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An owner without developer skills can export the agent and restore it working on a runtime or host the provider does not operate, within minutes of asking and without provider approval. Running the runtime on the owner's own machine counts as not provider-operated.

`hermes backup` writes a zip of the whole ~/.hermes home. `hermes import <zip>` restores it on a machine the owner runs, including profile aliases and the gateway service. The FAQ documents moving to a new machine as install, back up, copy and import. Export and restore each need no approval or queue. Sources

Export is immediate (the agent is one .adf file; copying it and using Open is documented), but restoring a working agent on another machine takes several documented steps: import the owner seed phrase to unlock sealed keys, re-add a model provider key (app-level keys are not in the file), re-register app-level MCP servers, then review and accept the file. One shortfall (restore is not a single action). Sources

The export contains everything that defines the agent: configuration, instructions, memory, action history, logic, schedules and triggers, files, any identity, and credentials or a way to re-link each integration without any provider-registered client or broker. Derived data (embeddings, indexes, summaries) is accompanied by the source it was derived from.

The backup covers config.yaml, .env, auth.json, the credential vault, state.db sessions, memories, skills, cron jobs, MCP tokens and memory-provider files. Portal connectors are enabled by default (`connectors.enabled: True`). Credentials for accounts linked through them are held by Nous and its integration providers, and connector policy is stored at the Portal, so those integrations can be re-linked only through the Portal. Sources

The spec places config, instructions, memory, loops, timers, triggers, lambdas, files, messages, audit, logs, sealed identity keys and per-agent credentials in the .adf file; the project holds nothing. Items outside the file (app-level provider keys, app-scoped MCP credentials, WhatsApp session directory, runtime settings) can be re-linked by the owner without any ADF-registered client (MCP OAuth uses dynamic client registration; subscriptions use OpenAI/xAI client ids). A customised global base prompt is an app setting and does not travel; recorded, not counted, because the default install uses the shipped prompt. Sources

With a non-provider model configured per P4, the exported agent runs indefinitely without any service, account, licence or payment controlled by the original provider, and the owner holds a perpetual, irrevocable right to run it. No provider action, inaction or disappearance can disable or degrade it.

The runtime is MIT-licensed and the source has no licence check or required Nous account. Cron runs in-process by default, and update checks and the remote model catalog can be switched off. With Nous blocked, Portal connector tools disappear, and public documentation does not give an owner-run replacement for each connector. Sources

The runtime is MIT-licensed with no licence check, account or ADF-run relay; the only ADF-project endpoints (GitHub update check, MCP registry, skill catalog, online docs) are optional, have off switches or bundled fallbacks, and are not needed to start or act. Mesh uses LAN, tailnet or owner-chosen addresses. Desk grade; a provider-blocked run is required at certification. Sources

The owner can choose any model that meets a documented minimum, including a local open-weight model, without provider involvement, and every capability of the agent (tools, triggers, messaging, memory, automation) keeps working. A swap may lower reasoning quality but never removes a capability.

Ollama, llama.cpp, vLLM and LM Studio are documented, and the minimum model is documented as native tool calling with at least 64k context. Tools run in the runtime. The bundled Google Meet plugin's `meet_say` works only in realtime mode, and that mode is hardcoded to wss://api.openai.com/v1/realtime, so this capability is lost off OpenAI. Sources

Tool calling is the documented minimum and local open-weight models (Ollama, LM Studio, vLLM, llama.cpp) are first-class provider options; triggers, timers, lambdas and middleware run in the runtime. However, video input is implemented by injecting OpenAI-format video_url parts and is documented only for hosted providers (OpenRouter, Gemini), and no test against a local model is published, so under G12 at least one capability is not shown to survive a local model. Sources

Whatever the P2 export contains stays obtainable, current to the moment of termination, after account suspension or ban, a lapsed subscription, a price change, an acquisition, or the provider shutting down.

Everything the P2 export contains lives locally in ~/.hermes on the owner's machine, so a current copy stays with the owner after Portal suspension, a lapsed plan or shutdown. Portal terms allow suspension without notice, but that does not reach local state. Sources

State is local-first: the agent is a SQLite file on the owner's disk with no ADF account or hosted copy, so no termination, ban or shutdown by the project can remove access to it. Sources