Hermes Agent Setup & Security (Installation & Basic Remote Setup)
Want to build your own Agentic AI?
Let's build your first one together, live, online. We'll share step-by-step instructions, risks, and decisions (please feel free to unmute and ask questions/discuss along the way!). Turn your laptop on and we start.
What we'll accomplish
Set it up safely!!! THIS IS IMPORTANT
Docker. We install and sandbox together, so your agent stays in its own space and cannot reach your real files.
Virtual machines. What they are, and when the extra effort is worth it.
Security basics. Keeping your keys and passwords safe, deciding what the agent is allowed to touch, and checking its work before you trust it.
1. Install Hermes
We'll demo installation on a MacBook while you watch and follow. On Windows? You are covered through the slides, we talk through the PowerShell commands as we go, and every command goes into our whatsapp chat so you can copy and paste rather than screenshot.
2. Connect Telegram and Discord
We all wire up both. By the end you can message your agent from your phone and have it reply in your server.
Have telegram web ready.
3. Build 3 useful things (basic, common use cases)
An email filter. Sorts what matters from what does not, without you asking.
A daily news report. A short briefing on the topics you choose, every morning.
A connection to your own apps. We plug the agent into tools you already use.
What to have ready
1. A laptop. Mac or Windows, both completely fine.
2. Telegram and Discord accounts. Signed in on your phone and your laptop.
3. Model access. An API key, or a Claude or OpenAI subscription (recommended) you already pay for. Any provider works, but cheaper ones with a lower context window will NOT function as well.
That is it. If your internet is slow, you should start the Docker Desktop download early, but we can also do it on the call.
Getting stuck is expected
Nobody gets left behind. Paste your error into the chat and I will read it out and fix it with you. Share your screen if that is easier. Half of learning this is seeing what goes wrong and watching someone sort it out.
Who this is for
Come along if you:
Have never built an agent and would like a working one by the end
Would love to learn how to use agentic AI
Have something repetitive you would love to stop doing
!! You do not need to know how to code