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For a complete Hermes Agent move, install Hermes on the destination, run hermes backup on the source, transfer the resulting ZIP, stop the destination gateway, run hermes import, and finish with hermes setup. A full backup carries the Hermes data root—including configuration, credentials, memories, skills, sessions, and profiles—but it is not an application or runtime image. You must reinstall Hermes and recreate dependencies, downloaded tools, models, and other machine-local state.
Use hermes backup --quick only for frequent protection of critical state, not as the archive for a full machine migration. If you need to move one profile while leaving other profiles and credentials behind, use the profile export and import commands instead.
What a Hermes backup is—and is not
Hermes stores its user data under ~/.hermes/. A full backup is a portable archive of that data, suitable for migration and disaster recovery. The NousResearch Hermes Agent FAQ describes its scope precisely: “The full backup covers configuration, credentials, memories, skills, sessions, and profiles under the Hermes data root. It is not an application or runtime image.”
That distinction determines your recovery plan. The archive restores Hermes state, but the destination still needs a Hermes installation and any machine-level dependencies that were not part of the data root. Downloaded tools, models, runtimes, source checkouts, virtual environments, build caches, browser profiles, and process ID files are recreated locally rather than imported.
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Choose the right backup method
| Method | Command | What it contains | Best use | Credential handling |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full backup | hermes backup |
Configuration, credentials, memories, skills, sessions, profiles, and other supported data under ~/.hermes/ |
Moving Hermes to another machine or creating a complete recovery archive | Credentials are included; protect the archive as a secret |
| Quick snapshot | hermes backup --quick |
Selected critical state, including config.yaml, state.db, .env, authentication data, and cron jobs |
Frequent protection of essential state between full backups | Authentication material is included where it is part of the selected state; use the same security precautions |
| Single-profile archive | hermes profile export work ./work-backup.tar.gz |
The selected profile’s configuration, memories, sessions, and skills | Porting or sharing one profile without moving the entire Hermes data root | Credentials are stripped from the archive; providers must be authenticated again |
A quick snapshot is deliberately narrower than a full backup, and a profile archive is deliberately safer to share. Neither should be treated as a substitute for the full ZIP when you need a complete machine move.
Prepare the source and destination
- On the destination, install Hermes Agent with the official installer before importing anything.
- Use the destination account that will own and run Hermes. The import targets that account’s Hermes data root, normally
~/.hermes/. - Have a protected transfer method ready. The backup can contain API keys, OAuth credentials, and other secrets from
.envandauth.json. - Plan for a gateway outage during the restore. The CLI reference requires the destination gateway to be stopped before
hermes import. - Leave enough disk space for the archive and the restored data. The documentation does not publish a universal archive-size or recovery-time figure, so measure your own data root if capacity planning matters.
Full machine migration: step-by-step
1. Install Hermes on the new machine
Run the official Hermes Agent installer on the destination and confirm that the hermes command is available to the destination user. Do not import into an uninstalled or partially installed environment: the archive supplies user data, not the application, runtime, or dependency environment.
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2. Create the full backup on the source
On the source machine, run:
hermes backupBy default, Hermes writes a ZIP named hermes-backup-<timestamp>.zip in your home directory, represented by:
~/hermes-backup-<timestamp>.zipThe timestamp in the filename lets you keep several dated archives. Treat every full ZIP as sensitive because it can include the source machine’s provider credentials.
3. Review the backup result and skipped-file report
Full backups report files that could not be copied. Read that skipped-file report before retiring, wiping, or disconnecting the source installation. A backup that completed with skipped files may still be useful, but you need to know exactly which state was not captured and decide whether it must be copied or regenerated separately.
The full-backup process excludes known machine-local or regenerable items, described later in this guide. Do not interpret an exclusion as a failed copy; distinguish documented exclusions from files Hermes attempted but could not read.
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4. Transfer the ZIP securely
For an SSH-accessible destination, a typical transfer is:
scp ~/hermes-backup-<timestamp>.zip user@destination:~/Replace user@destination with the destination account and host. Verify that the file arrived in the destination home directory before proceeding. A portable external SSD is another transport option and can provide offline retention, but the drive and the archive still need encryption or tightly controlled access because the ZIP may contain credentials.
