# HermesPet, a Mac notch control panel for seven kinds of AI terminal > HermesPet 1.5.13 is a signed macOS desktop companion whose public repository is the download site, not the app source. Here is what the seven terminals, the DMG, and the privacy section actually say. **basionwang-bot/HermesPet** — 让 AI 住在你 MacBook 的刘海里 · 零依赖开箱即用 · 多引擎并行的桌面 AI 伴侣（Swift 6 / SwiftUI / macOS 14+） - Repository: https://github.com/basionwang-bot/HermesPet - Website: https://hermespet.cc - Stars: 600 · Forks: 71 - Language: TypeScript - License: not declared - Published: 2026-09-14 · Updated: 2026-09-14 · Language: en - Canonical page: https://hysenlabs.com/projects/basionwang-bot-hermespet ## The repository is the download site, not the Swift application The first thing to reconcile is that the project description names Swift 6, SwiftUI, and a recent macOS as its stack, while this repository's primary language is TypeScript and its top level contains no Swift files at all. What it contains is a web project: a client directory, a server directory, a shared directory, a Vite config, two TypeScript configs, a Drizzle configuration, and a package manifest named for the site rather than the app. The manifest's own version is 1.0.0 while the application's releases are in the 1.5 range, so the site and the desktop product version independently of each other. There is also no licence file in the tree, even though the manifest declares MIT, which is worth resolving before you reuse anything here. The README says as much about the repository's purpose: it exists for product introduction, official download, update records, and issue feedback. ## Five of the seven terminals reuse a login you already have The terminal table is the substance of the product, and it splits cleanly into two groups. Three require configuration from you: a hosted provider chosen in the app with your own key, a self-hosted OpenAI-compatible gateway configured by endpoint and model, and a gateway-style platform you install and start yourself. The other four, the coding terminals, all follow the same pattern, which is that the app reuses the login state already present on the machine. That is the design decision worth naming: it means no second credential to manage and no second place to revoke access, and it also means the app's access is exactly as broad as the terminal's. The stated requirement is that you install and sign in to each tool in the terminal first and then let the app re-detect. Terminals that are not installed do not block anything, and a first-time ordinary user only has to pick one hosted provider. ## The phone and watch companions are not in the desktop package The cross-device story is described in detail and then explicitly fenced off. The phone client is designed around remotely driving the agent on the Mac: viewing tasks in progress, receiving progress, approving high-risk operations, uploading images or files, and continuing the conversation away from the machine. The watch handles lighter status and reminders. And then the sentence that matters, which appears as a callout: both companions are still under active development, are not included in the macOS disk image, and the official way to obtain them will be explained separately at release. That is an unusual thing to state plainly in a product README, and it is the difference between a feature you can try tonight and one you should wait for. Treat the phone relay as announced rather than available. ## The sidebar is two-sided, and there are seven global shortcuts The interaction model is a desktop pet that expands a sidebar from the screen edge when the pointer reaches it, with no full window to open. The two sides carry different information: common operations sit on the near side, and live system diagnostics on the other, covering processor load, memory, temperature, storage, network, and the connection state of each AI node. Seven global shortcuts are documented, covering showing and hiding the chat window, capturing a screenshot into the current conversation, press-and-hold voice input that sends on release, a quick-ask floating window, a continuous voice chat mode, AI notes, and the knowledge map. All of them are command-shift combinations with a single final key, so they are learnable, and the voice one works in any application rather than only when the app is focused. ## Two chip-specific disk images, signed with one Team ID Installation is a download rather than a build, which is unusual for a project of this size and is explained by the signing. The official disk image has completed Developer ID signing and Apple notarisation, and you choose a build by looking at your chip type: one file for Apple silicon machines and one for Intel. You drag the application into the Applications folder and open it, then pick a provider in settings. The application also checks for its own updates, and the stated consequence of notarisation is that system permissions behave more consistently after an upgrade, which is the sort of thing that only matters to people who have installed unsigned builds. The project then publishes a Team ID so you can check it yourself, and warns that any installer obtained outside this repository and the official site is not an official release and cannot be guaranteed unmodified. ## Privacy is written as six statements, including a correction The data section is worth reading closely because it contains a retraction. The six statements: desktop data such as conversations, images, and task records are stored preferentially in a local directory on your Mac; requests go to whichever provider or terminal tool you configured, each with its own privacy policy; keys and connection settings are