# How to connect Ngrok to Hermes Agent (paste one key, 102 tools) > Connect Ngrok to Hermes with ClawLink: paste your Ngrok key once and 102 tools work from chat. No MCP server to run, nothing stored on your machine. Web version: https://claw-link.dev/hermes/ngrok Most guides for giving Hermes Agent Ngrok access start with registering your own OAuth app or pasting API keys into env files, then leave the token refresh and tool wiring to you. ClawLink gives Hermes a more practical Ngrok setup: pair once in the browser and your always-on Hermes agent can act on Ngrok for you, reading and doing real work on your behalf with no auth, token refresh, or tool wiring to build yourself. **Start here — paste this into Hermes to set up ClawLink:** > Set up ClawLink for Hermes and tell me when it's ready. > 1. Install the plugin: `hermes plugins install ClawLink-HQ/hermes-plugin --enable` > 2. Start pairing with `hermes clawlink begin`. It prints an approval link, so show me the link and stop, don't wait. > 3. I'll approve it in my browser, then reply "approved". > 4. When I say approved, finish setup: `hermes clawlink finish` > 5. Then run `hermes clawlink test` and tell me whether ClawLink is ready. ## Setup It takes three steps to connect Hermes to Ngrok. 1. **Install ClawLink** — add the plugin to Hermes Agent once. 2. **Connect Ngrok** — one-click OAuth in the ClawLink dashboard. 3. **Use it from chat** — ask Hermes Agent in plain English. **Alternative for any agent (no plugin needed):** if the Hermes Agent plugin route isn't available or doesn't work, any AI agent with shell access can use the ClawLink CLI instead: ```bash npx -y @useclawlink/cli login # sign in via browser — no API key to paste npx -y @useclawlink/cli connect ngrok # connect Ngrok (browser OAuth) npx -y @useclawlink/cli actions ngrok # list available actions npx -y @useclawlink/cli run ngrok --input '' # execute (add --confirm for writes) ``` ### Install by command The prompt above walks Hermes through this. By hand, it is four commands and a browser approval: ```bash hermes plugins install ClawLink-HQ/hermes-plugin --enable hermes clawlink begin # prints an approval link — open it and approve hermes clawlink finish # after approving in the browser hermes clawlink test ``` Then connect Ngrok in the [ClawLink dashboard](https://claw-link.dev/dashboard) — paste your Ngrok API key once. Verify the connection by asking Hermes: > List the endpoints in my ngrok account with the endpoint tools and tell me what each one points at and whether it is still in use. Do not change anything. ### Using a different agent? The Hermes plugin is one client of ClawLink's MCP server. Claude Code, Cursor, Codex, or any agent that can run a shell command pairs with the same ClawLink account through the CLI: ```bash npx -y @useclawlink/cli login ``` `login` opens the same browser approval and stores a credential locally. Once Ngrok is connected in the dashboard, that agent calls the same 102 Ngrok tools over MCP. Full setup for MCP clients and shell agents: [connect apps to any AI agent](https://claw-link.dev/learn/connect-apps-to-any-ai-agent). ## Ngrok MCP for Hermes Looking for a Ngrok MCP server for Hermes Agent? ClawLink connects Ngrok to Hermes Agent and exposes 102 Ngrok tools your agent can call over [MCP](https://claw-link.dev/learn/what-is-an-mcp-server), with [hosted auth](https://claw-link.dev/learn/oauth-for-ai-agents) and nothing to run or maintain yourself. Using OpenClaw instead? The [OpenClaw Ngrok integration](https://claw-link.dev/openclaw/ngrok) works the same way. Two completely different things get called "ngrok for your agent", and picking the wrong one wastes an afternoon. If you want to expose a Hermes instance running on your laptop so something on the internet can reach it, that is the ngrok CLI — `ngrok http \` — and it needs no integration at all. This page is the other thing: ngrok's management API as tools, so Hermes can create and inspect endpoints, edges, reserved domains, IP restrictions, credentials, and API keys in your ngrok account. You paste one ngrok API key into the hosted setup page, pair Hermes once, and the 102 tools below work from chat with nothing running on your machine. ## What the Hermes Agent Ngrok integration can do 102 Ngrok tools are ready for Hermes Agent once the account is connected. The 30 below are the ones people reach for most; your agent can call all 102. ### 30 of 102 Ngrok tools for Hermes | Tool | What it does | |---|---| | **Create API key** `ngrok_create_api_key` | Creates a new API key for authenticating with the ngrok API | | **Create credential** `ngrok_create_credential` | Creates a new tunnel authtoken credential for authenticating ngrok agents | | **Create