IDuh Genius

GeniusHQAn AI agent from IDuh GeniusEarly release

A composed AI agent for the working day.

Five Solar Compasses, one for your bot. Pick any: it’s only a picture. Download yours in step 5

From GeniusHQWe’re GeniusHQ. We look things up, draft, summarize and keep the to-do list, in plain sentences, and then we get out of your way. We run on your computer through Hermes Agent, and you reach us in Discord. You set us up and you keep the keys. Your chats go to Discord and the model you pick, not to IDuh Genius.

Set up GeniusHQ Read the safety notesSee the pack on GitHub
  • Runs on your computer
  • Your choice of model
  • About 30 minutes
  • Pack v0.1.0
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Overview

Key takeaways

  • GeniusHQ researches, drafts, summarizes and keeps the to-do list, with the answer first.
  • They run on your computer through Hermes Agent, with a model you choose and pay for directly. IDuh Genius doesn’t see your chats.
  • Out of the box: web search, images, memory, a to-do list, past chats and questions back. No files, terminal or code.
  • Setup takes about 30 minutes and a terminal.
  • Five compasses to choose from. The choice is only a picture.
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01 · Two agents

GeniusHQ and Agent Big Head

IDuh Genius makes two AI agents. They share the same Hermes Agent, the same setup and the same safe settings, and you can run both. Here’s how they differ.

Agent Big Head

Big Head was built to be fun. He’s quick, candid and properly funny, a wisecracker who still gives you the straight answer, and he speaks as “I”. Good company for thinking out loud.

Set up Agent Big Head

GeniusHQ

GeniusHQ speaks as “we” and keeps to the work: the answer first, in full sentences, and the occasional dry remark. Ask for a summary, and they’re told to bring back the decisions, who owns what and by when.

Set up GeniusHQ

ComparedAgent Big HeadGeniusHQ
Speaks as“I”“we”
VoiceQuick, candid and funny. The wisecracker.Composed, precise and unhurried, in full sentences.
HumorOftenDry and rare
PictureBig Head himselfOne of five Solar Compasses, your pick
Out of the boxWeb search, images, memory, a to-do list, past chats and questions back. No files or terminal.The same
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01 · Two agents

Running both

Install each pack and make two separate Discord bots, one for each, each with its own token. They keep separate profiles, memories, tokens and allowed lists. On one computer, Hermes refuses to start a second profile on a token another profile already uses. If both bots are in the same server, put thread_require_mention: true under discord: in both profiles’ config.yaml (in ~/.hermes/profiles/geniushq/ and ~/.hermes/profiles/bighead/), so each answers only when it’s mentioned, in threads too.

They aren’t connected. GeniusHQ can’t see, message or direct your Big Head, and Big Head can’t see GeniusHQ.

Set up Agent Big Head instead

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02 · At work

The small jobs that fill a working day

Ask GeniusHQ the way you’d ask a capable colleague. They work with what’s on from the start: web search, reading images, memory, a to-do list, a search of your past chats with them, and questions back to you.

  • Research

    Ask a question and GeniusHQ searches the web, then answers with what they found and where they found it.

  • Drafts

    An email, a reply, an outline or a first paragraph, written for you to edit and send yourself.

  • Summaries

    Paste in a long thread or your meeting notes. GeniusHQ is told to come back with the gist, the decisions, who owns what and by when, and the open questions.

  • Images

    Send a screenshot, a chart or a photo of a whiteboard, and GeniusHQ reads what’s in it.

  • Memory

    Tell GeniusHQ how you like things done, and they keep a short note. They can also search your earlier chats with them for last week’s answer.

  • A to-do list

    GeniusHQ keeps a to-do list while the two of you work through a job, so steps don’t go missing.

Out of the box GeniusHQ can’t open your files, run commands, or write and run code. They draft, and you send. You can switch more on later, with care: see If you give GeniusHQ more tools.

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02 · At work

How GeniusHQ answers

  • The answer comes first

    In the first sentence. About 60 words for a normal reply and 25 or fewer for a quick one, unless you ask for more.

  • Plain about what they know

    They keep sure, likely and unknown apart, and say “Don’t know” when they don’t. For anything that changes over time, they name the source they checked and when.