5. Stop the destination gateway
Before importing, stop the Hermes gateway on the destination. Use the service manager or gateway-control procedure appropriate to your installation; the critical requirement is that the gateway process is not actively reading or writing the data while the import runs. The CLI reference warns against importing with the gateway running because concurrent activity can conflict with the restore.
6. Import the archive
From the destination account, run:
hermes import ~/hermes-backup-<timestamp>.zipPoint the command at the actual filename if you transferred it elsewhere. Hermes imports into the existing destination data root. Its database handling uses SQLite’s backup API, which is designed to copy safely while a database is in use and supports WAL-mode safety. During import, database members are written into the existing database file rather than replacing its inode, allowing open connections to converge on the imported data. That implementation detail improves consistency, but it does not change the operational rule: stop the gateway before restoring.
7. Run setup and verify providers
After the import completes, run:
hermes setupUse setup to verify API keys and provider configuration on the destination. A full archive includes credentials, but providers can still require confirmation when the machine, environment variables, paths, or authentication context changes. Resolve any prompts before starting normal workloads.
8. Start Hermes and perform a functional check
Restart the destination gateway only after the import and setup checks finish. Confirm that the expected profiles are present, a recent session or memory is visible, configured skills load, and scheduled jobs are represented as expected. This is an operational verification step rather than a published benchmark; Hermes’ official material does not provide a guaranteed recovery-time or reliability statistic.
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What a full backup includes
The following items are part of the documented Hermes data root or its supported full-backup coverage.
| Area | Examples | Why it matters after restore |
|---|---|---|
| Configuration | config.yaml |
Restores Hermes settings and provider configuration declarations. |
| Environment and authentication | .env and auth.json |
Can restore API keys and OAuth credentials; these files make the archive confidential. |
| Agent identity and behavior | SOUL.md |
Preserves the agent’s documented identity and operating instructions. |
| Memories | memories/ |
Retains stored memory data used by the agent. |
| Skills | skills/ |
Preserves installed or configured Hermes skills that live under the data root. |
| Automation | cron/ |
Carries scheduled-job definitions that are part of Hermes state. |
| Sessions | sessions/ |
Retains conversation and task session data. |
| Logs | logs/ |
Preserves supported logs under the data root for continuity and diagnosis. |
| Profiles | Profiles stored beneath the Hermes data root | Allows a complete machine move to retain all profiles, not just the default one. |
| Database state | Supported database files, including the state represented by state.db where applicable |
Maintains structured state needed by Hermes; SQLite files are handled through the backup API. |
The exact set of copied files can vary with what exists in your data root. The skipped-file report is the authoritative record for that individual backup run.
What the full backup excludes
A full ZIP is user-data portability, not a disk image. The documented exclusions are:
| Excluded item | What you must do on the destination |
|---|---|
| Source checkout | Install or obtain the Hermes application separately. |
| Dependency environments | Recreate the required environment. Dependencies can be downloaded again from restored package declarations. |
| Downloaded tools, models, and runtimes | Download or install them again on the destination. |
| Build caches and checkpoints | Regenerate or restore them through the relevant tool; they are not part of the Hermes ZIP. |
| Previous backups and quick snapshots | Keep those archives in your separate backup storage if you need their history. |
| Browser profiles | Set up browser state independently; it is not restored by the full Hermes archive. |
| Bytecode and SQLite sidecars | Allow them to regenerate locally after installation and first use. |
gateway.pid, cron.pid, and .backup.lock |
Do not copy process or lock state. Start fresh processes after the restore. |
Because process IDs and lock files are machine-local, carrying them across systems would be misleading or unsafe. Their absence is expected.
Protect the archive like a credential bundle
Both .env and auth.json can contain API keys or OAuth credentials. Store a full ZIP only where access is restricted, and use encryption for storage and transport. Limit permissions on the file and on any external drive holding it; remove temporary copies from shared locations after confirming the destination restore.
An external SSD can be useful for keeping the archive off the source disk or maintaining an offline copy, but the documentation does not specify a required capacity, interface, or brand. Choose storage based on the measured size of your Hermes data and your encryption and retention requirements.
