Verdict
Hermes Agent runs comfortably on a Pi 5 (8 GB) provided you skip the browser tool. RAM headroom stays acceptable, and Claude/OpenRouter calls run at network-bound speed. With the Chromium browser tool added, RAM gets uncomfortable and tasks start swapping.
Setup notes
Install Docker via the official Raspberry Pi convenience script. Pull the official Hermes image. Disable the browser tool in the Hermes config; use the curl/file/shell tools only. Add the Pi 5 NVMe HAT: microSD lifespan under sustained agent writes is months, not years.
Performance
No measurement of ours. Raspberry Pi gives a typical bare-board current of 800 mA, about 4 W, before storage and load. With a cloud model, tool-call latency is mostly your LLM provider's network round-trip, not the Pi.
What breaks
- Browser automation tool (Chromium too heavy for 8 GB)
- Local LLM inference beyond Phi-3 mini 3.8B Q4
- Multi-user dashboards under sustained load
Want to know more
See the Hermes Agent page and the Raspberry Pi 5 spec sheet.