Hermes Agent Backup: Every Method Scored (Verdict)

Hermes Agent backup is built into the tool as two main commands, hermes backup for the whole install and hermes profile export for one agent, and my verdict is that you need both.

The full backup is the one that saves you after a dead laptop, and the profile export is the one that is safe to share because it strips your keys.

Hermes Agent is the free, open-source agent from Nous Research, and there are seven backup methods around it in total.

This page is the reference version.

You get the scores first, then one section per method with what it does, the exact command, the strengths, the limits and who it suits.

The Hermes Agent Backup Scorecard

These scores are my own judgement out of 10.

They are not measured benchmarks.

I based them on the official Hermes docs, the CLI help on v0.21.4 and my own export and import run, which I documented in my portable Hermes agents guide.

The short verdict is that the full backup is the foundation and the profile export is the sharing tool.

Everything else is a useful extra layer.

What Hermes Agent Backup Has To Protect

Every method on this page is protecting one folder, ~/.hermes.

The configuration docs list what is inside.

• The config.yaml file holds your settings.
• The .env file holds your API keys.
• The auth.json file holds OAuth provider logins.
• The SOUL.md file holds the agent's identity.
• The memories/ folder holds the built-in memory files.
• The skills/ folder holds the skills the agent created or installed.
• The cron/ folder holds your scheduled jobs.
• The sessions/ folder and the state.db database hold your conversation history.
• The plugins/ folder holds installed plugins.
• The profiles/ folder holds each named profile as its own smaller copy of the same layout.

I'm quoting the documented layout and not my own folder.

The two secret-holding files are .env and auth.json, and every verdict below depends on what a method does with them.

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Method 1: hermes backup (The Full Backup)

The CLI help describes it as a zip archive of your entire Hermes configuration, skills, sessions and data, without the Hermes codebase.

Here is the command.

hermes backup
hermes backup -o ~/hermes-backups/ -k 8

The default is ~/hermes-backup-<timestamp>.zip, and -o sets a different file or folder.

The -k flag keeps the newest N backups in the output folder and deletes older ones, and the default is 3.

These are the strengths.

• It covers every profile, all sessions and your global config in one file.
• The docs say it uses SQLite's backup API, so it is safe to run while Hermes is working.
• The docs say it reports files that failed to copy and exits with an error when the archive is incomplete.
• The docs say pruning is skipped after an incomplete run, so older complete archives survive.

These are the limits.

• It includes .env and auth.json, so the zip is as sensitive as a password file.
• It leaves out the source code, dependency environments, downloaded models and runtimes, caches, checkpoints, earlier backups and browser profiles.
• It is not an application image, so you reinstall Hermes before you restore.

You restore it with hermes import <zipfile>.

My verdict is that this is the one method every Hermes user should run, and I score it 9.5.

Method 2: hermes profile export (The Shareable Archive)

It packs one profile into a single .tar.gz file.

Here is the command.

hermes profile export my-agent -o ~/my-agent.tar.gz
hermes profile import ~/my-agent.tar.gz --name my-agent

The docs say /export and /import do the same job inside a chat, and the desktop app has both under ⌘K.

These are the strengths.

• The docs say auth.json and .env are always excluded.
• It carries the persona, skills, memories, sessions, scheduled jobs, config and plugins of that profile.
• The docs say a desktop export also carries your theme and layout.
• The import refuses to overwrite an existing profile, which protects you from a mistake.

My own export of one profile was 2.2 MB with 712 files, and it contained zero credential files even though the source profile had one.

These are the limits.

• The docs warn that it can include memories/, sessions/ and USER.md, and that nothing scans them for personal content.
• It covers one profile per file, so it is not a whole-machine backup.
• You cannot import an archive as the default profile, so you pass a new name.
• The receiver has to add their own keys.

My verdict is that it is the right tool for moving or sharing one agent, and I score it 9.0.

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Method 3: The Automatic Pre-Update Snapshot

The updating docs say hermes update saves selected state files for every profile before it changes anything.

The docs list pairing data, cron jobs, config.yaml, .env and auth.json among the files.

Here are the commands.

hermes update --check
hermes update --backup
hermes update --no-backup

The first checks for an update, the second forces a full zip as well, and the third skips backups for one run.

The updates.pre_update_backup config key takes quick, full or off, and quick is the default.

These are the strengths.

• It happens without you doing anything.
• The docs say Hermes also validates critical files after pulling code and rolls the code back automatically if they fail to parse.

These are the limits.

• The docs say quick snapshots recover state files and not application code.
• The docs say the snapshot is best-effort, so a failed snapshot prints a warning and the update continues.
• The docs warn that a code rollback is not a data rollback, because newer releases can migrate your data.

My verdict is that it is a strong safety net that I'd upgrade to full for any important agent, and I score it 8.5.

Method 4: hermes backup --quick And /snapshot

It is a fast snapshot of critical state files that you trigger yourself.

Here are the commands.

hermes backup --quick -l before-big-change

Inside a Hermes terminal session, the slash command does the same job.

/snapshot create before-big-change
/snapshot
/snapshot restore <id>

These are the strengths.

• It is much faster than a full backup.
• The restore writes database files through SQLite's backup API, according to the slash command reference.

These are the limits.

• The CLI help says it only covers config, state.db, .env, auth and cron.
• The docs say it is not a replacement for the full backup before a migration.
• The /snapshot command is CLI-only.
• Snapshots live inside the Hermes home, so they die with the disk.

My verdict is that it is a good undo button before a risky change, and I score it 7.5.

Method 5: Git For Your Skills Folder

Skills are plain files, so you can put the folder under version control.

