agentos.guide › blog

Hermes Cua: The Quick Start, And How To Give Every Agent OS Profile Its Own Computer

By Julian Goldie · 23 October 2026 · agentos.guide

Hermes Cua is Cua's cua-spaces plugin for Hermes Agent, and it runs Hermes's terminal, file and code tools inside a Cua Space instead of on your computer.

A Cua Space is an isolated Linux, macOS or Windows machine you can watch live, and by default every Hermes run gets a fresh one that is deleted at the end.

Hermes Agent is the free, open-source agent from Nous Research, and the plugin is built by Cua and listed as "Verified" in the official catalog.

This page is the quick start, plus how I'd fit a Space to each profile in an Agent OS.

The Hermes Cua quick start

This is the shortest path from a normal Hermes install to an Agent OS where every Hermes job runs on its own throwaway computer.

The rest of this page explains each step and then shows how I'd map Spaces to the jobs in an Agent OS.

What Hermes Cua is

Hermes Cua is the cua-spaces plugin, built by Cua and listed as "Verified" in the official Hermes plugin catalog on 20 October 2026.

It adds a terminal backend called cua, which sends Hermes's terminal commands, file reads and writes and execute_code calls into a Cua Space.

A Cua Space is an isolated Linux, macOS or Windows machine that you can watch live, on your own hardware or in your own cloud account.

Hermes itself still runs where it runs today, so your Agent OS dashboard doesn't move anywhere.

The catalog lists version 0.4.0, a minimum of Hermes 0.21.6 and support for Linux, macOS and Windows, and the plugin is MIT licensed.

Nous's own docs say the built-in computer_use toolset already drives cua-driver from the same trycua project, so Cua is already part of Hermes.

The old way and the new way

The old way is an agent working on your real machine, where you approve every risky command and can't walk away.

The new way is a throwaway computer per run.

By default each Hermes run makes its own Space named hermes-<task>-<random>, does the work and deletes the Space when it finishes.

Because that Space is the sandbox, Hermes skips its risky-command prompts for Spaces the plugin creates.

In my video I called it a virtual employee you sit next to, because you can watch the screen and grab the mouse whenever you like.

I haven't run it on my own machine yet, so the steps here come from Cua's README and Nous's docs rather than my own test.

Steps 1 to 3: install and switch the backend

These are the README's exact commands.

curl -fsSL https://cua.ai/install.sh | sh
cua auth login
hermes plugins install https://github.com/trycua/hermes-cua-spaces
hermes config set terminal.backend cua

You only need cua auth login for Spaces on your cua.ai account, and a local Space needs no sign-in.

The catalog page also shows hermes plugins install cua-spaces as a short form of the install.

When Hermes asks to install the cua Python package and enable the plugin, the README says to answer yes to both.

The plugin never stores a token or key, and nothing about Cua goes into your Hermes config.yaml or .env file.

Step 4: check the work lands in the Space

Start Hermes as usual, and the first command creates a Space.

The README warns that the first one takes a few minutes while Cua downloads the machine image.

Ask Hermes to run hostname and cat /etc/os-release, and you should see the Space's name and Ubuntu rather than your own computer.

🔥 Want the exact Hermes Agent setup I run inside my Agent OS?

Inside the AI Profit Boardroom you get the installable Agent OS, step-by-step video tutorials, four coaching calls a week and 3,400+ members building real automations.

→ Get access here

The settings that matter

The plugin keeps its settings under plugins.entries.cua-spaces.settings in config.yaml, and you change them with hermes config set.

The environment variables HERMES_CUA_SPACE, HERMES_CUA_ON, HERMES_CUA_IMAGE and HERMES_CUA_DESKTOP override the same settings for one shell.

With delete_on_exit set to false, the plugin makes one Space called hermes-default and reuses it, so your files are still there next session.

With a Space you named, the plugin never deletes or stops it, and Hermes keeps asking before risky commands because that Space is your machine.

Step 5: one Space per Agent OS profile

In an Agent OS, each Hermes profile is effectively its own bot with its own job.

Hermes Cua lets each of those bots work on its own computer.

The README shows the pattern for named Spaces per profile.

HERMES_CUA_SPACE=build-a hermes --profile a
HERMES_CUA_SPACE=build-b hermes --profile b

Both Spaces must exist first, and you create them with cua spaces create linux --name build-a.

If you'd rather not name anything, the default already gives every run its own Space, so you can start as many as your machine can hold.

Step 6: watch every Space from one place

Open the Cua Spaces app and click a Space to watch its desktop while Hermes works.

In a terminal, cua spaces ls lists your Spaces and cua viewer serves a browser viewer for all of them.

You can click in the viewer to take over, and Hermes keeps working next to you.

Cua's Spaces page says each person and each agent gets a cursor of their own on the same desktop, so a team member can watch alongside you.

🔥 Want the exact Hermes Agent setup I run inside my Agent OS?

Inside the AI Profit Boardroom you get the installable Agent OS, step-by-step video tutorials, four coaching calls a week and 3,400+ members building real automations.

→ Get access here

Computer use inside the Space

The catalog says that on Hermes 0.22.3 and later, Bot Desktop, computer_use and the browser follow the terminal into the Space.

