Builder mode
Memory and background tasks
Choose where your agent keeps its memory, and turn the background skill curator on or off.
Your paid agent remembers what you tell it between chats. SettingsMemory chooses where that memory lives, and SettingsBackground tasks turns on a curator that keeps your agent's skills tidy, and has the "Timezone" card that sets the time zone your agent runs in.
Memory
Built-in memory
Out of the box, your agent keeps its memory as plain Markdown files, MEMORY.md and USER.md, on its own disk. There's no third-party account and no key, and it costs nothing. Your agent's memories folder is included in its backups.
When your agent starts, MyHermes adds a few standing instructions of its own to USER.md. The rest of what goes into those files is up to Hermes as you talk to it. The dashboard doesn't show or edit them. To give Hermes facts and rules you want it to keep for sure, write them into AGENTS.md on Personality, which you can read and edit whenever you like.
Memory services you can switch to
Open SettingsMemory (open it). The card is headed "Choose your agent's memory." and the "Memory backend" menu offers five choices:
| Choice | What it is | Key |
|---|---|---|
| Built-in (MEMORY.md) | The default: plain Markdown files on your agent's own disk | None needed |
| Honcho | Dialectic memory that reasons about who you are from your conversation history | From app.honcho.dev |
| Mem0 | "Cloud memory with automatic fact extraction and semantic search." | From app.mem0.ai |
| Supermemory | "Hybrid (vector + keyword) memory store with fast retrieval." | From console.supermemory.ai |
| Hindsight | Knowledge-graph memory that links facts, so your agent can follow how they relate | From hindsight.ai |
Every choice except Built-in is a separate service with its own account, and you bring your own key for it.
Switching to another memory service
- In "Memory backend", pick the service.
- Paste your key into the "API key" box under it (the box is labelled with the service's name). Its tag reads "needed" until a key is saved, then "configured".
- Press "Save memory settings". You see "✓ Saved. Use the banner at the top to restart your agent and apply the new memory backend."
- Close Settings. A banner at the top of the dashboard says your memory settings are saved and your agent needs a restart. Press "Apply changes" (see Applying changes).
To go back, pick "Built-in (MEMORY.md)" and save again. A note under it says it's free and runs on your agent's own disk with no key.
- Your key is stored encrypted. It isn't checked with the service when you save, so paste it carefully.
- Keys are kept per service. Saving a key for one never removes a key you saved for another, so you can switch back and forth. When a key is already saved, the box says "Leave blank to keep the saved key."
- Switching doesn't move your memories. MyHermes doesn't copy anything from one service to another. Your built-in files stay on your agent's disk when you switch away.
- If saving fails, you see "Nothing to save." when nothing changed, or a short error asking you to try again.
Background tasks
Open SettingsBackground tasks (open it). It has a switch, "Auto-organize my skills", and a "Timezone" card (see Timezone).
When the switch is on, a background curator runs from time to time and tidies the skills your agent creates for itself: it removes near-duplicates, prunes skills that have gone stale and merges related ones, so the list stays clean as your agent learns. The card recommends it for heavy users. How often the curator runs isn't something the dashboard shows or sets.
| Plan | Starts |
|---|---|
| Mini | Off |
| Pro | On |
- Until you touch it, the switch follows your plan's default, so moving from Mini to Pro turns it on.
- Once you flip it, your choice stays, whatever plan you're on.
- The word beside the switch, "On" or "Off", shows where it stands.
- If the change can't be saved, the switch flips back and a short error asks you to try again.
Like memory, a change to the switch reaches your agent only after a restart.
Timezone
The "Timezone" card, below the switch, sets the time zone your agent runs in. It says "Your agent runs in" and the zone, which is UTC until you change it. The list starts on your browser's time zone, not on the one your agent runs in, so check it shows the time zone you want before you press "Apply".
Unlike the switch above, "Apply" restarts your agent straight away, with no banner step. Your repeating scheduled tasks keep their times; if one can't be moved exactly, nothing changes and the card lists it. Scheduled tasks explains every message the card shows and what happens to your tasks.
If the card says "Your agent needs an update before its timezone can change.", your agent stays on UTC until it gets that update. Only the dashboard can change the time zone: the card in Settings, the line on the Scheduled page, or the Getting started card. Hermes can't change it from the chat.
Applying changes
Memory changes and the curator switch are saved straight away but only take effect when your agent restarts. The same goes for voice keys. The time zone is different: its "Apply" restarts your agent at once, and that restart also applies any Memory, Voice, skill curator or app settings change still waiting in the banner.
- Close Settings. The banner sits at the top of the dashboard page, under the Settings window.
- Its message names what changed, for example that your skill curator setting is saved and needs a restart.
- Press "Apply changes". While your agent restarts, the banner says it's restarting, that this can take a minute and that messaging is paused until it's ready. Then it says "Your agent is back and ready."
"Apply changes" works while your agent is asleep too: it starts your agent with the new settings. If the settings can't reach your agent, the banner stays and a short "Apply failed" message appears, so you can try again.
Common questions
Where does my agent's memory live?
With Built-in, in MEMORY.md and USER.md on your agent's own disk, and your agent's memories folder is included in its backups. With another service, in that service's account, under your key.
Can I see what my agent remembers?
Not in the dashboard. It doesn't show the memory files. For facts you want Hermes to keep, AGENTS.md on Personality is the file you can see and edit.
Does the curator touch my memory?
The switch is described as organizing skills: removing duplicates, pruning stale ones and merging related ones. Memory is set separately, in SettingsMemory.
What's next
- Skills: what the curator tidies, and how to add more.
- Personality: the two files your agent reads in every session.
- Models and keys: the model behind Hermes, and your own keys.