If you're running Hermes Agent (the powerful open-source autonomous agent), the Hermes Dashboard is the single biggest quality-of-life upgrade you can make.

Instead of editing YAML files, hunting through logs, or living in the terminal, you get a clean, modern browser-based interface that lets you manage everything — configuration, sessions, API keys, cron jobs, analytics, skills, and more — with just clicks.

Launched with a simple hermes dashboard command, the dashboard runs locally on your machine (or VPS) at http://127.0.0.1:9119. It's fast, secure by default, and feels like a professional control panel for your AI agent.

✨ What You'll Learn

  • How to launch and access the dashboard (including VPS setups)
  • Every section explained: Config, API Keys, Sessions, Analytics, and more
  • Pro tips for combining with OpenClaw and SSH tunnels
  • Security best practices

1. Quick Start: Launching the Dashboard

In your terminal (as the user running Hermes):

hermes dashboard

This does three things automatically:

Useful flags:

Accessing from a VPS

If you're running Hermes on a VPS (like many of us do), you'll want to use SSH port forwarding to access the dashboard securely:

# Forward the dashboard from VPS to your local machine
ssh -L 9119:localhost:9119 user@your-vps-ip

# Then open http://localhost:9119 on your local machine

💡 Pro Tip: Combined Tunnel

If you're also using Ollama locally (like in my hybrid setup guide), you can combine both tunnels:

# Dashboard forward + Ollama reverse tunnel
ssh -L 9119:localhost:9119 -R 11434:localhost:11434 user@your-vps-ip

This gives you dashboard access AND allows Hermes to use your local Ollama models.

2. Dashboard Overview & Navigation

The interface is clean and dark-themed by default. On the left you'll find a persistent sidebar with these main sections:

There's also a header with theme switcher, reload button, and status indicators.

3. Deep Dive: Every Section Explained

Status Page (Live Overview)

This is your command center. It auto-refreshes every 5 seconds and shows:

Great for quick health checks.

Config (The Smart Config Editor)

No more manual YAML editing! This page gives you a beautiful form for 150+ settings grouped into tabs:

Buttons at the bottom:

⚠️ Important

Changes apply on the next session or after a gateway restart. After editing config via the dashboard, run hermes gateway restart (or restart your hermes dashboard process).

API Keys (Secure .env Manager)

Manages everything in ~/.hermes/.env:

Each key shows a description, signup link, current status (redacted), and an easy input field. Perfect for switching providers without touching files.

Sessions Browser

The most useful page for daily use:

You can delete sessions individually or in bulk.

Logs (Live Tail + Filters)

Real-time log viewer with:

Excellent for debugging tool failures or gateway issues.

Analytics

Beautiful usage and cost tracking:

Super helpful if you're using paid APIs.

Cron (Scheduled Tasks)

Create natural-language scheduled jobs:

List shows next/last run time, status, and one-click pause/trigger/delete.

Skills

Browse, search, and toggle all your skills and built-in toolsets. Shows status, description, and required setup for each.

4. Extra Dashboard Features

Themes

Switch between Hermes Teal, Midnight, Ember, Mono, Cyberpunk, Rosé (or add custom ones via the skin dropdown in Config).

REST API

The dashboard itself exposes a full /api/ backend if you want to build scripts or plugins. Check the browser dev tools Network tab to see the endpoints in action.

Plugins

Official support for custom dashboard extensions (JavaScript IIFEs). This is advanced territory but powerful for power users.

Security

Binds to localhost by default. Never expose publicly without authentication or a reverse proxy.

5. Pro Tips & Best Practices

1. Always restart after big changes

After editing config or API keys via the dashboard:

hermes gateway restart

2. Use with SSH tunneling for VPS setups

As covered above, use -L 9119:localhost:9119 to safely access your VPS-hosted dashboard.

3. Combine with OpenClaw

Many users run both agents on the same VPS — the dashboard gives you a beautiful UI while OpenClaw handles heavy orchestration. Each has its strengths!

4. Slash command inside chats

Type /reload in any Hermes chat after changing keys via the dashboard.

5. Mobile-friendly

The dashboard is fully responsive — you can manage your agent from your phone.

🚀 Quick Reference: SSH Config

Add this to your ~/.ssh/config for easy access:

Host hermes-dashboard
    HostName your-vps-ip
    User your-user
    LocalForward 9119 localhost:9119

# Or with Ollama tunnel too:
Host hermes-both
    HostName your-vps-ip
    User your-user
    LocalForward 9119 localhost:9119
    RemoteForward 11434 localhost:11434

Then just run ssh hermes-dashboard and open http://localhost:9119.

Final Thoughts

The Hermes Dashboard transforms Hermes Agent from a powerful but terminal-heavy tool into a professional-grade AI operations platform. Once you start using it, you'll never want to go back to pure CLI.

It's fast, local-first, secure, and packed with exactly the features power users need.

Ready to try it? Just run hermes dashboard and open http://localhost:9119.

Have you started using the dashboard yet? What's your favorite section? Drop your thoughts or any questions below — I'm happy to help you fine-tune your setup.

Happy agenting! 🚀