Creating an Hermes Agent AI profile for researcher

To apply these settings to your Hermes/Gemma 4 setup, you need to interface with two distinct layers: the Ollama model definition (for the hardware/inference parameters) and the Hermes configuration files (for the agent’s behavior).

Since you are on an M5 Max with 128GB of RAM, you have plenty of overhead to push these limits.

1. Configure Ollama (Hardware & Logic)

Ollama settings like num_ctx (context window) and temperature must be set at the model level before launching Hermes. The best way is to create a custom “Research Model” profile.

Run these commands in your terminal:

1. Launch the Gemma 4 prompt: ollama run gemma4:26b
2. Set the parameters inside the prompt: >>> /set parameter num_ctx 32768 >>> /set parameter temperature 0.7 >>> /set parameter top_p 0.95
3. Save it as a new model: >>> /save gemma4:26b-research >>> /bye

Note: Now, when you start Hermes, make sure to point it to gemma4:26b-research.

2. Configure Hermes (Agent Behavior)

Hermes settings are stored in ~/.hermes/config.yaml. You can edit this file directly or use the CLI.

Set High-Stakes Research Mode

Run the following CLI commands to update your configuration:

• Increase Iterations: (Prevents the agent from giving up too early during research) hermes config set agent.max_iterations 60
• Context Compression: (With 128GB RAM, you don’t need aggressive compression. Setting this to 0.7 allows the agent to keep more “raw” search results in memory before summarizing them) hermes config set agent.context_compression 0.7
• Full Transparency: (This shows you every search query it makes so you can spot the exact moment a hallucination starts) hermes config set agent.tool_progress_display all

Update the System Persona

Hermes looks for a file named SOUL.md or uses the global system prompt. To enforce the “No Hallucination” rule:

1. Open ~/.hermes/config.yaml.
2. Look for the system_prompt or persona section.
3. Add this specific instruction:

   “You are a research specialist. If a search result does not contain a specific answer, you must state ‘Data not found’ instead of generating a plausible response. Use the <thought> tag for every step.”

3. The AGENTS.md Power User Move

This is the most effective way to stop hallucinations for specific projects. Hermes automatically injects any AGENS.md file found in your current working directory into its prompt.

1. Navigate to your project folder.
2. Create a file named AGENTS.md.
3. Paste this inside:

# Research Protocol

- Use the 'browser' tool for any claims involving dates, prices, or competitors.
- If the tool returns a 404 or empty result, do not invent the content.
- Cite your sources using [Source Name/URL] at the end of every paragraph.

4. Summary of Commands

Which part of the research usually trips it up—is it finding the right website, or misinterpreting the text once it’s on the page?