant hashtags and emojis
- Create tweet threads when appropriate
These skills persist between sessions and can be refined over time. The video shows how Hermes automatically created this skill after just a few examples, demonstrating its ability to identify and formalize patterns in your workflow.
Flexible Model Switching
Hermes offers unique flexibility in model usage. You can start with a lightweight model for simple tasks, then switch to more powerful models when needed - all within the same conversation.
Key advantages:
- Reduce costs by using cheaper models for routine tasks
- Maintain context when switching models mid-conversation
- Combine the strengths of different AI models
In the demo at 4:15, you'll see how switching from Gemma to GLM 5 Turbo improved response quality while preserving all previously learned preferences and context.
Business Use Cases
Hermes shines in business environments where consistency and personalization matter. Here are three powerful applications:
1. Content Creation
Hermes can learn your brand voice and generate consistent marketing content. After analyzing sample scripts, it produced tweets that matched the creator's style so closely they could be published unchanged.
2. Customer Support
By remembering past interactions, Hermes provides personalized support responses that build on previous conversations rather than starting from scratch each time.
3. Process Documentation
Hermes automatically creates skills from repetitive tasks, effectively documenting workflows that would otherwise exist only in employees' heads.
Hermes vs Open Claw
While Open Claw offers broader channel support and better sandboxing, Hermes excels in personalization and memory. Here's how they compare:
| Feature | Hermes | Open Claw |
|---|---|---|
| Memory System | Persistent, external storage | Session-based |
| Skill Creation | Automatic | Manual |
| Model Switching | Mid-conversation | Per-session |
| Channel Support | Limited | Extensive |
For businesses prioritizing learning and personalization over broad integration support, Hermes often delivers better long-term value.
Implementation Tips
To get the most from Hermes:
- Start with clear examples: Provide several examples of your desired output to establish patterns
- Give feedback: Hermes learns from corrections - don't just accept suboptimal outputs
- Monitor skill creation: Review automatically created skills to ensure they match your needs
- Use appropriate models: Start with cheaper models, switching to more capable ones only when needed
Pro tip: At 5:40 in the video, you'll see how providing specific feedback ("I wouldn't say 'incredible', I'd say 'really good'") helped Hermes refine its output to better match the user's voice.
Watch the Full Tutorial
See Hermes in action in this detailed walkthrough. At 2:15, you'll see how it analyzes writing samples to identify stylistic patterns, and at 4:45, watch as it recalls preferences from a previous session without any prompting.
Key Takeaways
Hermes represents a significant evolution in AI assistants by combining persistent memory with self-improving capabilities. Unlike tools that require retraining for each session, Hermes builds upon past interactions to deliver increasingly personalized and efficient assistance.
In summary: Hermes learns your preferences, remembers everything, and creates custom skills - transforming from a generic assistant into your perfect productivity partner over time.
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about this topic
Hermes stores conversation memory in an external file (memory.md) or external processors like Supermemory. All sessions are stored in an SQLite database using FTS5 for full-text search.
When you ask Hermes to recall something, it searches this database rather than using up your token limit. The system maintains a compacted version of your history (about 3,500 characters) that's preloaded each session.
- External memory storage prevents token waste
- FTS5 enables precise recall of past conversations
- Compression maintains context without bloat
Yes, Hermes can create its own skills based on your usage patterns. After analyzing repetitive tasks, it packages them into reusable skills that persist between sessions.
For example, after learning how you like tweets written, it created a 'Tweet Writer' skill that could generate multiple tweet options in your preferred style without needing explicit instructions each time.
- Identifies repetitive patterns in your workflow
- Packages them into reusable skills
- Skills improve with additional feedback
While Open Claw supports more channels and has better sandboxing, Hermes specializes in remembering user preferences and self-improving over time.
Hermes compresses sessions differently (at 50% context window vs Open Claw's 80%) and maintains a more persistent memory of user interactions. This makes it particularly strong for personalized, repetitive tasks where consistency matters.
- Better memory retention than Open Claw
- More adaptable to individual workflows
- Stronger focus on personalization
Yes, you can change models during a session using the model/slash command. This allows you to start with a cheaper model for simple tasks, then switch to a more powerful model when needed.
The unique advantage is that Hermes maintains the same conversation context across model changes. You don't lose your place or have to re-explain your needs when switching between models.
- Reduces costs by using appropriate models
- Maintains context during switches
- No session reset required
Hermes limits preloaded memory to about 3,500 characters (roughly 700 tokens) per session. This compacted version contains the most relevant memories without consuming your entire context window.
The system compresses sessions by removing output from old tool calls while keeping the head and tail of conversations. This compressed version gets stored in the SQLite database for future recall.
- ∼3,500 characters preloaded per session
- Intelligent compression preserves key context
- Full history remains searchable
Absolutely. Hermes excels at learning repetitive business tasks and creating custom skills to automate them. Its ability to remember preferences and improve over time makes it particularly valuable for business workflows.
Common business applications include content creation (maintaining brand voice), customer support (personalized responses), and process documentation (capturing institutional knowledge). The more you use Hermes for a task, the better it gets.
- Learns and automates repetitive tasks
- Maintains consistency across teams
- Improves with continued use
Yes, Hermes can be installed locally on your machine or run on a VPS. The installation process is straightforward, requiring just a simple command to get started.
For maximum privacy and control, you can connect Hermes to local models if your hardware supports it. This gives you complete control over your data while still benefiting from Hermes' powerful memory and learning capabilities.
- Simple installation process
- Option for local model connections
- Complete data privacy
GrowwStacks can customize Hermes for your specific business needs, integrating it with your existing tools and workflows. We'll configure its memory system, train it on your processes, and develop custom skills to automate your most repetitive tasks.
Our team handles everything from initial setup to ongoing optimization, ensuring Hermes delivers maximum value to your organization. We'll also train your team on best practices for working with Hermes to ensure successful adoption.
- Custom Hermes configuration
- Workflow integration
- Ongoing support and optimization
Ready to Transform Your Business with Self-Improving AI?
Every day your team repeats the same explanations and tasks is a day wasted. Hermes learns once, remembers forever, and keeps getting better. Let GrowwStacks implement a Hermes solution tailored to your exact needs.