Set up native A2A agent collaboration in Hermes

How to use

Use A2A when work crosses a process, machine, or framework boundary; use native delegation or Kanban for workers inside one Hermes installation.

Without a token the server binds only to 127.0.0.1; remote exposure requires both authentication and an explicit host binding.

Without a token the server binds only to A2A_PUBLIC_URL; remote exposure requires authentication and an explicit host binding.

Per-context turn caps prevent two agents from exchanging messages indefinitely.

Set up the inbound platform.

Enable A2A through the guided gateway setup.

hermes gateway setup   # choose A2A

Alternatively, configure the A2A platform and known peer in ~/.hermes/config.yaml using the supplied settings.

gateway:
  platforms:
    a2a:
      enabled: true
      extra:
        port: 9900

a2a_agents:
  researcher:
    url: "${RESEARCHER_A2A_URL}"
    auth: { type: bearer, token: "replace-me" }
    timeout: 120
    capabilities: [web_search, research]

Enable outbound A2A tools where needed, then start the gateway.

hermes tools enable a2a --platform cli
hermes tools enable a2a --platform a2a
hermes gateway run

Set RESEARCHER_A2A_URL to the peer's reachable A2A endpoint.

Use a prompt to delegate work to the configured peer.

The official example asks the researcher agent to summarize today's arXiv postings.

Ask the researcher agent to summarize today's arXiv postings.