> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.firecrawl.dev/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Hermes Agent

> Use Firecrawl as the default web search and extract backend in Hermes Agent

<Note>
  **Official Hermes docs:** [Web search](https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/docs/user-guide/features/web-search) · [Browser](https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/docs/user-guide/features/browser)

  [Hermes Agent](https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/) by Nous Research uses Firecrawl as the default backend for `web_search` and `web_extract`
</Note>

## Overview

Hermes Agent is an open source terminal and desktop agent from Nous Research. It ships with web tools:

| Tool              | What it does                                 |
| ----------------- | -------------------------------------------- |
| **`web_search`**  | Search the web and return ranked results     |
| **`web_extract`** | Fetch and extract readable content from URLs |

Firecrawl is the **default** provider for both search and extract. Set `FIRECRAWL_API_KEY`, use a self hosted `FIRECRAWL_API_URL`, or use Nous Tool Gateway. If you have credentials for multiple providers, select Firecrawl in `hermes tools` or `config.yaml`. Browser automation through Firecrawl cloud mode is optional.

## Quick start

1. Install Hermes Agent from [hermes-agent.nousresearch.com](https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/)
2. Add your Firecrawl key:

```bash theme={null}
# ~/.hermes/.env
FIRECRAWL_API_KEY=fc-your-key-here
```

Get a key at [firecrawl.dev](https://www.firecrawl.dev/app/api-keys).

3. Or configure interactively:

```bash theme={null}
hermes tools
```

Choose **Web Search & Extract** → **Firecrawl**.

4. Verify:

```bash theme={null}
hermes setup
```

## Capabilities

| Capability           | In Hermes                                 |
| -------------------- | ----------------------------------------- |
| **Search**           | Default `web_search` backend              |
| **Extract / scrape** | Default `web_extract` backend             |
| **Browser**          | Optional Firecrawl cloud browser provider |

### Use Firecrawl for one capability only

Hermes lets you pick search and extract backends independently, so you can pair a free search backend with Firecrawl extraction (or the reverse):

```yaml theme={null}
# ~/.hermes/config.yaml
web:
  search_backend: "searxng"
  extract_backend: "firecrawl"
```

When those keys are empty, both fall through to `web.backend`, and then Hermes auto detects from available credentials. Other provider credentials can take priority over Firecrawl during auto detection, so set `search_backend`, `extract_backend`, or `web.backend` explicitly when you want to guarantee that Firecrawl is used.

### Browser cloud mode

To use Firecrawl for browser automation:

```bash theme={null}
# ~/.hermes/.env
FIRECRAWL_API_KEY=fc-your-key-here
```

```bash theme={null}
hermes setup tools
# → Browser Automation → Firecrawl
```

Optional:

```bash theme={null}
# Self hosted Firecrawl (default cloud API otherwise)
FIRECRAWL_API_URL=http://localhost:3002

# Session TTL in seconds (default: 300)
FIRECRAWL_BROWSER_TTL=600
```

## Nous Portal (managed Firecrawl)

With a paid [Nous Portal](https://portal.nousresearch.com/) subscription, web search and extract can run through Hermes **Tool Gateway** with managed Firecrawl. No separate Firecrawl key is required:

```bash theme={null}
hermes setup --portal
```

Existing installs can enable web tools via `hermes tools`.

## Self hosted Firecrawl

```bash theme={null}
# ~/.hermes/.env
FIRECRAWL_API_URL=http://localhost:3002
```

When `FIRECRAWL_API_URL` is set, the API key is optional if Firecrawl server auth is disabled (`USE_DB_AUTHENTICATION=false` on the Firecrawl instance).

## Resources

* [Hermes Agent](https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/)
* [Hermes web search docs (Firecrawl default)](https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/docs/user-guide/features/web-search#firecrawl-default)
* [Hermes browser docs (Firecrawl cloud mode)](https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/docs/user-guide/features/browser#firecrawl-cloud-mode)
* [Firecrawl search](/features/search)
* [Firecrawl scrape](/features/scrape)
* [Nous Research models quickstart](/quickstarts/nous-research) (API tool calling with Hermes models)