---
title: Hermes Agent
description: "Add long-term memory to Hermes agents using Mem0 as a pluggable memory provider with automatic background sync and zero-latency prefetch."
---

Add long-term memory to [Hermes Agent](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent) — a self-improving AI agent CLI by Nous Research. Hermes has a pluggable memory system, and Mem0 is one of the supported providers. Once enabled, Mem0 automatically learns facts from your conversations and surfaces relevant ones before each turn — all without slowing down the chat.

## Overview

Hermes runs a built-in memory system (file-based `MEMORY.md` and `USER.md`) alongside one external provider. When Mem0 is active, it works additively with the built-in system at three key moments in every conversation turn:

### 1. Before the Agent Responds (Prefetch)

When you send a message, Hermes checks if it already has cached Mem0 search results from the previous turn. If so, those memories are injected into the system prompt so the LLM can see them. This is **zero-latency** — no waiting for an API call.

### 2. After the Agent Responds (Sync)

Once the LLM finishes responding, Hermes sends the `(user message, assistant response)` pair to Mem0's API in a **background thread**. Mem0's server-side LLM automatically extracts facts (e.g., "user prefers Python", "user works at Acme Corp") — you don't have to tell it what to remember.

### 3. Background Prefetch for Next Turn

At the same time as sync, Hermes kicks off a background search on Mem0 to pre-load relevant memories for the next turn. By the time you type your next message, the memories are already cached.

## Agent Tools

When Mem0 is active, the LLM gets three extra tools it can call during conversations:

| Tool | Description |
|------|-------------|
| `mem0_profile` | Fetch all stored memories about the user |
| `mem0_search` | Semantic search through memories (supports optional reranking via `rerank` and `top_k` parameters) |
| `mem0_conclude` | Store a specific fact verbatim — uses `infer=False` so no server-side LLM extraction happens |

## Installation

Install Hermes Agent:

```bash
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/main/scripts/install.sh | bash
source ~/.bashrc
```

The `mem0ai` Python package is automatically installed when you enable the Mem0 provider — no manual pip install needed.

## Setup

### Option 1: Interactive Setup Wizard (Recommended)

```bash
hermes memory setup
```

Select **mem0** as the provider and enter your Mem0 API key when prompted. The wizard writes your config to `~/.hermes/mem0.json`.

<Note>Get your API key from <a href="https://app.mem0.ai?utm_source=oss&utm_medium=integration-hermes" rel="nofollow">app.mem0.ai</a>.</Note>

### Option 2: Manual Configuration

```bash
hermes config set memory.provider mem0
echo "MEM0_API_KEY=your-api-key" >> ~/.hermes/.env
```

Then in your `config.yaml`:

```yaml
memory:
  provider: mem0
```

That's it — Mem0 runs automatically from this point.

## Configuration Options

Configuration is stored in `~/.hermes/mem0.json`. Values can also be set via environment variables.

| Key | Env Variable | Default | Description |
|-----|-------------|---------|-------------|
| `api_key` | `MEM0_API_KEY` | — | **Required.** Mem0 Platform API key |
| `user_id` | `MEM0_USER_ID` | `hermes-user` | User identifier for scoping memories |
| `agent_id` | `MEM0_AGENT_ID` | `hermes` | Agent identifier |
| `rerank` | — | `true` | Enable reranking for memory recall |


## Reliability

- **Circuit Breaker** — If Mem0's API fails 5 times in a row, Hermes stops calling it for 2 minutes, then retries. The agent keeps working fine without memory during that time.
- **Non-blocking** — All Mem0 API calls happen in background daemon threads. A slow or failed API call never blocks your conversation.
- **Thread-safe** — The Mem0 client uses lazy initialization with locking, safe for concurrent access.

## Key Features

1. **Zero-Latency Recall** — Memories are prefetched in the background and cached, ready before you type
2. **Server-side Extraction** — Mem0's API automatically extracts and deduplicates facts from each exchange
3. **Non-blocking** — All API calls run in background daemon threads
4. **Fault Tolerant** — Circuit breaker ensures the agent works even if Mem0 is temporarily unreachable
5. **Additive Memory** — Works alongside Hermes' built-in file-based memory system (MEMORY.md, USER.md)

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