Complete Mac Guide: AntStation Desktop + Hermes via SSH Reverse Tunnel

What is AntStation?

AntStation is the desktop client for the AntSeed peer-to-peer AI services network. Instead of relying on a single AI provider (Anthropic, OpenAI, etc.), AntStation connects you directly to AI providers on a decentralized network.

Why this matters:

• Multiple providers — access different AI providers through one interface
• Competitive pricing — peer-to-peer rates often beat centralized APIs
• No API keys — just connect a crypto wallet
• Pay with USDC on Base blockchain
• Privacy — direct P2P connections, no middleman

Part 1: AntStation Desktop App (Mac Setup)

Installation

1. Download AntStation from antseed.com
2. Open the .dmg file
3. Drag to Applications
4. Launch AntStation

First Launch

When you open AntStation for the first time, you'll see a welcome screen:

Connect Wallet links your crypto wallet (Rabby, MetaMask, or Coinbase Wallet) to manage deposits and payments.

Skip for Now lets you explore first — you can add funds later.

The AntStation Interface

Part 2: Depositing USDC (Fund Your Account)

New users get $1 trial credit, but for regular use you'll need to deposit USDC.

How to Deposit

1. Open AntStation
2. Click the Payments tab
3. Click Add Funds or Deposit USDC

A local web interface opens at http://localhost:3118:

4. Connect your wallet (Rabby, MetaMask, or Coinbase Wallet)
5. Enter the amount to deposit (e.g., $10 USDC)
6. Confirm the transaction

Understanding Your Balance

Part 3: Browsing & Picking Peers

Using the Network Tab

Click the Network tab in AntStation to see all available peers. You'll see something like this:

What Each Column Means

Viewing Peer Details

In AntStation Desktop: click on a peer to see all available models and pricing.

Via CLI (example below shows Dark Signal — same command works for any peer ID):

antseed network peer 4668854ba3e8b094e6f48fbeb59cec1cfde162f2

Output:

Part 4: Pinning a Peer (CLI Required)

The AntStation desktop UI is great for browsing, but pinning a peer requires the CLI. The desktop UI shows peers but doesn't let you pin one directly.

Install the AntSeed CLI

npm install -g @antseed/cli

Pin Surplus Intelligence (Recommended — Best Price/Quality)

Surplus Intelligence is my preferred peer: extremely competitive pricing for the model quality, plus 75+ free models for experimentation.

antseed buyer connection set --peer 0e49122e76bd8b9ccb2fe10c0088c41ceb608927

Pin a Different Peer

# Open Forge (best value on paid models)
antseed buyer connection set --peer 1d90f467689d499dc435e5744b4613c3203eb0aa

# Dark Signal (gpt-5.x, minimax)
antseed buyer connection set --peer 4668854ba3e8b094e6f48fbeb59cec1cfde162f2

# Prime Seed (Claude access)
antseed buyer connection set --peer 71e2ff34f8ef75...

Check Your Pin

antseed buyer status

Available Peers (As of This Guide)

Part 5: Setting Up Hermes on Your VPS

Tell Hermes to Use AntStation

Give Hermes this prompt:

I want to add AntStation (a peer-to-peer AI network buyer proxy) as a model provider option when I use the /model command.

The setup details:
- AntStation buyer proxy runs on localhost:8377
- It supports OpenAI Chat Completions API at http://localhost:8377/v1
- OPENAI_BASE_URL=http://localhost:8377/v1
- OPENAI_API_KEY=unused (any placeholder works)

Please:
1. Add "AntStation" as a selectable option in the /model command list
2. When selected, route all API calls through http://localhost:8377
3. Use the model name from the user's request verbatim (e.g., "minimax-m2.7-highspeed", "deepseek-v3.2")
4. Keep existing providers working alongside this new option
5. Save the configuration so it persists across sessions

Or manually add to ~/.hermes/config.yaml:

custom_providers:
  - name: antstation
    base_url: http://localhost:8377/v1
    api_key: unused
    api_mode: chat_completions

Update Your SSH Command

Add the AntStation port (8377) to your existing SSH command:

ssh -L 18789:localhost:18789 -L 9119:localhost:9119 -R 11434:localhost:11434 -R 8377:localhost:8377 account@your-vps-ip

Verify the Tunnel is Active

From your Mac, confirm AntStation is running and the port is listening:

lsof -i :8377

You should see something like:

Part 6: Switching Models in Hermes

How I Set It Up (No Pre-populated Model List)

I keep AntStation as a generic provider — no models listed in the config. Here's why:

• Works with any peer I pin
• No config updates when switching providers
• Just specify the model name and go

Switching Models

Model and provider must be specified together — you can't switch the provider first and then pick a model in separate commands.

If you pinned Surplus Intelligence (recommended):

/model opus-4.7 --provider antstation
/model llama-3.3-70b-instruct --provider antstation
/model qwen2.5-72b --provider antstation
/model gpt-5.5 --provider antstation

If you pinned Dark Signal:

/model minimax-m2.7-highspeed --provider antstation
/model gpt-5.4 --provider antstation
/model gpt-5.5 --provider antstation

If you pinned Open Forge:

/model deepseek-r1 --provider antstation
/model deepseek-v3.2 --provider antstation
/model qwen3-235b-instruct --provider antstation

Switching to a New Peer

Want to try a different provider? Open Terminal on your Mac:

# See all peers
antseed network browse

# Pin your choice
antseed buyer connection set --peer <peer-id>

# Then use any model they offer in Hermes
/model <any-model-from-that-peer>

Part 7: How the Full Setup Works

Part 8: My Favorite Models by Provider

Surplus Intelligence (current pick — best price/quality)

My pinned peer. Extremely competitive on paid models and 75+ models free for experimentation. Run antseed network peer 0e49122e76bd8b9ccb2fe10c0088c41ceb608927 for the live price list — it changes faster than any blog post.

Dark Signal

Open Forge (best value)

Surplus Intelligence (cheapest)

Part 9: Troubleshooting

Warning: could not reach the custom:antstation API to validate minimax-m2.7-highspeed.

{"error":{"type":"no_peer_pinned",...}}

antseed buyer connection set --peer 0e49122e76bd8b9ccb2fe10c0088c41ceb608927

curl http://localhost:8377/v1/models

ssh -R 8377:localhost:8377 account@your-vps-ip

Part 10: Quick Reference

My Daily Workflow

1. Open AntStation on Mac ✅
2. Buyer proxy is already running in the background ✅
3. SSH into VPS with tunnel:
   ssh -R 8377:localhost:8377 account@your-vps-ip
4. In Hermes:
   /model gpt-5.5 --provider antstation
5. Chat! 💬

Key Commands

Why I Love This Setup

• Zero server install — AntStation on my Mac, not the VPS
• Same tunnel as Ollama — familiar pattern, just different port
• Multiple providers — switch peers in seconds
• Privacy — direct P2P connections
• Cost — P2P pricing undercuts centralized APIs
• Flexibility — generic provider in Hermes, any model from any peer

Happy chatting!