  • One question, not a menu

    When a request is unclear, they ask the one question that gets things moving instead of guessing.

  • Asks before acting

    Anything that sends, spends, deletes or posts on your behalf needs your yes, for those exact details.

These are instructions in their SOUL.md, not guarantees. The model you pick does the writing.

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03 · How the parts fit

Your computer, your bot, your model

  1. Where you talk

    Discord

    You talk with GeniusHQ here. The bot is your own Discord application.

  2. Where GeniusHQ runs

    Your computer

    Hermes Agent runs here: Nous Research’s open-source AI agent software. It runs on your computer, uses the model you choose, and connects to chat apps such as Discord. Hermes Agent, from Nous Research

    The GeniusHQ pack sits on top: GeniusHQ’s persona and starting settings, by IDuh Genius.

  3. Where the thinking happens

    Your model provider

    The AI model that does the thinking. Your account, your bill. Claude, from Anthropic, and Codex, from OpenAI, are the main providers meant here. Hermes works with many others.

Web search services are used only when GeniusHQ searches the web. IDuh Genius isn’t in this path: it doesn’t run your GeniusHQ, and the pack doesn’t send anything to IDuh Genius.

This is an early release. Setup takes a terminal. There’s no hosted version, and no app to download from IDuh Genius.

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04 · Before you start

Five things you’ll need

  • A computer

    A Mac with an Apple chip, a Linux computer, or a Windows PC, switched on whenever you want GeniusHQ around. GeniusHQ is online only while the computer is.

  • Discord

    A Discord account, and a server you own or manage (you need the Manage Server permission). You can make a new one.

    Not on Discord? There’s a brilliant solution.

  • A model provider

    An account with a provider that runs its model, most likely Anthropic (Claude) or OpenAI (Codex). You pay them directly, usually by usage.

  • About 30 minutes

    Most of it is waiting for installs and clicking through Discord’s developer portal.

  • A terminal

    Comfort pasting commands into one. Mac and Linux also need git, curl and tar, and Windows can fetch git on its own.

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05 · Setup

Eight steps, in order

Each step shows what you should see and what to do if you don’t. GeniusHQ’s profile is named geniushq, and the commands below use that name. If your terminal can’t find that command, type hermes -p geniushq in its place.

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  1. Step 1 of 8On your computer

    Step 1: Install Hermes Agent

    Run Nous Research’s own installer. To read the script first, open its address (install.sh, or install.ps1 on Windows) in your browser. The pack needs Hermes Agent v0.22.5 or later, and the installer fetches the latest. Already set up Agent Big Head? Hermes is installed, so skip to step 2.

    Mac, Linux, or Windows with WSL2

    curl -fsSL https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/install.sh | bash

    Windows PowerShell

    iex (irm https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/install.ps1)

    Then open a new terminal window, or reload your shell, and check the install. In PowerShell, skip the first line. In bash, including a WSL2 window, run source ~/.bashrc instead of it.

    Then check

    source ~/.zshrc
hermes doctor

    You should see A report on your install, with anything missing and how to fix it.

    If not

    If your terminal says hermes: command not found, close it, open a new window and try again. Still not found? Check that the installer’s folder is on your PATH.

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  2. Step 2 of 8On your computer

    Step 2: Add the GeniusHQ pack

    The pack is what makes a Hermes Agent into GeniusHQ: their persona and starting settings that limit their tools. It installs as its own profile, so anything you’ve already set up in Hermes, including an Agent Big Head, stays as it is.

    Every system

    hermes profile install github.com/joshuajudd-usa/geniushq-hermes --alias

    Packs are unsigned, so you’re trusting the host and the author. Read SOUL.md and config.yaml at github.com/joshuajudd-usa/geniushq-hermes before you start GeniusHQ. This page describes version 0.1.0 (commit 693922d). Hermes installs what’s current in that repository and can’t pin a version yet, so check the version it shows before you confirm. The pack comes from that repository, not from this site.

    You should see The pack’s name, version, author and the settings it needs, then a question asking you to confirm. It will list your Discord bot token and your Discord user ID as still needing to be set. That’s expected: you set both in step 6.

