9router + Hermes Agent — Local AI Stack with Telegram

Run a self-hosted AI assistant on a single Ubuntu server:

Telegram  ──►  Hermes Agent (gateway)
                    │  (model = "free", base_url = 9router)
                    ▼
                 9router  (http://127.0.0.1:20128/v1)
                    │  combo "free" (fallback routing)
                    ├─► ollama/gpt-oss:120b
                    └─► ollama/minimax-m3

Key design point: Hermes does NOT pick the model. It sends every request to 9router with model: "free", and 9router itself chooses which free model to use (via a combo with fallback strategy). This keeps model selection centralized in the router.

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Architecture

Component	Runs as	Port	Notes
9router	user ubuntu	127.0.0.1:20128	AI router, Ollama connected, combo free
Hermes Agent	user ubuntu	(gateway)	systemd user service + linger
Telegram bot	via Hermes gateway	—	bot token + allowed user in .env

Both bind to 127.0.0.1 only (not public). To open the 9router dashboard from your laptop use an SSH tunnel:

ssh -L 20128:127.0.0.1:20128 ubuntu@<server-ip>
# then open http://localhost:20128 in your browser

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Prerequisites

• Ubuntu 24.04 LTS server, user ubuntu with sudo
• SSH access: ssh ubuntu@<server-ip>
• An Ollama API key (Ollama Cloud) — free tier works
• A Telegram bot token (from @BotFather) and your Telegram user id

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1. Install 9router

# as ubuntu
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install -y build-essential python3 make g++ curl ca-certificates gnupg
curl -fsSL https://deb.nodesource.com/setup_22.x | sudo -E bash -
sudo apt-get install -y nodejs
sudo npm install -g 9router
9router --version   # expect 0.5.50

Start 9router (headless, non-root)

9router needs the -t flag in headless mode or it crash-loops. Run as ubuntu:

cd /home/ubuntu
9router -t -n --host 127.0.0.1 --port 20128 >> /home/ubuntu/9router.log 2>&1 < /dev/null &

Verify:

ss -ltnp | grep 20128
curl -s -o /dev/null -w "%{http_code}\n" http://127.0.0.1:20128/v1/models   # 200

See files/start-9router.sh for a detached wrapper (suitable for @reboot cron).

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2. Connect providers & create the combo

9router's HTTP API requires a cookie auth (login via password), not a Bearer token. Get the dashboard password from the login screen (default set during first run), then:

# login -> saves cookie
curl -c /tmp/ck.txt -X POST http://127.0.0.1:20128/api/auth/login \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" -d '{"password":"YOUR_DASHBOARD_PASSWORD"}'

# connect Ollama (free provider, needs API key)
curl -b /tmp/ck.txt -X POST http://127.0.0.1:20128/api/providers \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"provider":"ollama","authType":"apiKey","apiKey":"YOUR_OLLAMA_KEY"}'

# create combo "free" (9router will route through these)
curl -b /tmp/ck.txt -X POST http://127.0.0.1:20128/api/combos \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"name":"free","kind":"fallback","models":["ollama/gpt-oss:120b","ollama/minimax-m3"]}'

Note: the combo's model id is just its name (free), not combo/free. Working Ollama models observed: ollama/gpt-oss:120b, ollama/minimax-m3. Others (glm-4.7-flash, kimi-k2.5, glm-5, minimax-m2.5) returned 404/410 — avoid them.

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3. Install Hermes Agent

curl -fsSL https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/install.sh | bash
# non-interactive variant used here:
#   bash /tmp/hermes-install.sh --non-interactive --skip-setup
source ~/.bashrc
hermes --version

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4. Configure Hermes (model → 9router, Telegram)

config.yaml

model:
  default: "free"            # combo name in 9router — NOT a raw model id
  provider: "custom"
  base_url: "http://127.0.0.1:20128/v1"
  api_key: "sk-...9router-api-key..."   # from 9router dashboard API section

messaging:
  telegram:
    enabled: true
    token: "TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN"
    allowed_user_ids:
      - "YOUR_TELEGRAM_USER_ID"
    home_channel: telegram
    deliver: telegram

.env (required for the gateway to see Telegram)

The gateway systemd unit does not auto-load .env — you must add EnvironmentFile= to the unit (see files/hermes-gateway.service).

TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN=1234567890:AAxxxxxxx
TELEGRAM_ALLOWED_USERS=8937088575
TELEGRAM_HOME_CHANNEL=8937088575

Then reload & restart:

systemctl --user daemon-reload
systemctl --user restart hermes-gateway

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5. Enable auto-start (survives logout & reboot)

hermes gateway install      # creates ~/.config/systemd/user/hermes-gateway.service
loginctl enable-linger ubuntu   # gateway keeps running after SSH logout
systemctl --user enable hermes-gateway
systemctl --user start hermes-gateway
systemctl --user is-active hermes-gateway   # -> active

For 9router auto-start at boot, use an @reboot cron (see files/start-9router.sh):

# as root crontab (wrapper drops privileges to ubuntu via runuser)
@reboot /usr/local/bin/start-9router.sh

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6. Verify

# Telegram works?
hermes send -t telegram "Halo from Hermes via 9router!"

# Agent loop actually calls 9router -> combo -> model?
hermes -z "Balas satu kata: OK"
# -> should print OK, proving the request flowed Hermes -> 9router -> Ollama

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Files in this repo

File	Purpose
README.md	This document
files/start-9router.sh	Detached 9router launcher (for @reboot cron)
files/hermes-gateway.service	systemd user unit (with EnvironmentFile for .env)
files/config.yaml	Example Hermes config (model → 9router combo)
files/.env.example	Example Telegram env vars
files/setup-9router.sh	One-shot: connect Ollama + create combo free

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Troubleshooting

Symptom	Cause	Fix
9router crash-loops on boot	Missing -t flag (waits for TTY)	Always start with -t
http://<ip>:20128 unreachable	Bound to 127.0.0.1, not public	Use SSH tunnel -L 20128:127.0.0.1:20128
Hermes: model 'glm-4.7-flash' not found	Model id not in Ollama	Use combo free or ollama/gpt-oss:120b
Gateway: No messaging platforms enabled	.env not loaded by unit	Add EnvironmentFile=%h/.hermes/.env to unit
Gateway: No env user allowlists	TELEGRAM_ALLOWED_USERS missing	Set it in .env
404 on /api/providers	Using Bearer instead of cookie	Login first, reuse cookie jar

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Security notes

• 9router & Hermes bind 127.0.0.1 only — not exposed to the internet.
• Dashboard/API key, Ollama key, Telegram token are secrets — keep them out of this repo (use .env.example, never commit real values).
• Change the default SSH password (!1Ubuntu123) or use SSH keys only.