Teknium Unveils Hermes Slimming: Plugin Architecture and Pi-Style Direction
On September 18, Teknium of Nous Research laid out a series of changes to the open-source Hermes framework. The core direction is slimming down: built-in integrations move out of the core codebase into plugin-based distribution, and the model's style will lean closer to Pi rather than OpenClaw. He stressed this is an architectural tradeoff, not a pivot away from the personal-assistant role toward a coding agent. Migration plans are still being worked out with memory providers.
Confirmed
- The first step removes all built-in memory providers from the Hermes core, to be maintained in their creators' own repos and distributed via a newly launched plugin catalog; Teknium called this a trial run for similar refactors.
- Motivations include reducing user confusion, steering unfamiliar users away from non-primary paths, and curbing core code bloat.
- Discoverability was the biggest prior problem for standalone plugins; with the catalog live and built-in integrations already converted to bundled plugins months ago, Hermes can stop shipping integrations with every install. The Plugins API already supports tool providers, memory systems, and more.
- The team is working with Honcho, mem0 and other first memory providers on auto-migrating users to standalone plugins without breaking configs; discussions are ongoing in Discord and this is the only unresolved piece.
- Teknium clarified that "more like Pi, less like OpenClaw" refers to architecture — a leaner core agent with fewer bundled features — not a pivot to a coding agent.
- Commenters noted the Pi/OpenClaw pun and joked it "sounds more like a deepseek harness"; TheTuringPost read it as Hermes moving toward lighter conversational interaction rather than a heavy agent.
Unconfirmed
- The concrete auto-migration plan for Honcho, mem0 and other users is not finalized; the team is still coordinating on Discord.
Why it matters
- Decoupling the core library from third-party integrations and distributing via a plugin catalog is a common governance evolution for open-source frameworks, directly affecting existing users' upgrade and migration paths.
- For those tracking persona and style tuning in open-source models, Hermes' shift toward a Pi-like style is a notable signal; community members such as @wstonebd have shown clear interest in Hermes' future positioning.
2026-09-18 ~ 2026-09-19 · 10 related posts
Primary sources
- Teknium: Hermes will lean toward Pi-style, away from OpenClaw — Teknium · 2026-09-18
- [source] Teknium: Hermes to become more like Pi, bundled Memory providers moved out of core — Teknium · 2026-09-18
- Hermes to pull integrations out of core into maintainer-owned repos, Teknium explains — Teknium · 2026-09-18
- Nous Research's Teknium moves Hermes integrations out of core into maintainer-owned plugins — Teknium · 2026-09-18
- [source] Hermes Launches a Plugins Catalog, Moving Bundled Integrations to Third Parties — Teknium · 2026-09-18
- Hermes Works With mem0 and Honcho to Migrate Users to Standalone Plugins — Teknium · 2026-09-18
- [source] Teknium clarifies lean-core plugin architecture and memory provider migration plans — Teknium · 2026-09-18
- Teknium: Hermes will lean toward Pi, not the OpenClaw direction — wstone_bd · 2026-09-18
- Teknium: Hermes will lean toward Pi's form factor, not OpenClaw's — TheTuringPost · 2026-09-19
- Teknium: Hermes will lean into Pi vibes, less like OpenClaw — adrianscottcom · 2026-09-19