The Hermes Agent inbox is the hermes inbox command, a labs plugin from Nous Research that shows everything your agent has in flight in one read-only view: failed cron jobs, stalled delegations, orphaned background processes, blocked kanban tasks, running work, results waiting to be delivered, upcoming jobs and open chat sessions. It is not an email inbox. It is a status board for the work your agent is doing.
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Nous Research shipped it alongside Hermes Agent v0.23.0, "The Hearth Release", on 5 November 2026. You install it with one command, run it whenever you want a check-up, and it never changes anything.
If you want to learn to run Hermes for your business step by step, the AI Profit Boardroom has Hermes courses, daily updates and weekly coaching calls.
What the Hermes Agent inbox actually is
Once an agent runs for a while, it starts doing a lot at once. A cron job runs every morning. A delegated research task runs in the background. A dev server sits in a terminal. A kanban task waits on someone. Without a single view, you find out something broke when a customer tells you.
The plugin README describes hermes inbox as one read-only view of "what needs your attention, what is running, which background results are waiting, what is scheduled and which chat surfaces are open." Nous says it was inspired by Cursor's Inbox.
Three things stand out from the docs:
- Read-only. It reads Hermes' own files and databases and never writes, repairs or prunes them. SQLite databases are opened in read-only mode.
- Nothing runs during chats. It adds one CLI command. No model tools, no hooks, no dependencies beyond Hermes itself.
- Nothing leaves your machine. The catalog entry says it "sends nothing anywhere."
The docs also say it works whether or not a gateway is running.
Why the Hermes Agent inbox matters for a small business
Small teams don't have someone watching logs all day. If your agent runs a nightly report, answers leads or prepares support replies, you need a fast way to see what failed and what is stuck.
That's the job here. One command shows what needs fixing first. The "Needs attention" section always prints, even when it is empty, so an empty inbox reads as all clear.
Here's the old way versus the new way. The old way: open the cron file, check the process list, look at the kanban board and scroll old chats to work out what happened overnight. The new way: type hermes inbox and read one list.
If you run scheduled jobs, pair this with my guide to the Hermes Agent cron job. If you hand work to subagents, the Hermes delegation guide covers how those tasks start.
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How to set up the Hermes Agent inbox step by step
Setup takes a minute. The README lists no configuration at all.
- Install the plugin. Run hermes plugins install inbox in your terminal. It installs from the Hermes plugin catalog.
- Open the view. Run hermes inbox. You get the sections listed in the table below.
- Get JSON for scripts. Run hermes inbox --json for the same snapshot as JSON, for scripts and dashboards.
- Check another profile. Run hermes -p work inbox, swapping "work" for your profile name. The README says to install the plugin in that profile too.
- Let the agent check itself. The README says the agent can still use it: ask it to run hermes inbox --json in the terminal.
If you run separate profiles for separate jobs, my guide to Hermes multiple profiles explains how they work.
Want help deciding which agent jobs to watch first? Book a free AI strategy session and we'll map it out.
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Hermes Agent inbox sections explained
The README splits the view into five sections. Empty sections are left out, except "Needs attention" and "In progress", which always print.
| Section | What appears there (per the README) |
|---|---|
| Needs attention | Stalled or unknown delegations, delegation results dropped after failed deliveries (last 7 days), cron jobs whose last run failed or that were paused with a reason, background processes whose PID is gone, kanban tasks that are blocked or waiting for review |
| In progress | Live background processes, running async delegations, running kanban tasks |
| Finished, result not yet delivered | Delegations that completed but whose result has not reached its conversation yet |
| Scheduled | Enabled cron jobs and the next five runs |
| Open surfaces | Open CLI, TUI, Desktop and gateway chat sessions whose process is still alive, with the session title |
It reads from Hermes' own stores: the process registry, the cron jobs file, the active session list, the state database and the kanban board. The kanban board is shared across profiles. If you use the board, see my Hermes kanban guide.
If a source is missing or unreadable, the section stays empty and is named at the bottom under "Not read". A locked database gives up after 2 seconds instead of hanging.
Hermes Agent inbox workflows you can copy
These are illustrations of how a small business could use the command. Adjust the job names to your own setup.
Morning check-up
Start each day with one command:
hermes inbox
Read "Needs attention" first. A failed nightly job shows up there with its error. Then glance at "Scheduled" to confirm today's runs are lined up.
Ask the agent to triage its own work
Paste this prompt into a Hermes chat:
Run hermes inbox --json in the terminal. List every item under Needs attention, explain the likely cause of each in one line, and suggest the fix. Do not change anything until I approve.
This fits teams using Hermes for support or sales follow-ups. See Hermes Agent for customer support and Hermes Agent for sales for those setups.
A daily status message
Set up a cron job with a prompt like:
Every weekday at 8am, run hermes inbox --json. If Needs attention has items, send me a short summary. If it is empty, reply "all clear".
The JSON output was built "for scripts and dashboards", so it is the right format for automation. If you want a fuller visual board, compare it with the options in my Hermes Agent dashboard guide.
Check a client profile
Agencies running one profile per client can run hermes -p clientname inbox to see only that client's jobs, provided the plugin is installed in that profile.
Inside the AI Profit Boardroom you get Hermes workflows like these, plus my Agent OS and live coaching.
Hermes Agent inbox limits and safety
Know these before you rely on it.
- It is a labs plugin. The labs repo says these plugins were built by Nous Research but are not supported. There is "no promise of fixes", and a core change may break a plugin before anyone notices. The catalog lists it in the community tier, not as official.
- It doesn't show pending approvals. Approvals and clarify prompts live in the memory of the process that asked. The README says to answer them in that chat.
- It doesn't fix anything. It shows problems. You or your agent still have to fix them.
- Sandboxed processes show as sandboxed. PIDs inside a sandbox backend can't be probed. If you use the new Linux sandbox, read my Hermes Agent bubblewrap guide.
- Profiles need their own install. Checking another profile needs the plugin installed there too.
Because it is read-only and sends nothing anywhere, the risk is low. The main risk is assuming it shows everything when it doesn't.
For more add-ons worth installing, see the best Hermes Agent plugins. For how I run Hermes day to day, read my Agent OS guide. For how I test models before using them, see Goldie Bench.
If you want a second pair of eyes on your agent setup, book a free AI strategy session.
Hermes Agent inbox FAQ
Is the Hermes Agent inbox an email inbox?
No. hermes inbox shows the agent's own work: cron jobs, delegations, background processes, kanban tasks and open sessions. If you want Hermes to work with email, see my Hermes email skill guide.
How do I install hermes inbox?
Run hermes plugins install inbox. It adds one CLI command, hermes inbox. The README lists no configuration.
Is hermes inbox supported by Nous Research?
It is a labs plugin. The labs repo says Nous Research built it but does not support it, and the catalog lists it in the community tier. Nous says CI runs every labs plugin against current Hermes nightly, so breakage is at least visible.
Can hermes inbox change or delete my jobs?
No. The README says everything is read-only. It never writes, repairs or prunes a store.
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