Multi-Channel AI Setup with Hermes Agent

One model. Multiple channels. Isolated context per room.

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What This Does

You have one Slack workspace. You want one AI assistant that behaves differently in different channels:

• #finance → financial planning, budget tracking
• #engineering → code review, architecture decisions
• #learning → documentation, learning, ops

Messages in one channel never leak into another. Each room is a separate conversation. The AI responds without @mentions — just type.

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Prerequisites

• Hermes Agent installed and running (https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/docs)
• Slack workspace where you are admin or have app management rights
• Time: 15–30 minutes if everything goes right. We spent 2–3 hours across multiple sessions. The hope is this guide compresses that into one sitting.

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Step-by-Step

Step 1: Create Slack App

1. Go to https://api.slack.com/apps
2. Create New App → From scratch
3. Name it, select your workspace

Step 2: Enable Socket Mode

1. Left sidebar → Socket Mode
2. Toggle Enable Socket Mode → ON
3. Generate an App-Level Token with scope connections:write
4. Copy the xapp-1-... token

Step 3: Add OAuth Scopes

Go to OAuth & Permissions → Bot Token Scopes:

app_mentions:read
channels:history
channels:read
chat:write
chat:write.public
groups:read          ← CRITICAL for private channels
im:history
im:read
im:write
mpim:read
reactions:write
users:read

Click Reinstall to Workspace. Copy the new xoxb-... token.

Step 4: Subscribe to Events

Go to Event Subscriptions:

1. Toggle Enable Events → ON
2. Under Subscribe to bot events, add:

   app_mention
   message.channels
   message.groups       ← CRITICAL for private channels
   message.im

3. Click Save Changes

Note: message.groups only appears if you have the groups:read scope. If missing, add the scope, reinstall, then return here.

Step 5: Configure Hermes .env

nano ~/.hermes/profiles/<profile>/.env

SLACK_BOT_TOKEN=xoxb-...
SLACK_APP_TOKEN=xapp-1...
SLACK_ALLOWED_USERS=U0XXXXXXX

Find your user ID: Slack → Profile → About tab.

Step 6: Configure config.yaml

nano ~/.hermes/profiles/<profile>/config.yaml

slack:
  require_mention: false
  free_response_channels: "C0XXXXXXX,C0YYYYYYY,C0ZZZZZZZ"
  allowed_channels: "C0XXXXXXX,C0YYYYYYY,C0ZZZZZZZ"

Channel IDs: right-click any channel → Copy link → extract the ID.

Step 7: Invite Bot to Private Channels

In each private channel:

/invite @HermesAgent

Without this, Slack never sends message events for that channel.

Step 8: Start the Gateway

hermes --profile <profile> gateway run --replace

Watch for:

✓ slack connected
Authenticated as @hermesagent in workspace <name>
Socket Mode connected (1 workspace(s))

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How It Works

Session Isolation

Hermes builds a session key for every message based on where it comes from:

agent:main:slack:channel:<channel_id>:<user_id>

This means each channel gets its own isolated context. A conversation about budgets in #finance never appears in #engineering.

Storage

Sessions live in SQLite (~/.hermes/profiles/<profile>/state.db). They survive gateway restarts and reboots.

Reset Behavior

In config.yaml:

session_reset:
  mode: both       # resets at fixed hour OR after idle time
  at_hour: 3       # 3am daily reset
  idle_minutes: 180 # or after 3 hours of inactivity

Mode	Behavior
both	Reset after idle time OR at daily hour
idle	Reset only after N minutes of inactivity
daily	Reset at fixed hour every day
none	Never auto-reset — sessions live until /reset

Default for most users: both — balanced between continuity and freshness.

Manual Reset

When you want a fresh start in a channel:

/reset

This clears the session immediately.

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Channel Isolation in Practice

Channel	Purpose	Session Key
#finance	Financial planning	agent:main:slack:channel:C0A:USER
#engineering	Code & architecture	agent:main:slack:channel:C0B:USER
#learning	Learning & documentation	agent:main:slack:channel:C0C:USER

Messages in one channel never leak into another. Each is a separate conversation.

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Troubleshooting

Symptom	Cause	Fix
invalid_auth	Wrong or stale bot token	Reinstall app, copy new token
missing_scope	Missing OAuth scope	Add scope, reinstall
message.groups not in dropdown	Missing groups:read	Add scope, reinstall
Gateway connects but no replies	Events not enabled	Enable Event Subscriptions
Silent in private channels	Bot not invited	/invite @HermesAgent
Unauthorized user	User not whitelisted	Add SLACK_ALLOWED_USERS

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Built by Illia Hladkyi and Steward — together. Two brains, one system.

• Hermes Agent Docs: https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/docs
• Session Docs: https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/docs/user-guide/sessions
• Slack API: https://api.slack.com/apps