Hermes Mission Control Dashboard Setup Guide (04/13/26)

This guide turns the video walkthrough into a practical implementation path for deploying the new Hermes web mission-control dashboard safely, with clear checks and troubleshooting.

Source Video

New FREE Hermes AI Mission Control Update!

Channel: Julian Goldie SEO
Published: 04/13/26
Length: 11m 06s

Watch on YouTube

1) What you will accomplish

Install and run the Hermes Control Interface as a local self-hosted dashboard.
Connect it to your existing Hermes home and verify core pages.
Use one recommended workflow for daily operations: health, sessions, config, cron, and updates.
Harden basic access so the dashboard is not exposed with weak defaults.

2) Prerequisites

Existing Hermes Agent install and a working ~/.hermes directory.
Node.js and npm available in terminal.
Access to run local shell commands on the same machine that hosts Hermes.
A strong password and secret value for the dashboard environment file.

3) Required files and tools

Hermes Control Interface repo: github.com/xaspx/hermes-control-interface
Hermes Agent docs (for baseline setup and gateway operations): hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/docs

Default dashboard URL after startup is http://localhost:10272 unless you change PORT.

4) Step-by-step setup (recommended path)

Step 1, clone and install

Clone the dashboard repo into a stable tools folder.
Run npm install in the project directory.

Step 2, configure secure environment variables

Copy .env.example to .env.
Set HERMES_CONTROL_PASSWORD to a strong unique password.
Set HERMES_CONTROL_SECRET to a long random secret.
(Optional) Set HERMES_CONTROL_HOME if Hermes lives outside default ~/.hermes.
(Optional) Set PORT if 10272 is already used.

Step 3, build and start

Build frontend assets with npx vite build.
Start the app with npm start.
Open the local URL and sign in with your configured password.

Step 4, first dashboard validation pass

Check Home for system health and token-usage data.
Check Agents to confirm your profiles are listed and manageable.
Open one Agent Detail page and confirm tabs load: Sessions, Gateway, Config, Memory, Cron.
Use Maintenance to run diagnostics if something is missing.

5) Daily operating pattern from the update

Start in Home to catch system/gateway issues early.
Use Agents to switch or control multi-profile environments.
Use Usage & Analytics weekly for message/token/cost review.
Use Cron inside Agent Detail to pause/resume or run jobs manually when testing.
Use Maintenance before upgrades to run doctor and produce a debug snapshot.

6) Success checks

Dashboard login works and pages render without API errors.
Your expected Hermes profile(s) appear under Agents.
Gateway controls respond (start/stop/restart) from Agent Detail.
Recent sessions and usage stats load for the selected date range.
Cron jobs can be listed and one test run can be triggered successfully.

7) Troubleshooting

Login works but no agents/sessions appear

Verify HERMES_CONTROL_HOME points to the correct Hermes data directory.
Confirm Hermes has been run at least once and profile data exists.

Dashboard starts but shows blank UI sections

Re-run npx vite build and restart the server.
Hard-refresh browser cache after updating static assets.

Port conflict or unreachable local URL

Set a different PORT in .env, restart, and open the new URL.
Check local firewall rules if remote-device access is required.

Risk: dashboard exposed publicly

Do not expose the service directly to the public internet without a reverse proxy + TLS + access controls.
Rotate password/secret if credentials were ever shared insecurely.