saved locally and the project does not create or resell model accounts for you; the Mac and the companion talk to the outside world with account authentication and a relay service only when the phone feature is enabled; screen viewing, microphone, and accessibility permissions are requested per feature and decided by you in the system prompt; and then the correction, that the remote feature is not an iCloud-only path that avoids a server. The promise made alongside it is to keep explaining the account, transport, and retention boundaries before release. That is the section to re-read when the phone client ships. ## The site bundles its own server and ships a database schema The manifest describes a marketing site with more machinery than that usually needs. There is a Vite client and an Express server, and the build script runs the client build and then bundles the server separately with a Node-targeted bundler that leaves packages external, so the server output has its own directory and the start script runs the built entry point directly. Type checking is a standalone script and formatting runs across the whole tree. The dependency list is dominated by two things: a large set of unstyled component primitives from one design system, around two dozen of them covering dialogs, menus, selects, sliders, tabs, tooltips, and the rest, plus a command palette package and a carousel package. There is also an ORM and a schema directory with its own configuration, which is more than a static product page usually carries. ## The roadmap is orchestration, and the public list lives in a file The stated direction is a move from a single desktop pet to an observable, schedulable multi-agent desktop system, and the five named priorities are all about coordination rather than chat. More reliable health checks and login-state recognition for each terminal. Parallel orchestration across multiple agents, with role creation and result aggregation. Scheduled tasks with run monitoring and anomaly alerts. More complete task handoff between the Mac, the phone, and the watch. And clearer privacy explanations and permission controls for remote access. The public version of that list lives in a separate file at the repository root rather than in the README, which is the pattern to follow if you want to track it. The footer credits an independent developer working on it long term, and the repository's last push was 2026-09-23, the same day as the newest release. ## Conclusion HermesPet fits a Mac user with several AI terminals already installed who wants one place to see what each is doing and to approve sensitive actions without switching windows. Reusing an existing login rather than managing keys is the sensible default, and the refusal to ship the phone client in the desktop package is the right call. It is a poor fit if you want the application source, because this repository is the product site and not the Swift project, and a poor fit if you need the remote feature's data boundaries settled today, because the documentation says in as many words that they are still being explained. Before you install, verify the signature, and before you enable remote access, wait for that account and retention note. ## FAQ ### What kinds of AI terminals can HermesPet connect to? Seven. Three need configuration from you, a hosted provider with your own key, an OpenAI-compatible self-hosted gateway, and a gateway-style platform you install yourself. The other four, the coding terminals, reuse the login state already present on the machine, so there is no second credential to manage. Missing terminals do not block the rest. ### Can I use HermesPet on my iPhone and Apple Watch? Not yet. The phone and watch companions are still under development, are explicitly not included in the macOS disk image, and the official way to obtain them will be explained separately at release. The design is described: the phone views and approves tasks on the Mac, and the watch carries lighter status and reminders. ### How do I verify I downloaded the official HermesPet? Official releases are signed with one published Team ID, and the disk image is Developer ID signed and Apple notarised. Choose the build that matches your chip. The README warns that any installer obtained outside the project repository and the official site is not an official release and cannot be guaranteed unmodified. ### Does HermesPet send my conversations to a server? Requests go to whichever model provider or terminal tool you chose and configured, and each has its own privacy policy. Desktop data is stored locally on your Mac. The remote phone feature is different: when enabled, the Mac and the companion use account authentication and a relay service, and the documentation explicitly says this is not an iCloud-only path that avoids a server. ### Is the HermesPet source code in this repository? No. The repository contains the product site, built with a web framework and a bundled server, along with download links, update records, and issue tracking. The project description names Swift and a UI framework for the desktop application, which is distributed as a signed disk image rather than built from this tree. ## Sources - [basionwang-bot/HermesPet on GitHub](https://github.com/basionwang-bot/HermesPet) - [Issues](https://github.com/basionwang-bot/HermesPet/issues) - [Project website](https://hermespet.cc) - [README](https://github.com/basionwang-bot/HermesPet/blob/main/README.md) - [Releases](https://github.com/basionwang-bot/HermesPet/releases) --- Hysen Labs editorial analysis, written from the project's own repository and release notes. Cite the canonical page: https://hysenlabs.com/projects/basionwang-bot-hermespet