Herald-OS

Herald OS is an operating system built around an AI agent. Instead of working through menus and folders yourself, you talk or type to Hermes, and it works across the whole machine: it opens apps, finds and organises files, watches what is running, remembers what matters to you, runs routines on a schedule, and builds software while you watch. Every action that changes something goes through a permission system you control.

[!NOTE] Herald OS is an independent project by Luke The Dev. It is not an official Hermes or Nous Research product, and it is not affiliated with, sponsored by or endorsed by Nous Research. Herald OS runs on Hermes Agent, the open-source agent Nous Research publishes, which is installed alongside it.

Status: alpha (0.1). Expect rough edges, and keep backups of anything you let an agent touch.

Install

Every download is on the releases page. Pick the way that matches your machine:

Hermes needs a model provider whichever you pick: a Nous Portal account, or an API key for a provider Hermes supports (OpenRouter, OpenAI, Anthropic, a local model, and others). Herald OS shows a sign-in card the first time Hermes needs one.

macOS

You need macOS 13 (Ventura) or later on Apple Silicon.

1. Install Hermes Agent and choose a model, if you don't have it yet:

curl -fsSL https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/install.sh | bash
source ~/.zshrc
hermes setup

2. Install Herald OS. Download HeraldOS-<version>-mac-arm64.dmg from the releases page, open it and drag Herald OS to Applications.

3. Let it open. This build is not notarized by Apple yet, so macOS stops it the first time. Run this once, then open Herald OS from Applications:

xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine "/Applications/Herald OS.app"

Herald OS takes over the screen: Cmd+Ctrl+F leaves or re-enters fullscreen and Cmd+Q quits. On its first start it adds its system tools to Hermes (~/.hermes/plugins/herald-os-bridge). macOS asks for Screen Recording, Accessibility or Microphone access the first time a feature needs it: asking about the screen, typing an emoji into another app, or talking to Hermes.

Herald OS Linux on a PC

The whole operating system, for a 64-bit Intel or AMD PC: Fedora underneath, everything you see is Herald.

1. Download both parts of the installer from the releases page, herald-os-<version>-x86_64.iso.part0 and .part1 (GitHub takes files of up to 2 GB), and join them. On macOS or Linux:

   cat herald-os-<version>-x86_64.iso.part* > herald-os-<version>-x86_64.iso
   shasum -a 256 -c herald-os-<version>-x86_64.iso.sha256    # sha256sum -c on Linux
   

   On Windows: copy /b herald-os-<version>-x86_64.iso.part0 + herald-os-<version>-x86_64.iso.part1 herald-os-<version>-x86_64.iso.

2. Write the ISO to a USB stick of 8 GB or more with Fedora Media Writer or balenaEtcher.

3. Start the PC from the stick and follow the installer. Its disk screen lets you erase the disk or install next to Windows, and encrypt it. Secure Boot can stay on.

4. The first start sets up Hermes Agent, then Herald OS asks for your name, a password and Wi-Fi.

Updates come as a whole new version of the system: herald-os update installs one, and herald-os rollback goes back to the one before. Already on Fedora Silverblue or another bootc system? docs/LINUX.md covers switching it to the Herald OS image instead.

Arch Linux

git clone https://github.com/iamlukethedev/Herald-OS.git
cd Herald-OS/packaging/arch/herald-os-bin
makepkg -si
herald-os setup        # once per user: Hermes Agent and Herald's system tools

The package downloads the release build for your architecture (x86_64 or aarch64). Then choose Herald OS on your login screen for the full session (it needs niri; the package's optional dependencies list what each panel uses), or run herald-os-app to use Herald OS as an app inside your current desktop. The package is not on the AUR yet.

Omarchy

Install the Arch package, then:

herald-os omarchy install

Herald OS becomes an app inside Omarchy. It follows Omarchy's theme and has a row on the Omarchy menu. Super+Alt+H opens it, and Super+Alt+A, C, V, X, E and M ask Hermes about the window, open the command bar, talk, dictate, pick an emoji and show Missions. herald-os omarchy remove takes it all out again. This has been tested against Omarchy 4's own configuration and scripts, but not yet on an Omarchy machine: reports are welcome.

Another Linux

The tarball carries the app and its command-line tools. For x86_64 (use the arm64 tarball on ARM):

sudo mkdir -p /opt/herald-os
sudo tar -xzf herald-os-<version>-linux-x64.tar.gz -C /opt/herald-os --strip-components=1
sudo chown root:root /opt/herald-os/chrome-sandbox && sudo chmod 4755 /opt/herald-os/chrome-sandbox
sudo ln -sf /opt/herald-os/resources/herald-os-linux/bin/* /usr/local/bin/
herald-os setup        # once per user: Hermes Agent and Herald's system tools
herald-os-app          # Herald OS as an app inside your desktop

The whole OS in a virtual machine

On an Apple Silicon Mac, one command downloads the latest release's VM disk (about 2.7 GB) and boots it with Apple's virtualization, so the graphics are accelerated:

brew install qemu zstd
git clone https://github.com/iamlukethedev/Herald-OS.git && cd Herald-OS
bash linux/vm/try.sh

The first start sets itself up in a few minutes, Hermes Agent included. The disk is also on the releases page in two parts, herald-os-<version>-aarch64.qcow2.zst.part0 and .part1: join them with cat, unpack with zstd -d, and it imports into UTM. To build the VM from your checkout instead and work on Herald OS Linux, see Building from source.

How Herald OS fits together

Herald OS Linux is the operating system. Fedora supplies the kernel, drivers and packages, and everything you see is Herald. The machine boots to the Herald splash screen and signs you straight in. The niri compositor arranges the windows, Herald draws the menu bar, dock, notifications, app launcher and system menus, and its theme styles the lock screen. Hermes starts with the session, with tools to see and operate the machine. Linux apps such as Firefox, LibreOffice and VS Code run as windows inside it, and a curated set comes preinstalled. It installs on a PC from the installer image or runs in a virtual machine, and it updates as a whole system you can roll back.

On Arch Linux and Omarchy, Herald OS is a package: the full session from the login screen, or Herald as an app inside Hyprland and Omarchy, following Omarchy's theme and keys.

Herald OS also runs on a Mac, fullscreen over macOS: the same interface, agent and tools, with macOS underneath handling the hardware and your Mac apps. It is the quickest way to try Herald OS, and where most of it is built.

Herald OS does not fork Hermes. It runs a standard Hermes Agent install and adds its system abilities as a regular Hermes plugin, herald-os-bridge.

A look around

What you get

• Hermes at the centre. Overview, Hermes, Miss