Here are the commands.

cd ~/.hermes/skills
git init
git add .
git commit -m "Skills snapshot"

These are the strengths.

• You get a full history of every change to every skill.
• You can undo one bad edit without restoring everything.

These are the limits.

• You have to remember to commit.
• The v0.21.4 backup code skips nested .git folders, so your history is not inside the backup zip and needs its own private remote.
• A key pasted into a skill file would be committed with it.

The CLI help lists hermes skills list-modified, hermes skills snapshot export and hermes sync, which is Skill Sync between your devices.

My verdict is that it is the best way to protect skills you edit often, and I score it 8.0.

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Method 6: Profile Distributions

The docs describe a distribution as a profile published as a git repository.

Here are the commands.

hermes profile install github.com/you/research-bot --alias
hermes profile update research-bot

These are the strengths.

• The docs say the installer hard-excludes credentials, memories, sessions, logs and the state database.
• The receiver can pull versioned updates and keep their own memory.

These are the limits.

• It needs a repository and a manifest file, so it takes more setup.
• It is not a backup of your memory or history by design.
• The docs warn that Hermes does not control git, so the exclusions are not applied when you commit files yourself.

My verdict is that it is the safest way to hand an agent to someone outside your business, and I score it 8.0.

Method 7: Manual rsync

The official FAQ gives a manual fallback that copies the folder directly.

rsync -av --exclude='hermes-agent' ~/.hermes/ newmachine:~/.hermes/

The strength is that it needs no archive step.

The limits are that it copies your keys, it has none of the consistency or damage checks, and it copies caches the real backup skips.

My verdict is that I'd only use it when the built-in commands are not an option, and I score it 6.0.

Restore And Migration: The Reference Steps

Restoring A Full Backup

hermes gateway stop
hermes import ~/hermes-backup-<timestamp>.zip

The docs warn you to stop the gateway first.

The CLI reference says the archive is checked for damage before anything is written.

It also says the import warns you when an older backup replaces newer session data.

Moving To A New Mac Or A VPS

The official FAQ gives five steps.

1. Install Hermes on the new machine with the official install script.
2. Run hermes backup on the old machine.
3. Copy the zip across with scp.
4. Run hermes import on the new machine.
5. Run hermes setup to verify keys and provider config.

The docs say you may need to update paths or sign in to providers again.

Your scheduled jobs travel with the backup, so run hermes pause on the old machine to stop them running twice.

My best Hermes Agent VPS review scores the servers, my Hermes Agent brew guide covers the Mac install, and my Hermes Agent backend guide covers where commands run after the move.

Scheduling It

0 3 * * 0 /full/path/to/hermes backup -o "$HOME/hermes-backups/" -k 8

That system cron line runs a full backup every Sunday at 3am and keeps eight.

Run which hermes to get the full path.

What Hermes Agent Backup Does Not Cover

• It does not cover an Obsidian vault, because a vault lives outside the Hermes home.
• It does not cover local model weights, because the backup skips downloaded models.
• It does not cover the Hermes program, because you reinstall that.
• It does not cover browser logins, because browser profiles are excluded on purpose.
• A profile export does not cover your keys, because they are stripped on purpose.

The vault gap is the one people miss.

I rank the vault first in my best Hermes Agent memory review, and I back it up separately with a private git repository.

One more name causes confusion.

The /rollback command and hermes checkpoints protect your project files during agent work, and the docs say that feature is opt-in.

They are not a backup of Hermes.

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The Restore Test Checklist

My Verdict On Hermes Agent Backup

Hermes has better backup tooling than I expected from a free agent.

The full backup, the key-stripping export and the automatic pre-update snapshot cover the three real risks, which are a dead machine, a leaked key and a bad update.

The weak spots are honest ones.

Nothing is scheduled for you by default, the full zip holds your keys in plain files, and your vault and local models sit outside it.

My overall score for the built-in backup tooling is 9 out of 10.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the best way to back up Hermes Agent?

My verdict is the full hermes backup command on a weekly schedule, plus hermes profile export for anything you share.

What is the difference between hermes backup and hermes profile export?

The full backup is a zip of the whole install with credentials included.

The export is a single profile with credentials removed.

What does a Hermes Agent backup leave out?

The full backup leaves out the source code, dependency environments, downloaded models, caches, checkpoints, earlier backups and browser profiles.

A profile export also leaves out your keys.

Does Hermes back itself up before an update?

Yes, because the docs say hermes update saves a quick snapshot of selected state files by default.

Adding --backup gives you a full zip as well.

Can I restore a Hermes backup on a different operating system?

The official FAQ describes moving an install to a new Linux box with hermes backup and hermes import.

You may need to update folder paths and sign in to providers again.

Also On Our Network

• 🌐 The step-by-step Hermes backup, restore and migration walkthrough
• 🌐 Six real business situations where a Hermes backup saves you
• 🌐 Back up your Hermes Agent OS in five minutes
• 🌐 Benchmark scores for the models you'll reconnect after a restore

📺 Video notes + links to the tools 👉

🎥 Learn how I make these videos 👉

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About Julian

I'm Julian Goldie, an SEO entrepreneur, author and founder of the AI Profit Boardroom, which has 3,400+ members.

I help business owners scale with AI agents, automation and SEO.

• I've built Goldie Agency into a seven-figure SEO and link building agency.
• I've grown my YouTube channel to 400,000+ subscribers.
• I run GoldieBench, where I score AI models on real one-shot builds.
• I wrote "Link Building Mastery", which is available on Amazon.

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Run the full backup, keep the export for sharing, and you'll have covered everything that matters in a Hermes Agent backup.