    If not

    The --alias flag creates the short command geniushq. If it isn’t found, use hermes -p geniushq from here on.

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  3. Step 3 of 8On your computer

    Step 3: Choose their model

    GeniusHQ’s intelligence comes from a model provider you pick and pay directly. Choose a model with at least 64K of context, because Hermes rejects smaller ones. Pick your provider (Anthropic for Claude, OpenAI for Codex, or another) and use its API key, or choose Nous Portal, Hermes’s own sign-in. IDuh Genius doesn’t recommend signing in with a plan meant for a provider’s own chat app, because some providers’ terms bar third-party apps from using them.

    Every system

    geniushq model

    You should see A menu of providers. Pick one, then paste your API key or sign in.

    If not

    If Hermes says the model is too small, pick one with a context window of 64K or more.

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  4. Step 4 of 8In Discord’s Developer Portal

    Step 4: Create your Discord bot

    GeniusHQ runs on your computer, so the Discord bot they speak through is yours: you make it, you own it, and only you can add it to a server. You do this part in your browser, at the Discord Developer Portal. Running Agent Big Head too? Make a new application for GeniusHQ. Don’t reuse his.

    1. Open discord.com/developers/applications and click New Application. Name it, accept Discord’s terms, and click Create. Copy the Application ID from the General Information page for step 6.
    2. Open the Bot tab, click Reset Token, and copy the token right away. Discord shows it once, and it’s a password.
    3. On the same tab, under Privileged Gateway Intents, turn on Message Content Intent and Server Members Intent. Without Message Content, GeniusHQ stays offline.
    4. Turn Public Bot off, so only you can add it to servers. Then click Save Changes.
    A schematic of the Bot tab, not Discord’s own screen. The numbers match the list.

    You should see An application whose Bot page shows both intents on and Public Bot off, with the token copied somewhere safe until step 6.

    If not

    If Discord won’t let you turn Public Bot off, open the Installation tab, set Install Link to None if it offers that option, and try again.

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  5. Step 5 of 8In Discord’s Developer Portal

    Step 5: Pick a compass

    Give your bot its picture. Choose one of the five Solar Compasses and download it. Each is a 1024 by 1024 pixel PNG, with room around the compass so Discord’s circle crop keeps all of it.

    The same five pictures are also on your computer: the install in step 2 puts them in the avatars folder of its profile, and geniushq profile prints that folder’s path.

    Then, in the Developer Portal, upload it as the bot’s icon: on the Bot tab, under Icon, then click Save Changes. You can use it as the App Icon under General Information too. Upload it as it is: Discord crops it to a circle.

    The choice is only a picture. It changes nothing about how GeniusHQ behaves. Use these pictures for your own GeniusHQ bot and nothing else: the Solar Compasses belong to IDuh Genius.

    You should see The compass you picked, whole inside its circle, as the bot’s icon on the Bot tab, and as the app icon on General Information if you used it there.

    If not

    If the upload doesn’t stick, check that you clicked Save Changes on each tab. Discord can take a few minutes to show a new icon in your server.

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  6. Step 6 of 8Bringing them together

    Step 6: Connect Discord and add it to your server

    Hermes asks for the bot token and for who’s allowed to talk to GeniusHQ. Choose Discord, paste the token from step 4, and allow your own Discord user ID. The token stays in a file on your computer.

    To find your user ID first: in Discord, open Settings, then Advanced, and turn on Developer Mode. Then right-click your name and choose Copy User ID.

    Every system

    geniushq gateway setup

    Then add the bot to your server. Open this link with your Application ID in place of APP_ID, pick your server, and click Authorize. Skip the invite link the setup prints and use this one. It asks only for what GeniusHQ needs: viewing channels, reading history, sending messages and embeds, attaching files, adding reactions and using threads, plus slash commands. Never give it the Administrator permission.

    Invite link

    https://discord.com/oauth2/authorize?client_id=APP_ID&scope=bot+applications.commands&permissions=309237763136

    You should see Hermes checking the token and the intents, then confirming Discord is set up. After the invite, the bot appears in your server’s member list, offline until step 7.

