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Connect Hermes Agent to Eden AI and run the self-hosted, persistent agent on 500+ models with automatic fallbacks and a single API key.

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Overview

Hermes Agent is an open-source, self-hosted AI agent from Nous Research. It runs as a persistent background process with its own memory and evolving skills, and reaches you across the CLI and 20+ messaging platforms. Because Hermes talks to any OpenAI-compatible endpoint, you can point it at Eden AI and get:
  • 500+ models: Access OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, and more through a single API key
  • One key, many providers: Switch models by changing a single config value — no per-provider keys
  • Automatic fallbacks: Configure a backup model that Hermes tries when the primary one fails
Hermes is an agent, so every request it sends includes a tools (function-calling) parameter. Point it at a model that supports function calling — see Choosing a model.

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Prerequisites

  • Hermes Agent already installed. If not, run the one-line installer:
curl -fsSL https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/install.sh | bash

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Setup

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1. Point Hermes at Eden AI

Configure the custom provider with the Eden AI base URL and a function-calling model. Use the built-in config set commands — no manual file editing required: 
hermes config set model.provider custom
hermes config set model.base_url https://api.edenai.run/v3
hermes config set model.default anthropic/claude-sonnet-4-5
This writes to Hermes’ config file (hermes config path prints its location — ~/.hermes/config.yaml on macOS/Linux, %LOCALAPPDATA%\hermes\config.yaml on Windows). The result looks like: 
model:
  provider: custom
  base_url: https://api.edenai.run/v3
  default: anthropic/claude-sonnet-4-5

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2. Add your API key

Hermes derives the key’s environment-variable name from the base URL host, so api.edenai.run maps to EDENAI_API_KEY. Add it to Hermes’ secrets file (hermes config env-path prints its location): 
EDENAI_API_KEY=YOUR_EDEN_AI_API_KEY
  • base_url must be https://api.edenai.run/v3 (no trailing /chat/completions — the OpenAI-compatible client appends that for you).
  • Keep the key in the .env file, not in config.yaml. Any environment variable named EDENAI_API_KEY works too.
  • Billing is handled on the Eden AI side through your API key. Check per-request cost in the Eden AI dashboard.

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3. Start Hermes

hermes chat
For a one-shot, non-interactive run (handy for scripts or a quick smoke test): 
hermes chat -Q -q "Reply with exactly one word: pong"
Every LLM call now flows through Eden AI, with unified billing and per-request cost visibility.

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Choosing a model

Hermes requires function calling, so pick a model that supports it. Any provider/model string from the Eden AI catalog works — set it with hermes config set model.default <model> or per-session with hermes chat -m <model>.
ModelBest for
anthropic/claude-sonnet-4-5Recommended default — balanced reasoning, reliable tool calling
anthropic/claude-opus-4-8Maximum capability
anthropic/claude-haiku-4-5Fast and cheap
openai/gpt-5OpenAI’s frontier model
google/gemini-2.5-proLong context, multimodal
Browse the full catalog at app.edenai.run/models.

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Set up a fallback

Hermes can fall back to a backup model when the primary one fails. Add a second Eden AI model to the fallback chain: 
hermes fallback add

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Troubleshooting

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401 / Custom token not found

Verify your Eden AI key — grab a fresh one at app.edenai.run → API Keys. Confirm EDENAI_API_KEY is set in Hermes’ .env (hermes config env-path) and has no leading/trailing spaces.

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Request included tools parameter, but providers ... do not support function calling

The selected model can’t do function calling, which Hermes requires. Switch to a function-calling model: 
hermes config set model.default anthropic/claude-sonnet-4-5

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model not found

Ensure model.default uses the provider/model format (e.g. anthropic/claude-sonnet-4-5). No bare model names.

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Connection issues

Confirm base_url is exactly https://api.edenai.run/v3 and check Eden AI status at app-edenai.instatus.com.

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Next Steps