That works in Linux Spaces only, with the cua command on your PATH at version 0.7.0 or newer.

The plugin installs the desktop stack of TigerVNC, Playwright Chromium, agent-browser and cua-driver once you run this.

hermes config set plugins.entries.cua-spaces.settings.desktop true

The install takes a few minutes and needs internet and sudo inside the Space.

In macOS and Windows Spaces, and on older Hermes builds, those tools keep using your own machine.

If the cua command is missing or too old, Hermes says the screen can't follow the terminal, and bot_desktop.placement: gateway runs it on your machine instead.

For how the screen itself works, see my Hermes Agent bot mode guide and the sibling post on the Hermes computer use skill.

Two routes that need no plugin

The first route gives Hermes the Cua tools as an MCP server, so it can create Spaces, run commands, drive desktops and delete Spaces itself.

mcp_servers:
  cua:
    command: cua
    args: ["mcp"]

You can limit it with args: ["mcp", "--permissions", "spaces:readonly"] and with tools.include.

My Hermes Agent MCP server guide explains how Hermes loads servers like this one.

The second route runs Hermes itself inside a Space with cua agent create ada --harness hermes --in local:dev --env-from-host OPENAI_API_KEY.

In that setup the README says Hermes keeps its memory in your Cua Volume, so it survives if the Space is replaced.

Windows Spaces

You can make one with cua spaces create windows --name my-pc and point the plugin at it.

The terminal runs in PowerShell, and the file tools and execute_code run in Git Bash, which the plugin installs if the Space lacks it.

Computer use, Bot Desktop and the browser don't move into a Windows Space.

The README also warns that a Windows Space on an Apple silicon Mac runs by emulation and is slow.

What the plugin sends

With a local Space, the README says nothing leaves your machine.

With a Space on another machine or your cloud account, commands and files go through Cua's encrypted relay or your own network.

The plugin doesn't sync your Hermes skills, cache or credentials into the Space.

The cua package has its own anonymous usage telemetry, which you switch off with cua telemetry off or CUA_TELEMETRY=0.

Fixes for the first run

• If Cua rejects your sign-in, run cua auth login again.
• If Cua can't find the Space, run cua spaces ls and fix the space setting or set it back to create.
• If a Space can't start, run cua doctor to see what is missing.
• If the cua Python package is missing, run hermes pm repair.

Who is behind Cua

Cua's Y Combinator page lists it in the Spring 2025 batch in San Francisco, with Francesco Bonacci as founder and CTO.

Its original YC launch post says its Lume virtual machines run at up to 97% of native CPU speed on Apple Silicon.

The trycua/cua repository is MIT licensed and had about 30,700 stars and 2,200 forks on 23 October 2026.

Cua's README mentions a limited launch offer on Spaces Pro and Teams for Hermes users, for the first 50 people until 15 November, and the details are on the plugin's GitHub page.

For the wider list of add-ons I'd look at next, see the best Hermes Agent tools.

If you want to talk through where agents on throwaway computers fit your SEO business, you can book a free SEO strategy session with my team.

FAQ

What is Hermes Cua?

It is Cua's cua-spaces plugin for Hermes Agent. It adds a terminal backend that runs Hermes's terminal, file and code tools inside a Cua Space, an isolated Linux, macOS or Windows machine you can watch live.

How do I install Hermes Cua?

Run curl -fsSL https://cua.ai/install.sh | sh, run cua auth login if you want cloud Spaces, install the plugin with hermes plugins install https://github.com/trycua/hermes-cua-spaces, then run hermes config set terminal.backend cua.

Can each Agent OS profile get its own Cua Space?

Yes. Every Hermes run gets its own Space by default, and the README shows HERMES_CUA_SPACE=build-a hermes --profile a for pinning a profile to a named Space.

Does Hermes Cua need a Cua account?

No. The README says a local Space needs no sign-in, and cua auth login is only needed for Spaces on your cua.ai account.

Does computer use run inside the Space?

On Hermes 0.22.3 and later, Bot Desktop, computer_use and the browser follow the terminal into Linux Spaces, with the cua command at 0.7.0 or newer and the desktop stack installed. They stay on your machine for macOS and Windows Spaces.

Does Hermes skip approvals inside a Cua Space?

It skips its risky-command prompts for Spaces the plugin creates, because they are disposable. In a Space you named, Hermes keeps asking before risky commands.

Final word on Hermes Cua

Install Cua, add the plugin, switch the backend and give each Agent OS profile its own Space, starting with the profile you trust least.

If you run an agency and want help planning agent work for clients, you can book a free strategy session with my team.

If you want the whole Agent OS with the Hermes tab, the profiles and the training already set up, it lives inside the AI Profit Boardroom, with 3,400+ members and four coaching calls a week.

That is how I'd put throwaway computers to work with Hermes Cua.

Related guides on agentos.guide

→ Hermes Agent Sandbox: The Quick Start

→ Hermes Agent Bot Mode

→ Hermes Agent MCP Server

→ The Best Hermes Agent Tools

📺 Video notes + links to the tools 👉

🎥 Learn how I make these videos 👉

🆓 Get a FREE AI Course + Community + 1,000 AI Agents 👉

← all guides on agentos.guide