Telegram Setup

Hermes uses a transparent proxy model — you register your own Telegram bot, and Hermes runs natively inside it. Your bot is yours: your name, your username, your branding.

Create a bot via @BotFather

1. Open Telegram and search for @BotFather
2. Send /newbot — follow the prompts to choose a display name and a username ending in bot (e.g. myhermes_bot)
3. BotFather gives you a token like 7123456789:AAFxxxxxxxx. Copy it.

Register in the dashboard

1. Go to Connections → Telegram
2. Paste your bot token and click Register
3. Done — the system validates your token, stores it encrypted, and registers the webhook with Telegram. If your VM is already running it reboots to pick up the new config.

How messages reach your agent

You send a message in Telegram
    ↓
Telegram delivers it to Hermes' proxy (URL contains your unique webhook secret)
    ↓
Proxy looks up your tenant by the webhook secret
    ↓
Message forwarded byte-for-byte to your VM (port 8443)
    ↓
Hermes processes it, calls the LLM, uses tools
    ↓
Response sent back via Telegram Bot API → you see it

Your VM has no public IP. Only the proxy can reach it, and only with the correct webhook secret. Your bot token is stored encrypted in AWS Secrets Manager — never in plaintext, never in logs.

Other messaging platforms

Telegram is the fastest to set up, but Hermes supports 18+ platforms — Discord, Slack, WhatsApp, Signal, Email, SMS, Microsoft Teams, Matrix, LINE, and more. All platforms share the same agent, memory, and context.

Platform comparison table and setup guides: Messaging Platforms ↗