Hermes Agent Local Setup on Mac (Fix Command Not Found)

Hermes agent installs in 2–3 minutes on a fresh Mac once you install Xcode Command Line Tools 26.4 first.

## Install Order: CLT Before Hermes The script at hermes-agent.newsresearch.com runs fine, but Hermes will throw command not found until Xcode Command Line Tools are present. On the creator's fresh MacBook the missing step was xcode-select --install, which surfaced the "Command Line Tools for Xcode 26.4" prompt inside System Settings → Software Update. He expected a 45-minute wait, it finished in roughly 2 minutes. Re-run the one-liner after the GUI update and the rest of the packages pull in cleanly.

## Quick Setup Beats Full Setup Inside the wizard, pick Quick setup rather than the full path — you can layer skills and workflows on top later. The full path is the route that forced the creator's own research skill to "take weeks to refine," and a presentation or monthly summary is a separate pipeline on top. Quick setup also avoids getting locked into tool integrations you don't need on day one.

## Pick the Right Kimi Endpoint The coding plan menu splits Kimi K2.6 into two entries: one for international users and one labeled China. The creator uses the international one and notes the same split applies to "MiniMax as well." Paste your Kimi API key, set the default model to Kimi 2.6 (just released at time of recording), and skip Telegram/Discord if you want the local TUI.

## Recover From a Dead TUI On first launch the TUI rendered with errors and no input prompt. Fix: Ctrl+C to terminate, open a fresh terminal window, and run hermes again. A successful reply to "hi" confirms the install is live.

## Local vs. Cloud Trade-off The creator's verdict on local is blunt: you "literally have to build everything from scratch," skills, workflows, and file org included. He positions skywork.ai as a zero-config alternative that turns a single prompt (e.g., "research the latest Mimo V2.5 series, make a presentation, put a 5-second video animation on slide 1") into a finished deck without juggling separate agents.