    If not

    With no allowed ID, GeniusHQ connects and ignores everyone, so run the command again and add yours. If your server isn’t listed on the invite page, you need the Manage Server permission on it.

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  7. Step 7 of 8Bringing them together

    Step 7: Start GeniusHQ

    This runs GeniusHQ in the foreground. They’re online while the terminal window stays open, and Ctrl+C stops them.

    Every system

    geniushq gateway

    To keep GeniusHQ running in the background instead, install the gateway as a service and start it:

    Every system

    geniushq gateway install
geniushq gateway start

    The service is a user service on Linux, a launchd service on macOS, and a scheduled task on Windows. Check on it any time with geniushq gateway status. On Windows with WSL2, background services can be unreliable: Hermes recommends running geniushq gateway run in a terminal there instead.

    You should see The bot in your server turn from offline to online.

    If it stays offline

    Check that Message Content Intent is on (step 4), then run geniushq doctor and geniushq gateway status.

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  8. Step 8 of 8Bringing them together

    Step 8: Say hello

    Send GeniusHQ a direct message. They answer every DM without a mention. In a server, @mention them: they open a thread and keep answering there without another mention.

    You should see A reply from GeniusHQ.

    If not

    GeniusHQ ignores anyone who isn’t on their list, so check that your user ID is there (step 6). In a server they answer when you @mention them, then keep answering in the thread they open.

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06 · Safety

Run GeniusHQ with care

On from the start

  • Web search
  • Reading images
  • Questions back to you
  • Memory
  • A to-do list
  • Past-chat search

Off until you turn them on

  • Terminal
  • Files
  • Code
  • Browser
  • Subagents
  • Scheduled jobs
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06 · Safety

Six things to keep in mind

  • Allow only yourself.

    Put only your own ID on their allowed list. Everyone on it can use every tool GeniusHQ has, and Hermes’s docs don’t say who may press an approval button, so assume anyone on the list can. The pack makes GeniusHQ ignore strangers.

  • Keep GeniusHQ out of public servers.

    Use a server you control, and tell its members GeniusHQ is there. Every message in a thread they’re in goes to your model provider.

  • Memory is shared.

    Whatever GeniusHQ saves, and anything from their earlier chats that they search, can come back in any conversation, including in a server channel. They save without asking, so don’t tell them what you wouldn’t want repeated in another channel. You can ask them what they remember, and tell them to forget anything.

  • Set a spending limit.

    Most providers bill by usage, so every message costs money. Set a limit with yours: Hermes has no spending limit of its own. GeniusHQ uses their tools for at most 30 rounds per message, then wraps up with a reply. That keeps one message from running on and on, but it doesn’t cap what you spend. They’re also told to ask before spending money or deleting anything. That’s their own rule, not a lock.

  • Your bot token and model API key are passwords.

    They live in the .env file of GeniusHQ’s profile on your computer and never in the pack. If one leaks, reset it at its source: reset the token in the Discord Developer Portal, or revoke the key with your provider.

  • You can stop GeniusHQ any time.

    Press Ctrl+C in the terminal where geniushq gateway is running. If you installed GeniusHQ as a background service, run geniushq gateway stop, or see Hermes’s gateway guide.

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06 · Safety

If you give GeniusHQ more tools

geniushq tools can switch on more tools in Discord, such as a terminal or files. Then GeniusHQ can run commands and change files on this computer. Before you do that:

  • Give GeniusHQ their own folder.

    Make a folder for their work, and set terminal.cwd in their config.yaml (in ~/.hermes/profiles/geniushq/) to its full path, so they don’t start in your home folder.

  • Approvals only catch some things.

    Hermes asks before commands it rates as risky, such as recursive deletes, but not before every file change or every line of code it runs. Read what you approve.

  • Keep approvals yours alone.

    Put only your own ID on their allowed list. Hermes’s Discord guide doesn’t describe a separate approver setting.

  • Use a sandbox.

    For real isolation, run their commands inside Docker; see Hermes’s security guide. The pack’s deny list is a seatbelt, not a sandbox.

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07 · Who makes what

What’s IDuh Genius’s, and what isn’t

  • Hermes Agent

    Open-source software made by Nous Research. IDuh Genius isn’t affiliated with Nous Research and doesn’t control or support Hermes Agent.

