No need for Mac relay or self-hosting, open-source agent Hermes connects to iMessage

According to Beating Monitoring, the open-source AI agent framework Hermes Agent has released version 0.17.0, with the core integration of an iMessage access channel that does not require Mac hardware relay. The new version integrates an iMessage platform plugin based on Photon Spectrum hosted line pools, allowing users to log in directly via device code, completely eliminating the need to self-host a Mac device or configure relay gateways like BlueBubbles.

In addition to expanding communication channels, the new version introduces an asynchronous sub-agent design, supporting dispatching heavy research or construction tasks to the background via delegate_task(background=true). The main agent can continue interacting with users during task execution without being blocked. Regarding model support, Hermes Agent has integrated the xAI subscription service, enabling users to directly call the grok-composer-2.5-fast model (with 200k context) through OAuth authorization, providing Cursor-like rapid programming capabilities without requiring a separate API key.

On the desktop side, a new real-time monitoring window for sub-agents, watch-windows, has been added, allowing users to observe the execution trace of background tasks in a separate pane via streaming. It also supports directly installing any VS Code plugin marketplace themes. Underlying mechanisms have been upgraded: the memory tool now supports atomically executing add, replace, and delete operations in a single call, enabling more efficient memory release and management within limited character budgets, significantly reducing the probability of interaction failures caused by memory overflow in multi-turn conversations.