Hermes agent + Vilix AI: durable memory for self-hosted agents

Hermes already keeps persistent memory and reusable skills locally. Connecting Vilix AI at api.vilix.ai/mcp brings shared context from your other connected tools, enabling Hermes to use decisions and project state recorded outside its own sessions.

How shared memory complements Hermes

Hermes is built on a foundation of persistent memory and reusable skills. Its local memory can preserve preferences and facts across sessions, and skill files retain procedures that worked. Vilix AI complements that local system with a shared account-level store your other connected tools can also read.

The other issue around context is that Hermes's local history does not automatically include work from your other AI tools: what you decided in Claude last Tuesday, what task you parked in Cursor, what constraint you set in ChatGPT. If the agent cannot see any of that, it has a narrower world than you do. Vilix AI connects those worlds.

How Vilix AI works as agent memory

Vilix AI is an MCP-native persistent memory layer. You connect it at api.vilix.ai/mcp and authenticate. Add the Vilix AI instructions or wire its tools into the agent loop. The two that matter most for an agent loop are:

• get_context: loads recent messages, your saved memories, semantically related past conversations, your user_rules, and live project and task state before the agent acts.

• save_turn: persists the exchange after the agent acts, so the next session (or the next tool) can see what just happened.

Because the memory is tied to your Vilix AI account rather than any one process, it is available to every connected tool. Hermes writes, ChatGPT reads. Claude adds to it, Hermes picks it up next run. This is what cross-AI memory looks like when it is wired up correctly: one store, any tool, no copy-pasting.

Read more about the MCP setup in the MCP connector docs and the broader pattern in how to add memory to any agent with Vilix AI MCP.

Connecting Vilix AI to Hermes

Hermes supports custom MCP connectors, which is the same mechanism used by every other agent or tool that connects to Vilix AI. The connection is a single endpoint:

mcp_servers:
  vilix:
    url: "https://api.vilix.ai/mcp"
    headers:
      Authorization: "Bearer ${VILIX_API_KEY}"

Add this server entry under mcp_servers in ~/.hermes/config.yaml. Set VILIX_API_KEY in the environment that starts Hermes; keep the actual key out of shared code and committed configuration. Hermes also supports OAuth configuration where available. Follow the authentication option for your deployment.

After connecting, configure the agent to call get_context with the latest user message, compose the reply, call save_turn with that exact exchange, and then send the saved reply. Reuse chat_id within a conversation and verify that retrieval and saving both succeed.

Skills plus memory: the combined loop

This is where Hermes and Vilix AI together become more than the sum of their parts. Hermes already has a mechanism for skill improvement: it can rewrite its own skill definitions based on what worked in a run. Pair that with Vilix AI memory and the loop looks like this:

• Session starts: Hermes calls get_context, loads the relevant past context, including skill notes and decisions from prior runs.

• Task runs: the agent executes, improves skills, makes decisions.

• Before returning each reply: Hermes calls save_turn with the exact exchange. It can include useful skill notes and outcomes in that saved reply while retaining its local skill files.

• Next session: fresh context is loaded and the agent does not start from zero. It knows what it tried, what succeeded, and what you told it not to do.

Hermes's local skill files can persist across its own sessions. Vilix AI adds a way to share saved notes across connected instances, machines, and other tools in the same account. If you save a project constraint from Claude, Hermes can retrieve it when relevant to a later run.

Projects and tasks for agent workloads

Vilix AI includes a lightweight project and task manager whose state is automatically injected into context. For agent workloads this is more useful than it sounds. You can create a task in Vilix AI (from Claude, from the Vilix AI dashboard, from any connected tool), and when Hermes calls get_context it sees that task as part of its working context. The agent knows what it is supposed to be doing before it starts, not from a prompt you write every time, but from a persistent task record.

When the agent finishes, it can update the task state. The next tool that looks at that project sees the update. This is the coordination layer that self-hosted agent setups typically have to build from scratch.

How this differs from the OpenClaw setup

Both integrations connect an agent to the same Vilix AI endpoint, using each runtime's own configuration. Both runtimes already support persistent local memory. With Hermes, you can combine its reusable local skills with saved notes and decisions from your other connected tools. Vilix AI supplies shared context; Hermes manages its skill files. See the OpenClaw + Vilix AI post for that runtime's configuration steps.

Getting started

If you are running Hermes locally and want memory shared with your other tools, Vilix AI provides a hosted store alongside Hermes's local memory. Connect and authenticate the MCP endpoint, add the Vilix AI instructions, run your first session, and check your Vilix AI memory afterward to see what was saved. The free plan covers getting started. Try Vilix AI free and connect it to Hermes in under five minutes.

Frequently asked questions

How do I add persistent memory to a Hermes agent?

Add Vilix AI as a custom MCP connector by pointing your Hermes MCP config at https://api.vilix.ai/mcp. Hermes will then have access to get_context and save_turn, which can load and persist exchanges when the agent follows the Vilix AI instructions.

Does Vilix AI work with self-hosted agents like Hermes?

Yes. Vilix AI is MCP-native and works with any tool or agent that supports a custom MCP connector, including self-hosted setups. No browser extension is required. Your self-hosted agent connects over the network to Vilix AI's hosted MCP endpoint.

What happens to skill improvements between Hermes sessions?

Hermes already saves reusable skills and persistent memory locally. Vilix AI adds shared context from other connected tools; it does not create Hermes's basic ability to retain skills between sessions.

Can Hermes see context I built up in ChatGPT or Claude?

Yes, if those tools are also connected to Vilix AI. Memory is tied to your Vilix AI account, not the tool, so Hermes can retrieve relevant decisions and context that those tools have saved to Vilix AI.

Is Vilix AI free to use with Hermes?

There is a free plan that covers getting started. The Pro plan at $19.99 per month includes a 7-day full-Pro trial and higher memory limits. You can create your account and connect Hermes in a few minutes.