Hermes Agent API: Use FreeTheAI as a Custom Endpoint

Hermes Agent uses FreeTheAI as a custom endpoint, set up with hermes model or in config.yaml.

Steps

Run the setup wizard
In a terminal (outside a chat session) run hermes model, choose Custom endpoint, and enter the API base URL, your key, and the model name.

The same setup in ~/.hermes/config.yaml:

yaml

model:
  default: glm-5.3
  provider: custom
  base_url: https://api.freetheai.org/v1
  key_env: FREETHEAI_API_KEY

Switch models later
Inside a session, run /model custom:kimi-k3.1-pro to switch to another FreeTheAI model.

How this guide was checked: Checked against Hermes Agent's provider docs (custom endpoint) on 2026-09-29.

Hermes needs a model with at least 64K context. All the recommended FreeTheAI models qualify.
In the Hermes desktop app: open Settings (the gear), go to the Model tab, set Endpoint to Custom Endpoint, press Setup custom endpoint, keep it on Local, enter the API base URL and your key, and press Save. The model list loads by itself.

Yes. Set key_env to an environment variable name, such as FREETHEAI_API_KEY, and export your key there.