Setting Up Hermes Workspace Swarms (Step By Step)

The Hermes agent swarm setup is straightforward — this is the step-by-step walkthrough.

By the end of this post, you'll have a Hermes agent swarm running.

Multi-agent team.

Mission-routed automatically.

All inside Hermes Workspace.

Prerequisites

Three things first.

1 — Hermes installed

If you don't have Hermes set up, follow How To Setup Hermes Agent.

2 — Hermes Workspace already running

Workspace is the UI Hermes runs in.

Make sure it's working before adding swarms.

3 — Latest version

If you've had Hermes Workspace for a while, update first.

Swarms only work on the latest version.

Step 1 — Install The Swarm Plugin

The swarms feature comes from a free plugin (built by community contributor Eric).

Install with the command from the plugin's GitHub.

This sets up the swarms section inside Hermes Workspace.

Step 2 — Run Hermes Gateway

Open your terminal.

Start Hermes gateway with your usual command.

If you're not technical, ask Claude Code to do this — see Free Claude Code for the trick.

Step 3 — Start Workspace UI

Connect to Hermes Workspace on local host.

You'll see the familiar Workspace UI.

Step 4 — Update Workspace

Click "Update" in Workspace.

This pulls in the latest swarms feature.

After update, you'll see the new "Swarms" entry in the left sidebar.

Step 5 — Open Swarms Section

Click "Swarms" in the sidebar.

You'll see:

Workers for planning, routing, reports, etc.
Settings panel.
"Add swarm" button.

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Step 6 — Add Your First Swarm Agent

Click "Add swarm" (top right).

Pick a role:

Builder — drafts content, writes code.
Reviewer — checks work, suggests edits.
Triage — sorts incoming tasks.
Lab — experimental tasks.
Sage — advisory role.
Scribeex — documentation/notes.

Each role has preset system prompts and skills.

Step 7 — Configure Aurora (The Orchestrator)

Aurora sits at the top.

Her job: receive missions and route to sub-agents.

Configure:

Mission description — what the swarm should accomplish.
Mode — single agent or automatic team.

For most workflows, "automatic team" is the right choice.

Step 8 — Give Your First Mission

In Aurora's section, type a mission.

Example:

"Create a 90-day content plan for AI agent SEO. Plan keywords, draft outlines, and create internal linking strategy."

Click "Route the mission".

Step 9 — Watch The Swarm Work

The Office view shows agents working in real time:

Round table style or grid layout.
See blocked agents and ready agents.
Click any agent to view its terminal.

The Files panel shows what each agent has produced.

Step 10 — Review Outputs

When the swarm finishes:

Check generated files in the directory.
Open browser previews if applicable.
Read each agent's output for quality.
Iterate the mission if anything's off.

Common Setup Issues

1. Plugin install failed.

Re-run the install command.

If still failing, copy the error and ask Claude Code to debug.

2. Agent showing "blocked".

Click the agent.

Check API settings.

Usually it's the wrong model assigned.

3. Swarms feature crashes.

Hermes swarms can be a bit buggy.

Use Claude Code to read the error logs — it communicates with Hermes well.

4. No agents appearing.

Make sure you've added at least one swarm agent.

The swarm doesn't auto-populate — you add agents.

What To Test First

After install, test with a simple mission.

Don't go for production work on day one.

Try:

"Build a simple keyword research document for the topic 'AI agents'. Include 10 long-tail keywords and search intent for each."

Watch the swarm execute.

This gives you a sense of how Aurora routes and how agents collaborate.

Adding Custom Roles

Once you've used the preset roles, add custom ones.

Click "Add swarm" → "Custom".

Configure:

System prompt (your specific instructions).
Mission scope.
Skills (web search, browser, file ops, etc).

Custom roles let you build specialised agents for your specific workflows.

Phone Access For Swarms

Hermes Workspace supports phone access.

You can:

Trigger swarms from your phone.
Check progress remotely.
Read outputs on mobile.

This pairs nicely with OpenClaw Aion UI's phone access for cross-tool ops.

What To Do After First Swarm Works

Once your first swarm runs:

1. Build a custom role specific to your work.

The presets are great starting points; customs are where the real value lives.

2. Set up a recurring scheduled swarm.

Daily content briefs.

Weekly research summaries.

3. Connect swarm to channels.

Telegram or Discord can trigger swarms remotely.

Cover the channel side in Hermes Open Web UI.

Why The Setup Is Worth It

Swarms turn what would be 5 hours of manual work into 10 minutes of orchestration.

Real numbers from my use:

Content brief that took 90 minutes manually → 8 minutes via swarm.
Keyword research that took 60 minutes → 5 minutes.
Competitive analysis that took 2 hours → 12 minutes.

The setup time pays back in days.

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FAQ — Hermes Agent Swarm Setup

How long does setup take?

20-30 minutes including install + first mission.

Is the plugin free?

Yes — community-built, free.

Do I need to update Hermes Workspace?

Yes — swarms only work on latest version.

Will swarms break my existing setup?

Unlikely.

But always back up your config before installing plugins.

Can I uninstall swarms?

Yes — remove the plugin via the same install path.

Do swarms work with cloud models?

Yes — and with local Ollama models.

Can I share swarms with my team?

Each user has their own Hermes Workspace.

You can share the prompts and configs — they recreate the swarm.