When Hermes Agent shipped v0.2.0 on March 12, 2026, it spoke to seven chat platforms from a single gateway process — Telegram, Discord, Slack, WhatsApp, Signal, Email, and the CLI. Fourteen months later, that number is 22.
The count isn't the interesting part. The interesting part is what one process speaking 22 protocols means architecturally — and what each new platform unlocked for who. This post is the complete map: how it grew, what's on the list today, and how the gateway makes "one agent, twenty-two front doors" actually work.
The journey, release by release
| Release | Date | What landed | Cumulative |
|---|---|---|---|
| v0.2.0 | 2026-03-12 | Telegram, Discord, Slack, WhatsApp, Signal, Email, CLI | 7 |
| v0.6.0 | 2026-03-30 | Feishu/Lark, WeCom | 9 |
| v0.9.0 | 2026-04-13 | BlueBubbles (iMessage), WeChat (Weixin), WeCom callback | 12 |
| v0.11.0 | 2026-04-23 | QQBot | 13 |
| v0.12.0 | 2026-04-30 | Microsoft Teams (first plugin-shipped platform), Tencent Yuanbao | 15 |
| v0.13.0 | 2026-05-07 | Google Chat (the 20th platform per upstream) | — |
| v0.14.0 | 2026-05-16 | LINE Messaging API, SimpleX Chat | 22 |
Numbers in the rightmost column are the official totals Nous Research cites per release. The intermediate count gaps reflect adapter sub-modes (WeCom callback, Feishu comment relay, etc.) that the upstream counts as separate platforms; this fan post sticks to the names you'd recognize.
The 22, by category
Mainstream consumer messengers
- •Telegram — first-party Bot API since v0.2.0. v0.13.0 added native draft streaming (incremental token-by-token edits via
sendMessageDraft). v0.14.0 added inline-keyboard buttons for theclarifytool — multiple-choice prompts show as real Telegram buttons instead of typing back a number. - •Discord — channels, threads, DMs. v0.14.0 made channel-history backfill default-on (the bot reads recent messages before responding) and rendered
clarifychoices as native Discord buttons. - •WhatsApp — gateway via Baileys. The installer pulls Node.js v22 specifically for this bridge. v0.14.0 surfaces Baileys quoted-reply metadata so the agent can resolve "what message did you reply to?"
- •Signal — relay-based, DMs and groups, E2E preserved.
- •LINE — added v0.14.0 via the official LINE Messaging API. The big addition for users in Japan, Korea, and Taiwan where LINE dominates the messenger market.
- •iMessage (via BlueBubbles) — added v0.9.0. Requires a Mac on the same network running BlueBubbles as relay; the macOS iMessage account stays on its native machine, the agent reaches it through the BlueBubbles bridge.
Workplace / enterprise
- •Slack — first-party app integration since v0.2.0. Ships as a
.[slack]extra in pyproject.toml. v0.14.0 added!cmdas an alternate prefix for slash commands inside threads. - •Microsoft Teams — debuted in v0.12.0 as the first plugin-shipped platform. v0.14.0 wired the full Microsoft Graph stack end-to-end: auth + client foundation (#21922), webhook listener (#21969), pipeline plugin runtime (#22007), outbound delivery via the existing adapter (#22024). Register a Graph app, paste credentials, and the bot reads and posts in any channel, DM, or group.
- •Google Chat — added v0.13.0. Workspace integration via webhook.
- •Mattermost — open-source Slack alternative, supported.
- •Email — SMTP send + IMAP receive. Universal back-channel; sometimes the highest-leverage platform of all.
Chinese ecosystem
- •WeChat (Weixin) — added v0.9.0. The community HermesClaw bridge can also run Hermes and OpenClaw on the same WeChat account if you're migrating.
- •WeCom (Enterprise WeChat) — added v0.6.0. v0.9.0 added the WeCom callback mode for inbound webhooks.
- •Feishu / Lark — ByteDance's enterprise messenger. Added v0.6.0. v0.14.0 added native update-prompt cards.
- •DingTalk — Alibaba's enterprise messenger.
- •QQBot — Tencent's QQ ecosystem, added v0.11.0.
- •Tencent Yuanbao — Tencent's AI-native chat platform, added v0.12.0.
Privacy / decentralized
- •Matrix — federated, E2E-capable. Ships as a
.[matrix]extra. - •SimpleX Chat — added v0.14.0. The privacy-focused decentralized messenger with no permanent user identifiers — Hermes runs on it without exposing identifiers, in contrast to every other platform on this list where the bot has a stable identity.
Other interfaces
- •CLI — the terminal UI is itself a "platform" in the gateway sense: same slash commands, same memory, same skills. The only platform Hermes ships as rather than bridges to.
- •SMS — text-message bridge for users who don't have any of the messengers above.
- •Home Assistant — not strictly a chat platform but supported as a notification target and conversation surface for smart-home users.
- •Webhook — generic inbound/outbound webhook for any custom platform you can wire up. The escape hatch.
How the gateway makes 22 possible
The number isn't the interesting thing. The interesting thing is what one process speaking 22 protocols means architecturally.
Each platform lives in gateway/platforms/ upstream as a thin adapter implementing the same base interface — receive, send, edit, react, thread. The agent core sees a single message stream regardless of where the message came from. Memory, skills, personality, and tool-use all live one layer above the adapters.
This is what lets you start a conversation on one platform and continue it on another. The session id is global; the platform is just an envelope. v0.14.0's /handoff formalizes the principle — you can hand a live session from one model to another mid-conversation, and the same machinery underwrites cross-platform continuity.
v0.14.0 also wired a per-platform circuit breaker and a /platform slash command (#26600), so a single failing adapter — rate-limited Telegram, expired Slack token, broken WeCom callback — can't take down the whole gateway. If one platform is sick, the others keep working.
How to wire one up
The setup wizard handles it. After install:
hermes gateway setup
It enumerates which platforms are configured, which aren't, and walks you through OAuth flows or token paste-ins per platform. For Telegram and Discord, paste a bot token from BotFather or discord.dev. For Slack and Teams, register an app and paste credentials. For WhatsApp, scan a QR with your phone. For Signal, link a device. For SimpleX, point it at a SimpleX bot endpoint.
If you only want a subset — say, just Telegram and Discord — pick those in the wizard. The others stay dormant and don't consume resources.
What the 22 unlock
Three months ago, "the agent on WhatsApp" and "the agent on Slack" were different conversations. Now they're the same agent — same memory, same skill library, same personality — reached through whichever front door the conversation needs.
That is the boring infrastructure that quietly changes what "AI agent" means in 2026: not a chat window you visit, but a presence that lives where you already live.