Hermes Agent 0.17 Update: iMessage, Background Agents, Unreal Engine Integration
Generated: 2026-06-25 · API: Gemini 2.5 Flash · Modes: Summary
Hermes Agent 0.17 Update: iMessage, Background Agents, Unreal Engine Integration
Clip title: The new Hermes Agent update has me speechless… Author / channel: Alex Finn URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQ1LCFrwj08
Summary
The video introduces Hermes Agent 0.17, highlighting it as the “biggest update ever” and claiming it surpasses OpenClaw in functionality. The presenter outlines eight significant changes aimed at enhancing the agent’s capabilities and user experience across various platforms.
A major update is native iMessage support, allowing users to interact with their Hermes agent directly from their iPhone. This includes asking questions or issuing commands for tasks on the computer, making it ideal for quick, on-the-go interactions, facilitated by the free Photon service. For more complex, long-running tasks, Hermes now automatically utilizes “Background Agents.” This allows the main agent to spin up sub-agents that perform work in parallel, enabling continuous user interaction while the background tasks proceed. A new sub-agent tree visually tracks all active sub-agents and their tool calls. Additionally, the new Profile Builder simplifies the creation and management of multiple Hermes agents, each configured with specific models and skills through an improved onboarding experience.
The update also extends Hermes’s capabilities into development, with new support for Unreal Engine 5.8 MCP (Mixed-Reality Compositing Platform). This integration allows users to leverage AI for building sophisticated 3D games, moving beyond simpler browser-based engines. The Desktop App itself received numerous quality-of-life improvements, including the ability to open multiple chat sessions in separate windows for enhanced multitasking, a quick model selector at the bottom of the interface, and a built-in terminal, eliminating the need to switch between applications. A brand new Skills Hub, accessible via the Hermes dashboard, now offers a centralized repository to browse, install, and even security-scan hundreds of new skills.
Furthermore, Hermes Agent 0.17 features “Smarter Memory Edits,” a continuous self-improvement mechanism where the agent actively creates, updates, and refines its own skills based on interactions and tasks. This leads to significantly improved performance and adaptability over time, requiring no direct user action beyond providing more prompts and commands. Finally, the integration with Telegram has been enhanced with “Better Telegram Formatting,” allowing Hermes to produce richer, more organized outputs, including tables, lists, and various bolding and streaming effects, making data and information easier to consume within the messaging app.
In conclusion, the Hermes Agent 0.17 update delivers a comprehensive suite of enhancements that significantly boost its versatility, efficiency, and user-friendliness across various platforms and use cases. The core takeaway is that users now have “super intelligence at their fingertips,” capable of complex tasks, game development, and self-improvement. The presenter emphasizes that many of these advanced features can be activated and utilized simply by instructing the Hermes agent to do so, highlighting its intuitive, command-driven nature.
Video Description & Links
Description
Hermes agent’s new update is amazing. Here’s a full walkthrough
2nd Youtube Channel: https://youtube.com/@AlexFinnLabsOfficial FULL Hermes Agent bootcamp in the Vibe Coding Academy coming up: https://www.skool.com/vibe-coding-academy Sign up for my free newsletter: https://www.alexfinn.ai/subscribe Follow my X: https://x.com/AlexFinn Henry Intelligent Machines (my new startup): https://meethenry.ai My $300k/yr AI app: https://www.creatorbuddy.io/
Desktop app: https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/desktop
Timestamps: 0:00 Intro 0:26 Native iMessage 2:51 Background agents 5:12 Unreal MCP 6:23 New Desktop App 7:56 Profile builder 9:42 Skills Hub 10:50 Smarter self improvement 12:02 Telegram updates