Prerequisites

An existing OpenClaw install you have shell access to
Docker installed
The new Hermes API key for your LLM provider

Steps

Snapshot OpenClaw state

Before touching anything, copy everything OpenClaw has on disk so you can roll back.

OPENCLAW_HOME=${OPENCLAW_HOME:-$HOME/.openclaw}
mkdir -p ~/openclaw-snapshot-$(date +%Y%m%d)
cp -r "$OPENCLAW_HOME/config" ~/openclaw-snapshot-$(date +%Y%m%d)/
cp -r "$OPENCLAW_HOME/tools" ~/openclaw-snapshot-$(date +%Y%m%d)/
cp -r "$OPENCLAW_HOME/memory" ~/openclaw-snapshot-$(date +%Y%m%d)/
cp "$OPENCLAW_HOME/credentials.json" ~/openclaw-snapshot-$(date +%Y%m%d)/credentials.json 2>/dev/null || true
cp "$OPENCLAW_HOME/agent.log" ~/openclaw-snapshot-$(date +%Y%m%d)/ 2>/dev/null || true

Rotate every credential the OpenClaw vault touched
Especially if you're on pre-2026.3 OpenClaw — credentials may have been stored in plaintext (CVE-2026-25103). Treat them as compromised.
Install Hermes Agent
Pull the official Docker image, prepare a working directory.
```
mkdir -p ~/hermes && cd ~/hermes
docker pull nousresearch/hermes-agent:2026.4.4
```

Port tool definitions

OpenClaw tools are JSON; Hermes wants YAML with explicit sandbox blocks. A small Python script automates the boring 80%.

pip install pyyaml
cat > ~/migrate-tools.py <<'EOF'
import json, yaml
from pathlib import Path

src = Path.home() / ".openclaw/tools"
dst = Path.home() / "hermes/tools"
dst.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)

DEFAULT_SANDBOX = {
    "network": "deny",
    "filesystem": {"read": ["/workspace"], "write": []},
    "resources": {"cpu_quota": 50, "memory_mb": 256},
}

for tool_file in src.glob("*.json"):
    tool = json.loads(tool_file.read_text())
    tool["sandbox"] = DEFAULT_SANDBOX
    out = dst / f"{tool['name']}.yaml"
    out.write_text(yaml.safe_dump(tool, sort_keys=False))
    print(f"migrated {tool['name']}")
EOF

python3 ~/migrate-tools.py

Review every ported tool
The default sandbox is restrictive on purpose. Tools that legitimately need network access or write permissions need their YAML edited by hand. This is the part that catches most migrations — don't skip it.

Set up Hermes credential vault

Use Hermes' encrypted vault (or OS keyring if your host supports it). Add credentials one at a time.

docker run --rm -v ~/hermes:/data \
  nousresearch/hermes-agent:2026.4.4 vault init

docker run --rm -it -v ~/hermes:/data \
  nousresearch/hermes-agent:2026.4.4 vault add anthropic_api_key
# Paste your Anthropic key, press Ctrl-D

Start Hermes

Launch with Docker Compose using your ported tools.

cat > ~/hermes/docker-compose.yml <<'EOF'
services:
  hermes:
    image: nousresearch/hermes-agent:2026.4.4
    container_name: hermes
    restart: unless-stopped
    volumes:
      - ./tools:/etc/hermes/tools
      - ./data:/data
    ports:
      - "127.0.0.1:8765:8765"
EOF

cd ~/hermes && docker compose up -d

Smoke test
Run a basic task to verify the agent works. Watch the logs to confirm no sandbox errors on the ported tools.
```
docker compose logs -f hermes
```

Decommission OpenClaw

When Hermes is verified working, stop and uninstall OpenClaw. Keep the snapshot directory at least 30 days in case you need to roll back.

# Stop the service (systemd):
systemctl --user stop openclaw
systemctl --user disable openclaw

# Or for non-systemd:
pkill -f openclaw

# Remove the install:
rm -rf ~/.openclaw

# Don't rm -rf the snapshot directory yet.

Troubleshooting

Tool fails with sandbox violation: Edit the tool's YAML to add the specific allowance it needs. Don't disable the sandbox entirely — that defeats the point.
Hermes can't read the credential vault: Check file permissions on the vault file (mode 0400, owner-only). If you mounted ~/hermes into the container, the in-container user needs to match the file owner.

Where to go from here

Subscribe to Hermes Agent's security advisory feed. Configure an automatic update path (Watchtower for Docker, with caveats — read the documentation before enabling).