---
title: Hermes
description: How ClawMetry observes Hermes — where its data lives, the environment variables that move it, what cost data is real, and the traps in its store.
eyebrow: Runtime reference
---

# Hermes

Hermes mirrors OpenClaw's architecture — gateway, cron, skills, memory, twenty-plus messaging platforms — but normalises its session store into SQLite with tokens and cost pre-computed per session.

| | |
|---|---|
| **Runtime id** | `hermes` |
| **Category** | OpenClaw-descendant agent |
| **Vendor** | Nous Research |
| **Tier** | Paid tier (Starter and up) |
| **Upstream** | [github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent) |

## Where the data comes from

ClawMetry reads these locations, in order, and never writes to any of them.

- `~/.hermes/state.db` — sessions and messages
- `~/.hermes/skills/.usage.json` — skill usage
- `~/.hermes/cron/jobs.json` — cron jobs
- `~/.hermes/memories/*.md` — agent memory
- `~/.hermes/logs/errors.log` — rotating structured logs

**Format.** Normalised SQLite (`sessions` + `messages`) in WAL mode.

## Environment variables

| Variable | Effect |
|---|---|
| `HERMES_HOME` | home override |

See [Environment variables](/docs/config/environment/) for the variables that apply to every runtime.

## Tokens and cost

**Tokens.** Pre-computed per session by Hermes itself.

**Cost.** Pre-computed per session by Hermes itself.

:::note Why this section exists
Runtimes differ enormously in what they persist. Rather than showing a plausible number everywhere, ClawMetry reports what the store actually contains and marks the rest unknown. A cost of `$0.00` and a cost of *unknown* mean different things, and the dashboard keeps them different.
:::

## Sub-agents and delegation

Sub-agents mirror OpenClaw's model.

## Things worth knowing

- Hermes exposes no local gateway port, so live tailing is a three-second SQLite poll rather than a socket.
- The database must never be opened with `immutable=1` — that caches the file and the adapter stops seeing new writes.

## Verify it is being read

```bash
# Is this runtime detected, and would this install unlock it?
clawmetry runtimes --json | jq '.runtimes[] | select(.id=="hermes")'

# Why is it locked, if it is?
clawmetry runtimes --why hermes

# Any sessions ingested yet?
curl -s 'http://localhost:8900/api/local/sessions?limit=5' \
  | jq '.rows[] | {session_id, agent_id, events, cost_usd}'
```

If detection succeeds but no sessions appear, work through [Troubleshooting](/docs/ops/troubleshooting/) — the usual causes are a relocated data directory (set the override above), a session limit that is hiding older runs, or a runtime that simply has not written anything yet.