  • Discord

    Discord’s. Your bot is your own Discord application, and you’re responsible for it under Discord’s terms. IDuh Genius isn’t affiliated with Discord.

  • The model

    Your provider’s, most likely Anthropic’s Claude or OpenAI’s Codex. It runs on your account and your bill. IDuh Genius isn’t affiliated with Anthropic or OpenAI.

  • The GeniusHQ pack

    IDuh Genius’s. It holds GeniusHQ’s persona and starting settings that limit their tools. The five Solar Compasses are IDuh Genius’s too.

IDuh Genius receives no conversations. IDuh Genius doesn’t run your GeniusHQ, and the pack sends nothing to IDuh Genius. Your messages go to Discord (or Photon, if you connect iMessage yourself), to the model provider you chose, and to any service a tool uses, such as a web search provider. This page has no analytics. For how Hermes handles data, read Hermes’s FAQ.

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08 · Questions

Questions and answers

Can GeniusHQ run commands or read my files?

Not out of the box. In Discord, GeniusHQ has only web search, image reading, questions back to you, memory, a to-do list and a search of their past chats. You can switch on more with geniushq tools, but read the warnings above first.

Is GeniusHQ connected to Agent Big Head?

No. They’re separate packs with separate profiles, bots, memories and allowed lists. GeniusHQ can’t see, message or direct your Big Head, and Big Head can’t see GeniusHQ. You can run both on one computer as two separate bots, each with its own token: Hermes won’t start a second profile on a token another profile already uses. If both bots are in the same server, add thread_require_mention: true under discord: in both profiles’ config.yaml, so each answers only when it’s mentioned. Set up Agent Big Head.

Discord not your thing? Here’s a brilliant solution.

Hermes Agent can also reach you over iMessage, through a separate service called Photon. The pack is set up for Discord, so you’d connect iMessage yourself, following Hermes’s Photon guide with geniushq in place of hermes. Before you start GeniusHQ there, limit their tools: the pack’s limits cover Discord only, so on iMessage GeniusHQ would get every Hermes tool, terminal and files included. Add photon: [web, vision, clarify, memory, todo, session_search] under platform_toolsets: in their profile’s config.yaml, and allow only your own number. Your messages then go through Photon as well.

Does the compass I pick change anything?

No. It’s only the bot’s picture. Every GeniusHQ starts with the same persona and the same settings, whichever compass you pick or if you pick none.

What does GeniusHQ cost?

Hermes Agent is free, open-source software. You pay your model provider directly, usually by usage, so the bill depends on the model and on how much you talk. IDuh Genius doesn’t charge for the pack today.

Do I need an IDuh Genius account?

No. You can install and use GeniusHQ without one.

What happens when my computer sleeps?

GeniusHQ is online only while Hermes is running on your computer. When the computer sleeps or shuts down, GeniusHQ goes quiet. Running the gateway as a background service (step 7) saves you from starting GeniusHQ by hand, and Hermes’s docs describe other ways to keep them up around the clock.

How do I update GeniusHQ?

Run hermes profile update geniushq. It refreshes their SOUL.md, and your config.yaml, .env, memories and chats stay as they are. That means new safety settings don’t arrive on their own. When a release changes them, the pack’s changelog says so, and hermes profile update geniushq --force-config takes them. It replaces your config.yaml. Update Hermes itself with hermes update.

How do I remove GeniusHQ?

Run hermes profile delete geniushq. Hermes asks you to type the profile’s name to confirm. It then permanently deletes the profile: GeniusHQ’s memories, chats and settings, and the bot token and API key saved in the profile’s .env. It also removes the geniushq command and any background service. Any Agent Big Head profile stays as it is. To remove the bot itself, delete the application in the Discord Developer Portal.

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09 · Help

Stuck? Ask for help.

Every message goes to support@iduhgenius.com, and IDuh Genius’s own Agent Big Head, an AI agent the company runs, reviews it. That isn’t the GeniusHQ on your computer. If the problem is inside Hermes itself, its docs and hermes doctor are the quickest route.

Contact IDuh Genius