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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.

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Settings reference

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hermes.path
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"
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hermes.cwd
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"
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hermes.profile
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"
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hermes.permissionMode
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:
ValueBehavior
manualA permission card appears in chat for every request. You choose to approve or deny before the action proceeds.
autoApproveAll permission requests are approved automatically. The card is shown briefly and then dismissed.
denyAllAll permission requests are denied automatically.
"hermes.permissionMode": "manual"
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hermes.showThoughts
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.
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hermes.showToolCalls
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.
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hermes.contextAttachVisibility
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:
ValueBehavior
onNewSessionShow the picker after a session reset, until the first successful reply.
alwaysAlways show the picker when prior session memory is available.
neverNever show the memory picker.
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hermes.models
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" }
]
​
hermes.defaultModel
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"
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hermes.agents
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.

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Common configuration examples

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Specify a custom executable and working directory

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

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Use a named profile with auto-approve permissions

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

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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"
}

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Hide agent internals for a cleaner chat

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

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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.