Setting Up Hermes Workspace Swarms (Step By Step)

The Hermes agent swarm setup is more straightforward than most multi-agent walkthroughs would have you believe, and this is the step-by-step. By the end of this post, you'll have a Hermes agent swarm running — a multi-agent team with missions routed automatically, all inside Hermes Workspace.

Prerequisites

Three things to check before you start.

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

The second is Hermes Workspace already running. Workspace is the UI Hermes runs in — make sure it's working before adding swarms.

The third is the latest version. If you've had Hermes Workspace for a while, update first because 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 it with the command from the plugin's GitHub page.

This sets up the swarms section inside Hermes Workspace and makes the new orchestration tools available.

Step 2 — Run Hermes Gateway

Open your terminal and start the Hermes gateway with your usual command.

If you're not technical, ask Claude Code to do this for you — 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 you've been using.

Step 4 — Update Workspace

Click "Update" in Workspace to pull in the latest swarms feature. After the 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, and other functions, plus a settings panel and an "Add swarm" button.

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Step 6 — Add Your First Swarm Agent

Click "Add swarm" in the top right and pick a role. Each preset role has a specific function in the swarm.

The Builder drafts content and writes code. The Reviewer checks work and suggests edits. The Triage agent sorts incoming tasks. The Lab agent handles experimental tasks. The Sage handles advisory work. The Scribeex handles documentation and notes.

Each role comes with preset system prompts and skills already configured.

Step 7 — Configure Aurora (The Orchestrator)

Aurora sits at the top of the swarm and her job is to receive missions and route them to sub-agents.

Configure her with a mission description (what the swarm should accomplish) and a 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. An example would be "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, either round-table style or grid layout. You can see blocked agents and ready agents at a glance, and click any agent to view its terminal.

The Files panel shows what each agent has produced as the work proceeds.

Step 10 — Review Outputs

When the swarm finishes, check the generated files in the directory, open browser previews if applicable, read each agent's output for quality, and iterate the mission if anything's off.

Common Setup Issues

There are four issues that come up regularly during setup.

The first is plugin install failure. Re-run the install command, and if it still fails, copy the error and ask Claude Code to debug.

The second is an agent showing "blocked". Click the agent and check its API settings — usually it's the wrong model assigned.

The third is the swarms feature crashing. Hermes swarms can be a bit buggy. Use Claude Code to read the error logs — it communicates with Hermes well.

The fourth is no agents appearing. Make sure you've added at least one swarm agent. The swarm doesn't auto-populate; you add the agents you want.

What To Test First

After install, test with a simple mission. Don't go for production work on day one.

Try something like "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 work and how agents collaborate without risking anything important.

Adding Custom Roles

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

Click "Add swarm" then "Custom". Configure the system prompt with your specific instructions, set the mission scope, and pick the skills (web search, browser, file ops, etc).

Custom roles let you build specialised agents for your specific workflows, which is where the real value of swarms lives long-term.

Phone Access For Swarms

Hermes Workspace supports phone access, which means you can trigger swarms from your phone, check progress remotely, and 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, the next steps unlock real leverage.

The first is to build a custom role specific to your work. The presets are great starting points but custom roles are where the real value lives.

The second is to set up a recurring scheduled swarm — daily content briefs and weekly research summaries are the obvious starting points.

The third is to connect the swarm to channels. Telegram or Discord can trigger swarms remotely. I 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 own use. A content brief that took 90 minutes manually now takes 8 minutes via swarm. Keyword research that took 60 minutes now takes 5. Competitive analysis that took 2 hours now takes 12 minutes.

The setup time pays back in days, not weeks.

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FAQ — Hermes Agent Swarm Setup

How long does setup take?

20-30 minutes including install plus first mission.

Is the plugin free?

Yes — community-built, free.

Do I need to update Hermes Workspace?

Yes. Swarms only work on the 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.