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If a transfer channel or shared handoff could expose credentials, prefer a profile archive instead. Profile exports intentionally strip credentials, which makes them safer to give to another operator, but that safety comes with a re-authentication step on the destination.
Using quick snapshots correctly
Create a quick snapshot with:
hermes backup --quickQuick mode captures selected critical state, including config.yaml, state.db, .env, authentication data, and cron jobs. It is designed for faster, more frequent protection of the state most likely to matter after a small rollback or accidental change.
The Hermes FAQ explicitly says quick mode is not a replacement for a full backup before machine migration. It does not provide the complete coverage of memories, skills, sessions, profiles, logs, and other supported data that a full move may require. Keep a current full ZIP for disaster recovery and use quick snapshots as an additional layer between full backups.
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For a profile named work, export it on the source with:
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hermes profile import ./work-backup.tar.gz workThe profile archive carries that profile’s configuration, memories, sessions, and skills. It strips credentials, so it does not move the source account’s API keys or OAuth tokens. After importing, authenticate the required providers again and adjust any paths that differ on the destination machine.
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This method leaves unrelated profiles and the rest of the source data root out of the archive. It is therefore the appropriate choice when you need to port one agent, share a configured workflow, or avoid handing another operator a complete credential bundle.
Troubleshooting a restore
The import reports skipped files
Do not delete the source yet. Save the report, identify each skipped path, and decide whether it contains irreplaceable memories, sessions, skills, or configuration. Documented exclusions such as browser profiles, PID files, bytecode, SQLite sidecars, and caches are expected to be recreated; an unexpected permissions or read failure needs separate attention.
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Run hermes setup and verify the provider configuration. Check the destination’s environment and authentication context, then re-authenticate a provider if required. A profile archive always requires provider re-authentication because credentials are intentionally removed.
The gateway behaves inconsistently after restore
Stop it, confirm that no competing Hermes process is running, and repeat the import procedure with the gateway stopped. The restore is not intended to merge live writes from an active gateway. Start the gateway only after the import and setup checks are complete.
A skill, tool, model, or browser session is missing
Determine whether it was one of the documented exclusions. Downloaded tools, models, runtimes, dependency environments, browser profiles, build caches, and checkpoints are not in the full ZIP. Reinstall or regenerate those components on the destination, then verify the restored Hermes configuration points to their new paths.
Paths changed on the new machine
Review configuration and profile settings for source-specific paths. This is especially important after a single-profile import, whose documentation calls out path adjustment when the destination differs. Update those paths and rerun setup before testing the agent.
A repeatable migration checklist
- Install Hermes Agent on the destination.
- Run
hermes backupon the source. - Record the generated
~/hermes-backup-<timestamp>.zipfilename. - Read the skipped-file report and retain it with your migration notes.
- Transfer the ZIP over a protected channel or encrypted physical media.
- Stop the destination gateway.
- Run
hermes import ~/hermes-backup-<timestamp>.zip. - Run
hermes setupand verify keys and providers. - Recreate excluded dependencies, tools, models, runtimes, and browser state.
- Start the gateway and check profiles, memories, sessions, skills, and scheduled jobs.
- Keep the original source and backup until the destination passes your functional checks.
- After validation, remove temporary or duplicate archives according to your retention and secret-management policy.
Which approach should you use?
| Your goal | Use | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| Replace a machine and preserve the Hermes environment’s user state | Full backup and import | It covers the complete supported data root, including credentials and all profiles. |
| Keep a frequent rollback point for essential state | Quick snapshot | It is faster and focuses on critical files, but it is not complete enough for migration. |
| Give one configured profile to another machine or operator | Profile export and import | It limits the scope to one profile and strips credentials. |
| Move application binaries, runtimes, or downloaded models | Hermes backup plus a separate system or dependency procedure | The Hermes archive is not an application image and excludes those machine-level components. |
The safest complete workflow is therefore two-part: restore Hermes’ data with the full ZIP, then rebuild the destination’s excluded software and machine state. Keep credentials protected throughout, and use the narrower profile archive whenever a full data-root transfer is unnecessary.
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