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The reliable setup is: create a bot with Telegram’s BotFather, obtain your numeric Telegram user ID, connect both values to Hermes with hermes gateway setup, test the gateway in the foreground, and only then install it as a background service. Keep the bot token secret and restrict messages with TELEGRAM_ALLOWED_USERS; possessing the token authenticates the bot, not the people allowed to use it.
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What you need before starting
This guide connects one Hermes Agent profile to one Telegram bot. Have the following ready:
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- A working Hermes Agent installation and a terminal account that can run its commands.
- A Telegram account on which you can message BotFather and the bot you create.
- The Hermes profile you intend to connect. Configuration is written per profile, so confirm which profile is active before running setup.
- A way to keep the bot token private. Treat it as a password rather than as an ordinary configuration value.
The commands and configuration names here reflect the official Hermes documentation excerpts available on October 14, 2026. Hermes versions can change command labels or wizard prompts; if your installation reports an unknown command, run hermes --help and use the current gateway setup command shown there.
How the Telegram connection works
Telegram handles the chat transport, while Hermes runs the gateway that receives messages and passes them to the selected agent profile. Four values and actions matter:
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| Item | Purpose | Where it comes from |
|---|---|---|
| Bot username | The public chat identity people open in Telegram. It must end in bot. |
Chosen when creating the bot with BotFather. |
TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN |
Authenticates Hermes to Telegram as that bot. | Returned by BotFather after /newbot. |
| Numeric user ID | Identifies the human account permitted to use the bot. | Returned by @userinfobot. |
TELEGRAM_ALLOWED_USERS |
An allowlist of permitted numeric user IDs. | Entered during the wizard or in the profile’s ~/.hermes/.env file. |
The token and allowlist solve different problems. The token proves that Hermes may act as the bot. The allowlist decides which Telegram users Hermes will accept, so a valid token alone does not make every sender an authorized user.
Create the Telegram bot in BotFather
- Open Telegram and start a chat with
@BotFather. - Send
/newbot. - Enter a display name for the bot. This is the human-readable name shown in chats.
- Enter a unique username when BotFather asks for one. The username must end in
bot; for example, a name such asMyHermesHelperBotfollows that rule if it is available. - Copy the API token BotFather returns. Its format is a number, a colon, and a random string. Do not paste it into a public issue, chat, screenshot, shell history shared with others, or source repository.
The display name and username are not the credential Hermes uses. Hermes needs the complete token exactly as BotFather supplied it. If you lose the token, use BotFather’s token-management commands to obtain or replace it rather than trying to reconstruct it.
Choose a name that remains understandable
Telegram usernames are globally unique and can be difficult to change once other people know them. Include the Hermes profile or purpose in the display name, such as a personal assistant or a game-server operations bot, while keeping the username short enough to recognize in Telegram search. The username still has to satisfy Telegram’s uniqueness and bot-suffix rules.
Find your numeric Telegram user ID
- In Telegram, open a chat with
@userinfobot. - Send the start message requested by that account.
- Record the numeric ID it returns.
Use the number, not your Telegram @username. Usernames can be changed; the numeric ID is the stable identifier Hermes uses for the allowlist. Do not add the leading @ to the numeric value.
Allow more than one person
If a trusted second account must use the same bot, obtain that account’s numeric ID separately and enter the IDs as a comma-separated list. For example:
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TELEGRAM_ALLOWED_USERS=123456789,987654321Only add people who should be able to send commands to this Hermes profile. A broad or missing allowlist defeats the access control that protects the bot after the token is configured.
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The documented and recommended route is the interactive gateway wizard.
- Open a terminal in the Hermes environment and run
hermes gateway setup. - When the wizard asks for a channel, select Telegram.
- Paste the complete BotFather token.
- Enter the numeric user ID or comma-separated IDs from
@userinfobot. - Complete the prompts so the wizard writes the gateway configuration for the current Hermes profile.
Keep the token out of terminal recordings and screen shares while pasting it. When the wizard finishes, verify that you configured the intended profile. A successful wizard run writes the values; it does not by itself prove that the gateway can receive a message, so perform the foreground test next.
When the wizard appears to use the wrong profile
Stop before testing if the profile name, working directory, or environment shown by your Hermes installation is not the one you intended. Running setup again in another profile creates a separate configuration. Do not copy a token between profiles simply to make one profile work; each running profile should have its own Telegram bot.
