01What Is the Hermes Kanban Agent?
The Hermes Kanban agent is an AI-powered project management board that turns a single idea into a finished project. You write one idea, click one button, and a team of AI agents plan it, build it, check its own work, and put the result in a gallery.
It is based on the Hermes project, which has 170,000 stars on GitHub. Kanban is a board with columns like To do, Doing, and Done. Hermes gave that board to AI agents, so they can work together on it.
The official name for this is multi-agent profile collaboration.
In plain words, many AI agents read and write to the same board at the same time. One agent can be a researcher, another a writer, and another a checker. The board saves everything on your computer, so you can close it and come back tomorrow.
02Key Features of the Hermes Kanban Agent
The Hermes Kanban agent has several features that make it more than a to-do list. First, it sorts your idea automatically. You type in a sentence, and the board figures out what kind of job it is—website, tool, research, and so on.
- Automatic planning: The agent writes a step-by-step plan for your idea.
- Human approval gate: You review the plan before any work starts.
- Project manager agent: It hands out tasks to helper agents like a real manager.
- Card linking: Agents wait for previous steps to finish before starting, so tasks happen in order.
- Gallery: Finished projects appear here for preview and use.
- Obsidian memory: Every project is logged in a free notes app, so agents remember details later.
Version 0.15 brought over 100 updates to the board, including the ability to break big tasks into small ones. Version 0.17 added a checker agent that reviews work before marking it done.
03How to Set Up the Hermes Kanban Agent
Setting up the Hermes Kanban agent is straightforward, especially if you use a ready-made system. In this episode, Julian showed his own Agent OS, which includes the board as a zip file. Here are the steps to get started:
- Download the Agent OS zip file from the AI Profit Boardroom (aiprofitboardroom.com).
- Install Agent OS on your computer.
- Connect Hermes to your Agent OS.
- Set up your Obsidian memory so your agents can remember projects.
- Open the Kanban board and drop in your first idea.
- Watch the plan appear and approve or reject it.
If you are new to AI, you can start by writing down three things you wish someone had built for you. That gives you quick ideas to test.
Following a tutorial video makes installation easier, but the steps are simple enough for a beginner.
04How to Use the Hermes Kanban Agent: A Live Example
In the episode, Julian demonstrated the board with a real idea. He typed: "Create a new SEO blog for the AI Profit Boardroom that teaches business owners how to use Agent OS." That was the only input.
He pressed enter, and the board sorted the idea. It recognized it as a website project. Then he clicked "Let the agents shape it".
The agents wrote a plan with steps like research, find keywords, design the site, build it, link pages, and set up tracking.
The plan also listed milestones and assigned agents—a research agent, a design agent, and a builder agent. Crucially, the board stopped and waited for approval. That is the human approval step.
After he clicked approve, the project moved to the build column. The project manager agent gave jobs to the helpers. The researcher went first, then the designer and builder waited.
The board kept working in the background.
Finally, the finished project appeared in the gallery. He showed a habit tracker and a focus app that were already built and ready to use.
05Results and Benefits Shown in the Episode
The episode highlighted several results from using the Hermes Kanban agent. First, it saves time because you do not have to do the work yourself. You also avoid the back-and-forth of copying and pasting in a chat window.
Second, the human approval step prevents costly mistakes. You catch a wrong plan in 10 seconds instead of finding out an hour later after the agent built the wrong thing.
Third, the gallery changes how you handle ideas. Before, you might write down a good idea and forget it. Now, the board builds it and it waits for you.
That turned results from "meh" to "wow" for Julian.
Fourth, the Obsidian memory makes a huge difference. If you come back the next day and ask for a design change, Hermes checks the Obsidian log. It already knows what the project is, where it lives, and how it was made.
So it gets to work without you repeating yourself.
That memory feature saves the most time over a week.
06Tips, Limits, and Mistakes to Avoid with the Hermes Kanban Agent
The normal Hermes Kanban has some limits. The biggest one is that it runs in the terminal, which is a black screen with white text. Many people open that and close it right away.
The terminal view does not give you a clear way to approve the plan before work starts.
The docs are long, and nobody wants to read them all. That can make setup feel hard.
Another mistake is not using the human approval step. If you skip it, the agent might build the wrong thing. Always review the plan you approve.
Also, remember that the board saves work on your computer. If you close it, come back later and the work is still there. That is good, but it means you need to keep your files safe.
Finally, do not treat the board like a simple to-do list. You are not supposed to drag cards and do the work yourself. Let the agents do it.
07Who Should Use the Hermes Kanban Agent?
The Hermes Kanban agent is for anyone who wants to turn ideas into finished projects without doing all the work manually. It is especially useful for business owners who want to save time and get more leads.
If you are new to AI, you can start simple: write down three ideas and let the board build them. If you are experienced, you can use the advanced features like Obsidian memory and card linking.
Having a human approval step makes it safe for non-technical users because you always see the plan before work starts. It also works well for teams, because multiple agents can collaborate on the same board.
The gallery makes it easy to access finished work, so you can actually use what the agents build. Whether you are a solo entrepreneur or part of an agency, this tool can help you move from planning to execution.
08How the Hermes Kanban Agent Compares to Normal Kanban
A normal Kanban board is like a to-do list. You write a card, drag it, and do the work yourself. If you use AI, you might still go back and forth in a chat window, copying and pasting, explaining again and again.
The Hermes Kanban agent works differently. You drop in one idea, and it sorts it, writes a plan, asks for your approval, and then a team of AI agents builds it while you go do something else.
Instead of a terminal, Julian built a version with four simple stages: idea input, human approval, build, and gallery. That makes it easier to understand and use.
The card linking is a big advantage. In a normal board, you have to start each task manually. Here, the project manager agent hands out jobs, and each agent waits for the previous step to finish.
That keeps everything in order without you watching.
