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Jenny Met
Jenny Met

Posted on • Originally published at xufjcn.hashnode.dev

How to Use Hermes Agent with Crazyrouter — 600+ Models, Lower Cost

#ai #llm #api #devtools

How to Use Hermes Agent with Crazyrouter — 600+ Models, Lower Cost

Hermes Agent by NousResearch has quickly become one of the most capable open-source AI agents available. With 57,000+ GitHub stars, built-in terminal access, browser automation, MCP support, and persistent memory, it's a serious tool for developers who want an agent that actually gets things done.

By default, Hermes routes all LLM calls through OpenRouter. But here's something most people don't realize: you can swap the provider to any OpenRouter-compatible gateway without touching a single line of Hermes source code.

This guide shows you how to set up Hermes Agent with Crazyrouter — an AI API gateway that gives you access to 600+ models at prices typically 30-50% lower than going direct.

Why Switch from OpenRouter to Crazyrouter?

Both OpenRouter and Crazyrouter use the same OpenAI-compatible API format. The difference is what you get on the other side:

OpenRouter Crazyrouter
Models available 300+ 600+
Pricing Standard markup 30-50% cheaper on most models
API format OpenAI-compatible OpenAI-compatible
Free tier ✅ ✅
Video/Audio models ❌ ✅ (Sora, Whisper, TTS)
Image generation Limited ✅ (DALL-E, Flux, Midjourney)

The key point: Crazyrouter is a drop-in replacement. Same API format, same model naming convention, different base URL.

Quick Setup (One Command)

If you already have Hermes installed, run this:

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/xujfcn/crazyrouter-hermes/main/setup-crazyrouter.sh | bash
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The script will:

  1. Ask for your Crazyrouter API key (get one free at crazyrouter.com)
  2. Update ~/.hermes/.env with your key
  3. Update ~/.hermes/config.yaml to point to Crazyrouter's endpoint

That's it. Run hermes and you're using Crazyrouter.

You can also pass the key as an environment variable:

CRAZYROUTER_API_KEY=sk-your-key curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/xujfcn/crazyrouter-hermes/main/setup-crazyrouter.sh | bash
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Manual Setup (Step by Step)

Step 1: Get a Crazyrouter API Key

Sign up at crazyrouter.com — it's free, no credit card required. Copy your API key from the dashboard.

Step 2: Edit the Config File

Open ~/.hermes/config.yaml and update the model section:

model:
  provider: "openrouter"
  base_url: "https://crazyrouter.com/v1"
  default: "anthropic/claude-opus-4.6"
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The provider: "openrouter" setting tells Hermes to use the OpenRouter-compatible code path. The base_url override redirects all requests to Crazyrouter instead.

Step 3: Set the API Key

Edit ~/.hermes/.env:

OPENROUTER_API_KEY=sk-your-crazyrouter-api-key
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Hermes reads OPENROUTER_API_KEY when the provider is set to openrouter. Since Crazyrouter uses the same API format, your Crazyrouter key works here directly.

Step 4: Verify 

hermes chat "What model are you using?"
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How It Works Under the Hood

Hermes Agent's architecture makes this swap trivial. Here's why:

  1. Hermes uses the OpenAI Python SDK internally
  2. When provider: "openrouter" is set, it reads OPENROUTER_API_KEY and uses the configured base_url
  3. Crazyrouter exposes an OpenAI-compatible API at https://crazyrouter.com/v1
  4. All endpoints work: /chat/completions, /audio/transcriptions, /images/generations, etc.

No monkey-patching. No forks. Just a config change.

Recommended Models

Once connected to Crazyrouter, you can switch models with hermes model:

Model Best for Input cost
anthropic/claude-opus-4.6 Complex reasoning, coding ~$15/M tokens
anthropic/claude-sonnet-4-5 Balanced speed and quality ~$3/M tokens
openai/gpt-5.2 General purpose ~$12/M tokens
google/gemini-3-pro Multimodal, long context (2M) ~$7/M tokens
deepseek/deepseek-r2 Budget reasoning ~$0.5/M tokens
google/gemini-3-flash Fast tasks, cheap ~$0.1/M tokens

Advanced: Smart Model Routing

Hermes supports smart routing — using a cheap model for simple turns and your main model for complex ones:

smart_model_routing:
  enabled: true
  max_simple_chars: 160
  max_simple_words: 28
  cheap_model:
    provider: openrouter
    model: google/gemini-3-flash
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Simple responses go to Gemini Flash (~$0.10/M tokens), while complex reasoning stays on Claude Opus. This can cut your costs significantly without sacrificing quality.

Advanced: Compression Model

Hermes compresses long conversations to stay within context limits. Route the compression model through Crazyrouter too:

compression:
  enabled: true
  threshold: 0.50
  summary_model: "google/gemini-3-flash"
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Switching Back

If you ever want to switch back to OpenRouter:

model:
  provider: "openrouter"
  base_url: "https://openrouter.ai/api/v1"
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Repository

The setup script and full documentation are on GitHub:

github.com/xujfcn/crazyrouter-hermes

Conclusion

Hermes Agent is one of the best open-source AI agents available today. By pointing it at Crazyrouter instead of the default provider, you get access to more models at lower cost — without changing any source code.

The setup takes about 30 seconds. One config change, one API key, and you're running Hermes with 600+ models behind it.

Get your free API key at crazyrouter.com and try it out.

Crazyrouter is an AI API gateway that provides unified access to 600+ AI models through a single API key. OpenAI-compatible format, no vendor lock-in.

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