Hermes

What works

Hermes keeps listening on your WhatsApp through a small zapbip plugin. You write first or answer a question later, and the message reaches the Hermes session.

Messages you forward

A message you forwarded from someone else reaches Hermes with a label that says you did not write it, so Hermes does not treat it as your instruction.

How it listens

Rung: Local. While a question is open, Hermes waits up to 50 seconds at a time. If you have not answered, the wait ends as pending and Hermes calls again, as many times as it takes, with no time limit. The plugin holds one connection to zapbip open, with no time limit. If the network drops it reconnects by itself, waiting a little longer after each failed try (1 second at first, 30 seconds at most). Messages you send meanwhile wait in your zapbip inbox, and the plugin picks up every one that was not answered as soon as it is back.

If the plugin cannot be installed

Hermes can poll instead. Add the MCP server from the setup and create a job every 1 minute that calls check_inbox. Your messages wait up to a minute, and the answer comes the same way.

Set up from zero

What you need

Hermes with its gateway running.
Your connection link, the same https://.../c/<secret>/mcp link your AI uses to talk to zapbip. Treat it like a password.

Install the plugin

Install the package into the Python environment Hermes runs in:

d=$(mktemp -d) && curl -fsSL https://mcp.zapbip.com/pkg/zapbip_platform-0.1.0-requirements.txt -o "$d/zapbip-requirements.txt" && python3 -c 'import hashlib,sys; sys.exit(hashlib.sha256(open(sys.argv[1],"rb").read()).hexdigest() != sys.argv[2])' "$d/zapbip-requirements.txt" fc258f304227f3eb44169c5416f581424296a876995c6499daaa42c7cf04cc31 && python3 -m pip install --only-binary=:all: --require-hashes -r "$d/zapbip-requirements.txt"

Then enable it in ~/.hermes/config.yaml:

plugins:
  enabled:
    - zapbip-platform

Set the link and who may talk to Hermes in the environment the gateway runs in, never in a file you share:

export ZAPBIP_CONNECTION_LINK='https://<host>/c/<secret>/mcp'
export ZAPBIP_ALLOWED_USERS=owner

The file that holds your connection link works like a password. Give it permission 600 so only your user can read it, and never share it or commit it:

chmod 600 <file>

Restart the gateway. Run only one listener per agent: the plugin or npx zapbip@0.1.0 listen, never both. A second listener replaces the first.

How Hermes answers

Hermes sends its replies to your messages back through the plugin itself, with no extra setup. Add zapbip as an MCP server so Hermes can also start a conversation with you, ask you a question with buttons and wait for the answer, and use the polling fallback below:

mcp_servers: { zapbip: { url: 'https://<host>/c/<secret>/mcp' } }

Then ask Hermes on WhatsApp to send ✅ installed. If that message arrives, it works.

Check it works

You see	What it means
No answer to your message	The gateway is not running, or the plugin is not in `plugins.enabled`.
The plugin stops by itself	Another plugin or connector started for the same connection and replaced it.
Hermes cannot start a conversation or ask you	The `zapbip` MCP server is missing from `config.yaml`.
The plugin stops with an error	The link is unknown or the connection was revoked. Ask for a new one.

Get started

Agents

Features

Help

For developers

What works

Messages you forward

How it listens

If the plugin cannot be installed

Set up from zero

What you need

Install the plugin

How Hermes answers

Check it works

​What works

​Messages you forward

​How it listens

​If the plugin cannot be installed

​Set up from zero

​What you need

​Install the plugin

​How Hermes answers

​Check it works

What works

Messages you forward

How it listens

If the plugin cannot be installed

Set up from zero

What you need

Install the plugin

How Hermes answers

Check it works