Configure the profile manually with ~/.hermes/.env
Manual configuration is useful for scripted deployments and environments where an interactive wizard is inconvenient. Add these variables to the Hermes profile environment file:
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TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN=123456789:replace_with_the_token_from_botfather
TELEGRAM_ALLOWED_USERS=123456789Replace both example values with your own data. Separate multiple allowed IDs with commas and keep the variables in the ~/.hermes/.env belonging to the profile whose gateway you will start. The file must contain the complete token and numeric IDs; a Telegram username such as @myname is not a valid substitute for the allowlist value.
Wizard versus manual configuration
| Route | Best for | Important trade-off |
|---|---|---|
hermes gateway setup |
Most first-time installations | Guided prompts reduce formatting mistakes and write the profile configuration for you. |
~/.hermes/.env |
Scripts, repeatable deployments, and non-interactive environments | You must select the correct profile and format the token and comma-separated IDs yourself. |
Exact Docker or compose variable-passing details are not established here. If Hermes runs in a container, use the deployment method’s documented environment injection while preserving the same two variable names and the same numeric-ID allowlist.
Run a foreground test before installing a service
Testing in the foreground exposes authentication and allowlist errors before a background service makes them harder to see.
- Start the gateway with
hermes gateway. - Leave the terminal running and open Telegram.
- Open the bot’s chat and send a message from an account whose numeric ID is in
TELEGRAM_ALLOWED_USERS. - Confirm that Hermes receives the message and responds through the bot.
- Press
Ctrl+Cin the terminal to stop the test gateway.
Use an ordinary short message for the first test. The key result is a complete round trip: Telegram delivers the message, Hermes accepts the sender, the agent processes it, and Telegram receives the reply. If the bot does not answer, keep the gateway in the foreground while checking the failure branches below rather than immediately installing a persistent service.
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- The token belongs to an existing Telegram bot and is accepted by Hermes.
- The gateway is running under the profile you configured.
- Your numeric user ID is correctly represented in the allowlist.
- Telegram can deliver a message to the gateway and Hermes can send a response back.
It does not prove that another person is authorized, that every Hermes profile is configured, or that an optional webhook deployment is ready.
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Install Hermes as a persistent gateway
After the foreground round trip works, install the gateway so it can run in the background:
hermes gateway installThe documented platform behavior is:
| Platform or option | Service created | When to use it |
|---|---|---|
| Linux, default | A user-level systemd service | Use for a gateway owned and managed by your user account. |
| macOS | A launchd service | Use the default install for a persistent macOS gateway. |
Linux with --system |
A boot-time system service | Use when the gateway must start as a system service rather than a user-level service. |
The --system option is specifically documented for Linux boot-time service installation. Do not assume it changes macOS launchd behavior. If your service manager reports an error, return to the foreground command, correct the configuration, and rerun installation after the direct test succeeds.
Keep one service per configured profile
A background service starts the gateway for the profile from which you installed it. Before installing, check that the service will read the same ~/.hermes/.env you tested. If you maintain separate development and production profiles, install and manage their gateways independently.
Use the dashboard or desktop QR flow
Hermes’ dashboard and desktop application provide an alternative QR-based setup. The flow creates the Telegram bot, detects your numeric user ID, writes both variables to the profile’s .env file, and restarts the gateway.
- Open the Telegram connection flow in the Hermes dashboard or desktop app.
- Follow the QR prompts to authorize the setup.
- Confirm the bot identity and profile shown by the application.
- Send a test message from the detected Telegram account.
This route is convenient when you prefer not to copy a token and ID through a terminal. It still creates the same credential and allowlist relationship, so apply the same token secrecy and one-profile-per-bot rules. If the application restarts the gateway automatically, you can still use a deliberate test message to verify the resulting profile.
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Run several Hermes profiles safely
Use one Telegram bot token per profile and one gateway per profile. Do not reuse a single token across gateways that are running at the same time.
| Deployment | Correct arrangement | Incorrect arrangement |
|---|---|---|
| One profile | One bot token, one profile .env, one gateway. |
A token copied into unrelated profiles. |
| Two profiles | Two Telegram bots, two tokens, two profile configurations, two gateways. | Two gateways competing for one bot token. |
| Different user groups | Separate bots and allowlists when the audiences should not share a profile. | One broad allowlist containing users who should not access every profile. |
Separate bots make it clear which agent is receiving a message and prevent two running gateways from contending for the same Telegram identity. The rule applies whether profiles are launched manually, as services, or through the dashboard.
