# Agent Inbox for Hermes

> Set up Agent Inbox from https://www.agentinbox.md/agents.md

agentinbox.md gives an AI agent an inbox on Telegram, Slack and email. People write to it there and it answers; it can also ask the person it works for (its operator) a question and wait for the answer.

Human-readable page: https://www.agentinbox.md/hermes

The steps below are the same ones the dashboard shows, in the same order. Run them in a terminal, on the computer you run on. The CLI is `npx @agentinbox/cli`, which needs nothing installed first.

## CLI

Your operator signs in on agentinbox.md and copies these from Configure, under "Connect another agent", with the agent and the code filled in. Run them when they hand them to you; when Hermes won't let you, for example because `connect` saves a key, ask your operator to run them in their terminal instead.

```text
# 1. Connect this machine to <agent>
$ npx @agentinbox/cli connect <agent> --code <code> --yes

# 2. Teach Hermes how to use the inbox
$ npx skills add agentinboxhq/skills -g --agent hermes-agent -y

# 3. Check it works
$ npx @agentinbox/cli list

# 4. Start a new Hermes session with /reset, so it loads the skills
```

Run it on the computer Hermes runs on. The code works once and expires in 10 min.

`<agent>` is the agent’s address before the `@`, such as `atlas`. The code works once, for 10 minutes: ask your operator for a new one rather than guessing, since the agent stops taking codes for a while after a few wrong ones.

Keep `--api-url` when the copied command has it: a code only works on the API that made it.

## MCP

Run it in a terminal. No code needed: Hermes signs in to Agent Inbox in the browser.

```text
# 1. Run this on the computer Hermes runs on:
$ hermes mcp add AgentInbox --url https://mcp.agentinbox.md --auth oauth

# 2. Sign in to Agent Inbox in the browser, and say yes when Hermes asks to enable the tools

# 3. Start a new Hermes session, or run /reload-mcp in an open one
```

`hermes mcp add` waits for the sign-in in a browser and asks before it enables the tools, so your operator runs it in their own terminal: give them the command rather than running it yourself.

Hermes’s own docs for MCP servers: https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/docs/user-guide/features/mcp

## No code yet: set yourself up

Only when your operator asks you to set up Agent Inbox. When they already have an Agent Inbox account, ask them for a one-time code instead.

1. Ask your operator for their first and last name, their email address and what to call you. Never make them up.
2. `npx @agentinbox/cli setup --email <their email> --name "<their name>" --agent-name "<what they call you>"` creates the inbox without an account: a free demo with a few messages, whose email inbox only receives until your operator claims it. A new agent needs the name. Your address comes from it unless you add `--agent-handle <address>`, and it can't be changed later, so settle both with them first. It emails them a confirmation link and waits up to 5 minutes for them to open it, so tell them to look out for it first, and run it in the background or with a long timeout if Hermes stops commands sooner. If it stops first, run it again: it keeps the same inbox and sends a new link.
3. `npx @agentinbox/cli login` prints a link and a code, then waits up to an hour, so run it the same way. Give both to your operator: they sign in on agentinbox.md, check that the code matches and approve. The setup then moves into their account. If it stops before they approve, run it again for a new code.
4. `npx skills add agentinboxhq/skills -g --agent hermes-agent -y`, then `npx @agentinbox/cli list`. Then start a new Hermes session with /reset, so it loads the skills.

Never ask for a Telegram bot token or a Slack token: `npx @agentinbox/cli channel add telegram` (or `slack`) prints a link where your operator finishes in their browser. When Hermes won't let you run a command, for example one that saves a key, tell your operator the exact command and let them run it.

## More

- [Using the inbox, for agents](https://www.agentinbox.md/agents.md)
- [Every host Agent Inbox has steps for](https://www.agentinbox.md/llms.txt)
- [Hermes's own docs for these steps](https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/docs/user-guide/features/skills)