Hermes Agent Settings — VS Code Extension Reference

You can open the Hermes Agent settings at any time by pressing Ctrl+, (or Cmd+, on macOS) and searching for Hermes, or by clicking the gear icon in the chat title bar. Changes to connection-related settings take effect immediately via an automatic reconnect — no manual restart required.

Settings reference

string

default:"\"\""

Path to the Hermes executable. Leave this empty to let the extension auto-detect hermes from your system PATH. Set an absolute path here if you have multiple Hermes installations or if the binary is not on PATH.

"hermes.path": "/usr/local/bin/hermes"

string

default:"\"\""

Working directory used for all Hermes sessions. Leave empty to default to the workspace root folder. Set an absolute path to pin sessions to a specific directory regardless of which workspace you open.

"hermes.cwd": "/projects/my-app"

string

default:"\"\""

Hermes profile name passed to the CLI as hermes --profile <name>. Leave empty to use the Hermes default profile. Profiles let you store separate model, tool, and API-key configurations in your Hermes config file.

"hermes.profile": "work"

string

default:"\"manual\""

Controls how the extension responds when Hermes requests permission to perform an action such as writing a file or running a terminal command. Accepted values:

Value	Behavior
`manual`	A permission card appears in chat for every request. You choose to approve or deny before the action proceeds.
`autoApprove`	All permission requests are approved automatically. The card is shown briefly and then dismissed.
`denyAll`	All permission requests are denied automatically.

"hermes.permissionMode": "manual"

boolean

default:"true"

When true, the agent’s internal reasoning steps (“thinking” tokens) are displayed in the chat as a collapsible block above the final response. Set to false to hide them and keep the chat output concise.

boolean

default:"true"

When true, a notification bubble appears in the chat whenever Hermes invokes a tool (for example, reading a file or calling an MCP server). Set to false to suppress these notifications.

string

default:"\"onNewSession\""

Controls when the session memory picker is shown in the chat input bar. The picker lets you carry prior session messages into a new conversation. Accepted values:

Value	Behavior
`onNewSession`	Show the picker after a session reset, until the first successful reply.
`always`	Always show the picker when prior session memory is available.
`never`	Never show the memory picker.

array

default:"[]"

A fallback list of models displayed in the Model dropdown when Hermes does not return ACP configOptions with a model selector. Each item requires an id (sent to the API) and a name (shown in the UI).

"hermes.models": [
  { "id": "claude-sonnet", "name": "Claude Sonnet" },
  { "id": "gpt-4o", "name": "GPT-4o" }
]

string

default:"\"\""

The model id from hermes.models that is pre-selected when the extension starts. This setting only applies to the fallback model list — if Hermes exposes its own model selector, the default is controlled by your Hermes profile configuration instead.

"hermes.defaultModel": "claude-sonnet"

array

default:"[]"

A list of named agent configurations available for quick switching from the chat toolbar. Each entry can override the executable path, Hermes profile, and working directory independently. Only name is required.

"hermes.agents": [
  { "name": "Default", "profile": "" },
  { "name": "Fast", "path": "/usr/local/bin/hermes", "profile": "fast" },
  { "name": "Research", "profile": "research", "cwd": "/projects/research" }
]

See Multiple Agents for a full walkthrough.

Common configuration examples

Specify a custom executable and working directory

{
  "hermes.path": "/opt/homebrew/bin/hermes",
  "hermes.cwd": "/projects/my-app"
}

Use a named profile with auto-approve permissions

{
  "hermes.profile": "dev",
  "hermes.permissionMode": "autoApprove"
}

Define fallback models when Hermes exposes no model list

{
  "hermes.models": [
    { "id": "claude-opus-4-5", "name": "Claude Opus 4.5" },
    { "id": "claude-sonnet-4-5", "name": "Claude Sonnet 4.5" },
    { "id": "gpt-4o", "name": "GPT-4o" }
  ],
  "hermes.defaultModel": "claude-sonnet-4-5"
}

Hide agent internals for a cleaner chat

{
  "hermes.showThoughts": false,
  "hermes.showToolCalls": false
}

Always show the session memory picker

{
  "hermes.contextAttachVisibility": "always"
}

Changes to hermes.path, hermes.cwd, and hermes.profile are connection-related settings. The extension automatically reconnects when you save any of these values — you do not need to reload the window or restart VS Code.

Get Started

Core Features

Configuration

Reference

Hermes Agent Settings — VS Code Extension Reference

Settings reference

Common configuration examples

Specify a custom executable and working directory

Use a named profile with auto-approve permissions

Define fallback models when Hermes exposes no model list

Hide agent internals for a cleaner chat

Always show the session memory picker

​Settings reference

​Common configuration examples

​Specify a custom executable and working directory

​Use a named profile with auto-approve permissions

​Define fallback models when Hermes exposes no model list

​Hide agent internals for a cleaner chat

​Always show the session memory picker

Settings reference

Common configuration examples

Specify a custom executable and working directory

Use a named profile with auto-approve permissions

Define fallback models when Hermes exposes no model list

Hide agent internals for a cleaner chat

Always show the session memory picker