Your own agent.On your iPhone.
A native iPhone app for your own Hermes agent: talk to it, watch it work and let it run errands for you. Hermes and your model keys stay on your own Mac or server.
Conceptual illustration of a conversation in Alice. You ask for an order. Hermes searches the shop, checks price and stock, fills the basket and delivery, shows its live browser, then waits for your Pay on an approval card.
From a thought to a task.
Talk naturally. Follow the work. Make the decisions. Alice brings the conversation, tool activity and approval requests together on your iPhone.
A thought.
Start with a conversation. Streaming replies, tool activity, Markdown, attachments and model choice.
Work in view.
Follow what Hermes is doing. Each agent keeps its own conversation and Hermes session.
Your decision.
Respond to approval requests. They arrive as cards that say what they approve, not as a raw command.
Where a messaging bot falls short.
On a phone you usually reach Hermes through a messaging bot. That works for questions. It works less well when the agent is buying something, signing in to a site or needs your approval halfway through a task.
A live view of the agent’s browser.
The page the agent is on appears in the chat as it navigates. Tap it to take control, then hand it back.
Secure sheets instead of pasting secrets.
A site login, a one-time code, an API key or a payment card goes straight to Hermes’ vault on your Mac. The chat only learns that it was saved.
Nothing irreversible without your “Pay”.
An irreversible step, such as paying, waits for one explicit “Pay” from you. The approval names the exact total.
Your keys stay on your Mac.
Hermes and your model keys stay on your own Mac or server. No push infrastructure and no cloud of our own.
How it works.
The phone never becomes the server. The iPhone talks to your Hermes over your network, on the same network or through Tailscale.
Your iPhone
Alice
Your Mac or server
- Hermes 0.21.x
- Alice plugin
- Vault
Model provider
The one you configure
01
Add the Alice plugin to Hermes.
On the machine that runs Hermes, run the install script from a clone of the repository. It adds the pairing QR and what the app needs from Hermes.
hermes-plugin/install.sh02
Build the app onto your iPhone.
Generate the Xcode project with XcodeGen, choose your team under Signing, select your iPhone and press Run.
cd ios && xcodegen generate03
Pair.
Open the Alice tab in the Hermes dashboard and scan the QR with the iPhone camera. Alice saves the connection in the iPhone’s Keychain.
Official Hermes, no fork.
Everything Alice needs from the server lives in a Hermes plugin that uses its public hooks. Updating Hermes does not overwrite Alice. Hermes’ own safety stays in charge: Alice adds checks on top and never removes any.
Where we are.
An open-source beta for developers, in daily use and active development. Today you install it by building it with Xcode; a TestFlight beta is the next milestone. It needs iOS 26 and a Hermes you run yourself.
Works today
Chat with Hermes and its agents
Streaming replies, tool activity, Markdown, attachments and model choice.
A live view of the agent’s browser
Tap it to take control, then hand it back.
Secure sheets instead of pasting secrets
The chat only learns that it was saved.
Approvals that say what they approve
Cards in the chat instead of a raw command.
Morning and evening briefings
Appointments, reminders, open goals, the Mac’s health and errors logged overnight.
Agenda, goals and notes
Your calendar and reminders are shared with your own Hermes, never a third party.
Connections
Hermes’ connector catalogue, to connect or disconnect from the phone.
Other channels
The same Alice answers in Telegram and in iMessage.
In beta: built, being hardened in daily use
Buying online up to the payment
It stops at your one “Pay”. It is not yet reliable enough to leave unattended.
Tasks that keep going until they are done
A judge model accepts “done” only with proof, such as an order number.
Place triggers
The iPhone tells Hermes only that you arrived or left, never where you are.
Health
The morning briefing mentions only what is clearly off against your own last four weeks.
Voice you can talk over
A hands-free mode on the iPhone’s own recogniser and voices.
Learning from corrections
A correction is kept as a standing instruction, quoting your words.
What’s next
Next
TestFlight beta
Install Alice without building it yourself.
Planned
Public beta
Open to anyone, after the TestFlight beta.
Purchases you can leave unattended
Today buying online stops at your “Pay” and still needs you watching.
App Store
Install it like any other app.
WhatsApp
When WhatsApp’s official agent API is public.
Requirements and known constraints
Distributed as source today.
You build it with Xcode and an Apple developer account. A TestFlight beta is next.
Self-hosted by design.
It runs on a Hermes you run yourself and the model provider you choose. There is no Alice cloud holding your data.
Model-agnostic.
It uses the model you configure. Long web tasks, buying in particular, are only as good as that model.
iOS wakes background apps when it chooses.
When the phone is locked, a notification or approval can wait until you open the app.
Telegram and iMessage today.
WhatsApp’s official agent API is not public yet, and Alice does not use unofficial WhatsApp Web clients.
Questions.
How can I try Alice?
Today as an open-source beta for developers: you build it with Xcode and an Apple developer account, then run it on your iPhone. A TestFlight beta is next.
What do I need?
A Mac or server running Hermes 0.21.x with a model provider configured; a Mac with Xcode 26, XcodeGen and an Apple developer account; and an iPhone with iOS 26 that can reach Hermes, on the same network or through Tailscale.
Is Alice made by Nous Research?
No. Alice is independent and not affiliated with Nous Research. It uses official Hermes with no fork: everything Alice needs lives in a Hermes plugin.
Where do my keys and secrets go?
Hermes and your model keys stay on your own Mac or server. Logins, cards, keys and verification codes go to Hermes’ vault through secure sheets, never into the chat. The connection to Hermes is saved in the iPhone’s Keychain.
Can it pay for things on its own?
No. An irreversible step, such as paying, waits for one explicit “Pay” from you. Buying online is built but still being proven, and not yet reliable enough to leave unattended.
Does it work while the phone is locked?
iOS wakes background apps when it chooses. When the phone is locked, a notification or approval can wait until you open the app.
Which model does it use?
The one you configure in Hermes. Alice does not install Hermes or provide a model. Long web tasks succeed or fail with the model’s ability.
Does it work with WhatsApp?
No. WhatsApp’s official agent API is not public yet, and Alice does not use unofficial WhatsApp Web clients. It is on the roadmap for when that API is public. Today the same Alice answers in Telegram and in iMessage.
Developer beta: build it today.
Alice is open source under the MIT license. Add the plugin to Hermes on your Mac, build the app onto your iPhone and pair them with a QR.
Needs Hermes 0.21.x, Xcode 26 and an iPhone with iOS 26. Guía en español
git clone https://github.com/Freixanet/alice.gitcd alicehermes-plugin/install.shbrew install xcodegencd ios && xcodegen generateopen Alice.xcodeproj