Optional webhook mode
Hermes also supports webhook mode. It uses TELEGRAM_WEBHOOK_URL, and TELEGRAM_WEBHOOK_SECRET is required when that mode is enabled.
TELEGRAM_WEBHOOK_URL=https://your-endpoint.example/telegram
TELEGRAM_WEBHOOK_SECRET=replace_with_a_private_secretThe endpoint and secret shown above are placeholders for the values in your own deployment; the example domain is not a ready-made service. Configure webhook variables only when you have deliberately chosen webhook operation and have an endpoint that can receive Telegram requests. For a first installation, the standard gateway setup and foreground test are simpler because they isolate token and allowlist problems before introducing endpoint configuration.
Secure and rotate the bot credentials
Protect the token
- Store the token only in the intended Hermes environment or profile configuration.
- Do not publish it in a repository, paste it into support chats, or include it in screenshots.
- Limit access to the machine and account that run the gateway.
- Keep the allowlist narrow even when the bot is used privately.
Revoke a leaked token
If the token is exposed, open BotFather and send /revoke for the affected bot. BotFather invalidates the old token and issues a replacement. Update TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN in the correct Hermes profile, restart the gateway, and repeat the foreground message test. A replacement token does not remove the need for TELEGRAM_ALLOWED_USERS; rotate both the credential and your access review.
Review the allowlist after personnel changes
Remove numeric IDs that no longer need access. Because the allowlist uses stable numeric IDs rather than mutable usernames, check the actual number before deleting or adding an account. Keep separate lists for separate profiles instead of granting every trusted user access to every agent.
Quick Recap
Troubleshoot a bot that does not respond
| Symptom | Likely cause | Action |
|---|---|---|
| Hermes starts but ignores your message | Your numeric ID is missing or mistyped in TELEGRAM_ALLOWED_USERS. |
Ask @userinfobot for the ID again, correct the comma-separated list, restart the gateway, and retest. |
| Token or authentication error | The token was copied incompletely, belongs to another bot, or was revoked. | Copy the full BotFather token, replace the profile value, and run the foreground test. |
You entered an @username in the allowlist |
Hermes expects numeric IDs. | Replace the username with the number returned by @userinfobot. |
| The wizard completes but the wrong agent responds | Setup was run against a different Hermes profile. | Identify the intended profile, configure it there, and avoid sharing the token across profiles. |
| Two gateways behave unpredictably with one bot | The same token is being used by multiple running gateways. | Stop the duplicate gateway and assign each profile its own bot and token. |
| The service is installed but the bot is offline | The service is reading a different environment than the foreground test, or the configuration contains an error. | Stop the service, run hermes gateway from the intended profile, fix the first reported error, then reinstall or restart the service. |
| Webhook mode refuses to start | TELEGRAM_WEBHOOK_SECRET is missing. |
Set the required secret together with TELEGRAM_WEBHOOK_URL, then restart and test the webhook deployment. |
Recommended setup sequence
- Create one Telegram bot with BotFather and preserve its token privately.
- Get every authorized person’s numeric ID from
@userinfobot. - Run
hermes gateway setupin the intended profile, or set the two variables in~/.hermes/.env. - Start
hermes gatewayin the foreground and complete a real Telegram round trip. - Stop the test with
Ctrl+C. - Install persistence with
hermes gateway install, using--systemonly when a Linux boot-time system service is required. - For additional profiles, create additional bots and repeat the process rather than reusing a token.
- If a token leaks, revoke it in BotFather, replace the environment value, restart Hermes, and test again.
Final pre-launch checklist
- The bot username ends in
botand is the bot you intended to connect. - The complete token is stored privately in the correct Hermes profile.
TELEGRAM_ALLOWED_USERScontains numeric IDs separated by commas, not Telegram usernames.- A foreground
hermes gatewaytest produced a response from an authorized account. - No other running gateway is using the same bot token.
- The persistent service was installed only after the foreground test passed.
- Webhook variables are present only if you intentionally selected webhook mode, with
TELEGRAM_WEBHOOK_SECRETset as required.
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