How to Use Hermes Agent with Free Models on the Nous Portal

Nous Research has been running partnerships that give Hermes users free access to different models. The original promotion was MIMO V2 Pro for two weeks — that one has ended. The current offer is free access to Step 3.5 Flash for ten days. I have been running Hermes Agent on my VPS for a while now, so I wanted to see how these models compare to what I normally use.

I recorded the whole process — account creation, model configuration, Discord hookup, and a quick tour of the Hermes Workspace dashboard.

Current free offer: Step 3.5 Flash

The active promotion right now is Step 3.5 Flash, free for ten days through the Nous Portal. It’s fast and handles most tasks well — code generation, web searches, file editing, the usual Hermes workload. Ten days is enough to put it through real work and see if you want to stick with the Nous Portal after the trial ends.

The Nous Portal also has other free options like Neatron and Trinity that don’t have a time limit, just rate limits. Step 3.5 Flash felt noticeably quicker in my chats than those.

Prerequisites

You need Hermes Agent installed on a VPS before any of this works. If you haven’t done that yet, the Hermes Agent setup guide walks through installation, OpenRouter config, and messaging platform setup.

Hermes Setup / Workspace

Step 1: Create a free account on the Nous Research portal

Go to the Nous Research Portal and sign up. After logging in:

1. Open the Billing section
2. Pick the Free subscription
3. Fill in your details

The billing dashboard shows your token usage once you start chatting. I burned through about 11 million input tokens in my first few days of testing — all free.

Nous Research Portal

Step 2: Configure the Nous Portal provider in Hermes

On your VPS where Hermes is installed, run:

hermes model

Pick Nous Portal from the list. The first time, Hermes spits out a URL. Paste it into your browser, authorize the device, and you are in. Every model on the portal becomes available after that one-time auth step.

Step 3: Select Step 3.5 Flash

Hermes shows you the full model list after authorization. Scroll to Step 3.5 Flash and confirm. Hermes saves the selection.

To verify, just start a chat:

hermes

The model name appears in the response, so you can tell right away which model you’re on.

Step 4: Link Hermes to Discord (optional)

I linked my Hermes agent to a Discord channel so I can message it without SSH-ing into the server. The Hermes Agent setup guide has the full Discord walkthrough. Short version:

1. Create a bot in the Discord Developer Portal
2. Add the bot token to your Hermes config
3. Invite the bot to your server

After that, messages in the linked channel go through Hermes and get answered by whichever model you selected. You can see the model name in the replies.

Hermes Workspace dashboard

Hermes Workspace is a Docker-based web UI for managing your agent. I installed it on the same VPS where Hermes runs. It is basically a control panel where you can view chat sessions and start new ones from the browser, check what the agent has stored in memory, monitor scheduled jobs, open a terminal, and browse files the agent can access. There is also a dashboard page that shows session counts and how many tokens you have used.

If your workspace is exposed to the internet, you can set a password to lock it down.

Hermes Workspace

FAQ

Do I need to pay anything to use Step 3.5 Flash with Hermes?

No. Create a free account on the Nous Research Portal, pick the free tier, and you get ten days of Step 3.5 Flash access. After that, Neatron and Trinity remain free on the portal with rate limits.

Can I still use MIMO V2 Pro?

The free MIMO V2 Pro promotion has ended. If you want to use MIMO V2 Pro now, you’d need a paid Nous Research subscription. The current free promotion is Step 3.5 Flash for ten days.

Can I use other models alongside Step 3.5 Flash?

Yes. Run hermes model any time to switch between Step 3.5 Flash, Neatron, Trinity, and whatever else is on the portal.

What happens after the ten-day free trial?

Switch to another free model on the portal (Neatron, Trinity), connect a provider like OpenRouter, or upgrade to a paid Nous Research tier.

Do I need a VPS to run Hermes?

Yes. Hermes runs on a Linux server. A basic VPS is enough. The Hermes Agent setup guide covers the full install.

Is Hermes Workspace required?

No. It is a nice-to-have web dashboard for sessions, memory, and jobs. Hermes itself works fine from the terminal or through Discord and Telegram without it. For other dashboard options beyond Hermes Workspace, see the best Hermes dashboards roundup.