Generated: 2026-05-18 · API: Gemini 2.5 Flash · Modes: Summary
Hermes Agent /goal: Delegating Complex, Long-Running Tasks to Autonomous AI
Clip title: Hermes /goal is insane… just watch Author / channel: David Ondrej URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9oOZ3PB6n4Y
Summary
The video introduces Hermes Agent’s groundbreaking new feature, /goal, which the presenter hails as potentially the most important command of 2026 for AI agents. This feature allows users to delegate complex, long-running tasks that would typically require 10+ hours, or even days, of human effort. Key capabilities highlighted include autonomously growing a business, refactoring entire codebases across different programming languages, and completing any task with a clearly defined, objective outcome. The video notes that other prominent AI companies like Codex and Claude Code are also integrating similar /goal functionalities.
The concept of autonomous agents working towards a goal evolved from earlier “Ralph Loops,” which were simple task-agent-filesystem iterations lacking a clear stopping condition, token management, and a defined objective, often leading to infinite loops. The breakthrough came with OpenAI’s Codex /goal feature, which allowed agents to work towards a verifiable stopping condition, building, testing, and stopping when all requirements passed. Hermes Agent subsequently released its own /goal feature, distinguishing itself with enhanced capabilities. Hermes Agent’s /goal incorporates an unbiased “Judge” AI that continuously evaluates the agent’s progress against the set goal, an assignment of subgoals, and the ability to set turn limitations. Furthermore, it benefits from the full Hermes Agent harness, offering features like checkpoints, rollback, crash recovery, session persistence, and interactive mid-run controls, making it significantly more robust than previous iterations.
The video demonstrates these capabilities through two main use cases. First, Hermes Agent is tasked with generating a 5-slide presentation based on a Midjourney image style. Initially, Hermes encounters a bot-protection hurdle when trying to download the image, but remarkably, it learns from this failure and automatically creates a new skill to bypass the protection and successfully completes the presentation. Second, a more complex scenario involves using Hermes as a CEO to orchestrate Codex sub-agents as CTOs to build a modern Next.js team weekly reporting app and a B2B marketing campaign. Hermes delegates tasks, manages authentication, and drives the project to successful completion, demonstrating its ability to coordinate multiple AI entities towards a business objective. The presenter emphasizes that the success of /goal hinges on providing a precisely defined and measurable end state, illustrating this with examples like selling excess farm produce, refactoring complex codebases, and backfilling thousands of data records overnight.
In conclusion, the /goal feature in Hermes Agent marks a significant leap in AI agent autonomy, enabling machines to independently pursue complex, multi-stage objectives without constant human oversight. The core takeaway is the critical importance of clearly defining the desired end outcome for the agent, rather than vague instructions. By providing specific, measurable criteria, users can leverage Hermes Agent to automate tasks ranging from technical development and content creation to complex business initiatives, fundamentally changing how work can be approached and scaled. The presenter encourages users to adopt this technology to gain a competitive advantage and explore its vast potential for automation and growth.
Video Description & Links
Description
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Hermes Agent ++ /Goals
Tags
David Ondrej, david ondrej, AI, ChatGPT, artificial intelligence, ai, Artificial Intelligence, OpenAI, chatgpt, chat gpt, Chat GPT, AGI, midjourney, david ondrej podcast, GPT, new society, david ondrej new society, david ondrej community, make money with AI, AI Agents, ai agent, AI Agent Startup, AI SaaS, AI Startup, Hermes agent, hermes, /goals
URLs
- https://hostinger.com/davidhermes
- https://www.davidondrej.com/hermes-ceo
- https://www.skool.com/new-society
- https://www.scalesoftware.ai/
- https://www.instagram.com/davidondrej1/
- https://x.com/DavidOndrej1
Related Concepts
- Task Delegation — Wikipedia
- Autonomous AI — Wikipedia
- Complex Problem Solving — Wikipedia
- Long-Running Tasks — Wikipedia