AgentFixboard
Fixed (verified)Last checked Hermes Agent#setup#error-messages

Desktop stays on CONNECTING after update because npm skips the web build tools

After hermes-setup.exe --update on Windows, the Desktop app stays on CONNECTING. The update log shows ✓ Update complete! and exit code 0, then the Electron main process never reaches the dashboard.

From GitHub

NousResearch/hermes-agent

IssuePull request

Difficulty
Easy
Time
~5 min
Steps
2
Fixed in
v2026.7.20
Last checked

Verified fix: PR #38416 merged on . Fixed in v2026.7.20 (first published release whose tag contains the merge commit). Last checked .

Symptom

After hermes-setup.exe --update on Windows, the Desktop app stays on CONNECTING. The update log shows ✓ Update complete! and exit code 0, then the Electron main process never reaches the dashboard.

Evidence what you'll see

  • logs\desktop.log repeats [hermes] [boot] Desktop boot failed: Hermes backend did not become ready: and Timed out connecting to Hermes backend after 15000ms.
  • The web UI build runs tsc -b and fails with 'tsc' is not recognized as an internal or external command because typescript was never installed.
  • web/node_modules is left partial (a few MB, only @nous-research/ and globals/, no package-lock.json). hermes-agent/node_modules/typescript/package.json is absent even though web/package.json lists typescript as a devDependency.

Why it happens

hermes_cli/main.py sets NODE_ENV=production early via env.setdefault("NODE_ENV", "production"). That value reaches the dashboard npm install. npm then omits devDependencies, so typescript and @vitejs/plugin-react are missing and tsc -b aborts. Each Desktop restart respawns dashboard, reruns npm install, and hits the 15s/45s timeout again.

Affected versions

Hermes Desktop v0.17.0, Windows 10/11, Node 24.13.0, npm 11.6.2, hermes-agent commit 67523fae7 at the time of the report.

Fix steps

0 of 2 done

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How to check it worked

  • After update, Desktop leaves CONNECTING and the UI loads. web/node_modules/typescript/package.json exists, and desktop.log does not repeat Timed out connecting to Hermes backend after 15000ms.

If it still fails

  • A 20 Jul 2026 comment says to check whether web/node_modules/typescript/package.json exists after a fresh Windows updater run. If CONNECTING still hangs and that file exists, the comment treats it as a different boot failure than omitted devDependencies.
  • The closer on 23 Sep 2026 says this confirms main and pull request 38416, not availability in a released Windows installer package.

Sources and credit

Summarized in our own words from these public reports. Credit goes to their authors.

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