How a local Hermes family agent succeeded and stalled
u/SpecificRutabaga set up Hermes in a Proxmox VM with a local model on a Mac Studio. It built network access and memory tools, but repeatedly promised a network diagram without producing it and overlooked an installed browser.
reddit.com
Suggested prompt
Suggested prompt written by Agents In Use, not the source author. Replace bracketed inputs and review tool permissions first.
Use [existing network MCP tool] to inspect [home network] and create [diagram output file] based on [reference image]. Verify that the file exists and show what it contains. Use already available tools. If you cannot act, state the blocker instead of promising to continue later.
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See placements →Evidence at a glance
Sourced account- Source poster / publisher
- u/SpecificRutabaga
- Original account
- Read the source ↗
- Published
- Source link checked
- Reported result
- The user reports a working MCP connection to a Unifi gateway, a script for Discord task updates and an Obsidian vault synced to Windows. The requested network diagram remained unfinished despite repeated assurances. The source does not establish a fix or the cause of the failures.
- Human involvement
- The user installed and configured the local setup, provided an example diagram and repeatedly checked whether work had happened. No successful remedy is established by the captured thread.
A linked account supports attribution. It does not mean we independently reproduced its result.
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How the agent did it
- The user installed Hermes in a Proxmox VM and connected it to a local model on a Mac Studio.
- Hermes built an MCP server to read network device information from a Unifi gateway.
- It wrote a script for periodic task updates to Discord and helped set up synced Obsidian memory.
u/SpecificRutabaga describes a mixed experience running Hermes as a local family assistant. Their setup put Hermes in a Proxmox virtual machine, with a local Qwen model served from a Mac Studio. Some requests resulted in working tools; others produced repeated assurances without action.
The successful tasks were specific. The user says Hermes built an MCP server for a Unifi gateway so it could inspect network devices and status. It also wrote a script that sends running-task updates to Discord every seven hours, and helped set up an Obsidian memory vault synced to a Windows machine.
A network-diagram request exposed the limitation. The user supplied an example image, but Hermes said it would work on the diagram without actually doing so. In a returned comment, the user reports that even an explicit acknowledgement of this behaviour did not lead to execution. A separate webpage request sent the agent into trying to build a browser despite Chrome already being available through a tool.
The thread does not establish whether instructions, model behaviour or another component caused the failures. It records an unresolved result, not a tested repair. This is useful for people evaluating local household agents who need to distinguish installed tools and confident narration from completed work.
Prompt
Suggested prompt (written by Agents In Use, not the author's)
Source: Reddit · u/SpecificRutabaga
Frequently asked questions
What did the local Hermes setup complete?
The user reports an MCP connection to a Unifi gateway, a Discord task-reporting script and an Obsidian vault synced to Windows.
Did the thread establish a fix for the stalled tasks?
No. The captured account describes repeated failures to act, including after the agent acknowledged the problem, but does not establish a successful repair or a root cause.
More details
Remaining steps
- The user requested a network diagram with an example image, then challenged repeated promises that produced no work.
About this account
Hermes reportedly created integrations, a reporting script and a memory vault from user requests. On other tasks it narrated intended actions without executing them and failed to recognise an available browser tool.
Firsthand account by u/SpecificRutabaga: https://www.reddit.com/r/hermesagent/comments/1x9ytca/my_hermes_agent_keeps_saying_it_will_do_stuff_but/. Public RSS post and returned comments captured on 21 October 2026; RSS coverage is partial. Body eligibility passed at 0.88. Results are author-reported, not independently reproduced. Suggested prompt by Agents In Use, not the author's original prompt.
Credit: u/SpecificRutabaga on Reddit
Source published
Added to Agents In Use
Source checked
Tools and topics
Hermes Agent · Qwen3.8 Flash Next · Proxmox · Mac Studio · Unifi MCP server · Discord · Obsidian
local-models · family-admin · network-tools · failure-account
Editorial completeness: 100/100. Measures documented fields, not agent performance or verified outcomes.