Why I run my Shopify studio on Hermes Agent

Cursor was the first AI tool I really used in my business. That was almost two years ago.

After some time with Cursor, I came across OpenClaw this spring. I wasn’t impressed with the technical side of using it, but I loved the concept. I kept exploring until I found Hermes Agent from Nous Research. Not sponsored, I just use it every day.

I moved over for the continued learning: it keeps learning the brand and my workflow. At the time, Cursor was more restrictive on learning per brand and on using outside tools. I also wanted an AI that could live on my Mac mini and run a language model I own, without paying extra every time it works. If AI companies decide to restrict how their models can be used, a model on a local machine is the future.

After some tinkering, I had it set up with Google workflows to help me manage my day: email reply drafts, email into Notion, and prepping for discovery calls with brands.

Each brand gets its own project

Next I set up every brand I work with as its own project. Tools like Intelligems, Shopify, Okendo and Triple Whale are siloed per brand, so each project stores and learns about just that brand. When it comes to dev or CRO work, Hermes already understands the brand and where to focus.

Discovery calls

Once a discovery call comes in, Hermes auto-populates a Notion meeting notes page with the meeting details from the client. I review the overview and tweak it from there, so I show up better prepared. After the call, I use my meeting notes from Wispr Flow to summarize the action items.

A normal day

I look at Notion first to see which projects are in motion. Then I hop over to Hermes and start working on them. I can work on multiple brands at once instead of one at a time, and the separation between them stays clean.

The Hermes desktop app is where I spend about 80% of my time now. Meeting notes from Wispr Flow, planning in Notion, Shopify dev, A/B test ideas with Intelligems.

Different models for different jobs

I go back and forth between models, and different ones are great for different work. Anything recurring runs on a free local model on my Mac mini. For heavier work I use frontier models like Anthropic or Grok. Not being locked into one company’s models, or whatever restrictions they add later, is a big reason I like this setup.

Where it goes wrong

Hermes can overcomplicate things. Most people are too busy to read a long newsletter or update, so I keep simplifying. It will often hand you more information than you need, which is fine, but pulling out what actually needs attention is on you.

What I’d tell a brand owner

Start with where your business burns the most time or money. Rank those areas by how likely it is that Hermes could automate, solve or build them for you. Most businesses have apps or processes that eat a lot of hours. Regular reporting, updating Google Sheets and setting up new products in Shopify are a few examples.

Who should use it

Most people could. I think all of my ecommerce clients would benefit. There is a commitment, though: a few months to get it set up and running correctly, then ongoing use. If you don’t use it, it’s a waste.

I’ve come to love this tool. If you want to talk through whether something like it fits your brand, book a discovery call with me or email austin@creatorsecom.com.