endpoint** `ngrok_create_endpoint` | Create a cloud endpoint on the ngrok account | | **Create event source** `ngrok_create_event_source` | Add a new event source to an event subscription | | **Get API key** `ngrok_get_api_key` | Get the details of an API key by ID | | **Get credentials** `ngrok_get_credentials` | Retrieve detailed information about a tunnel authtoken credential by ID | | **Get edge route backend module** `ngrok_get_edge_route_backend_module` | Retrieves the backend module configuration for an HTTPS edge route | | **Get edge route circuit breaker module** `ngrok_get_edge_route_circuit_breaker_module` | Retrieve the circuit breaker module configuration for a specific HTTPS edge route | | **Get edge route compression module** `ngrok_get_edge_route_compression_module` | Retrieves the compression module configuration for a specific HTTPS edge route | | **Get edge route ip restriction module** `ngrok_get_edge_route_ip_restriction_module` | Retrieves the IP restriction module configuration for a specific HTTPS edge route | | **Get edge route oidc module** `ngrok_get_edge_route_oidc_module` | Retrieves the OIDC (OpenID Connect) module configuration for a specific HTTPS edge route | | **Get edge route request headers module** `ngrok_get_edge_route_request_headers_module` | Retrieves the request headers module configuration for a specific HTTPS edge route | | **Get edge route response headers module** `ngrok_get_edge_route_response_headers_module` | Get the response headers module configuration for an HTTPS edge route | | **Get edge route saml module** `ngrok_get_edge_route_saml_module` | Retrieves the SAML authentication module configuration for a specific HTTPS edge route | | **Get edge route traffic policy** `ngrok_get_edge_route_traffic_policy` | Retrieves the Traffic Policy module configuration for a specific HTTPS edge route | | **Get edge route user agent filter module** `ngrok_get_edge_route_user_agent_filter_module` | Retrieves the user agent filter module configuration for a specific HTTPS edge route | | **Get edge route webhook verification module** `ngrok_get_edge_route_webhook_verification_module` | Retrieves the webhook verification module configuration for an HTTPS edge route | | **Get edge route websocket tcp converter module** `ngrok_get_edge_route_websocket_tcp_converter_module` | Retrieves the WebSocket TCP Converter module configuration for a specific HTTPS edge route | | **Get endpoint** `ngrok_get_endpoint` | Get the status of an endpoint by ID | | **Get event source** `ngrok_get_event_source` | Get an event source by type for a specific event subscription | | **Get https edge** `ngrok_get_https_edge` | Get the details of an HTTPS edge by ID | | **Get https edge mutual tls module** `ngrok_get_https_edge_mutual_tls_module` | Retrieves the mutual TLS module configuration for an HTTPS edge | | **Get https edge route** `ngrok_get_https_edge_route` | Retrieves detailed information about a specific HTTPS edge route by its ID | | **Get ip restrictions** `ngrok_get_ip_restrictions` | Retrieves detailed information about a specific IP restriction by its ID | | **Get reserved domain** `ngrok_get_reserved_domain` | Get the details of a reserved domain by ID | | **Get secret** `ngrok_get_secret` | Retrieve detailed information about a vault secret by ID | | **Get secrets by vault** `ngrok_get_secrets_by_vault` | Get all secrets in a vault by vault ID | | **Get ssh credentials** `ngrok_get_ssh_credentials` | Retrieve detailed information about an SSH credential by ID | | **Get vault** `ngrok_get_vault` | Get the details of a vault by ID | | **List agent ingresses** `ngrok_list_agent_ingresses` | List all Agent Ingresses owned by this account | ## Example prompts **Audit what is exposed** > List the endpoints in my ngrok account with the endpoint tools and tell me what each one points at and whether it is still in use. Do not change anything. **Find stale credentials** > Use ngrok_get_credentials and the API key tools to show me every credential and key on the account with when it was created. Flag anything that looks abandoned. **Check access restrictions** > Show me the IP restrictions configured with ngrok_get_ip_restrictions and tell me which endpoints or edges they apply to. **Review reserved domains** > List the reserved domains on the account with ngrok_get_reserved_domain and tell me which are attached to a live endpoint and which are sitting unused. ## What the ngrok tools cover This is the management API, and knowing its shape prevents the most common wrong assumption. - **Nothing here starts a tunnel from your machine.** Agent endpoints are configured in the account; forwarding local traffic is the ngrok CLI's job and needs a local process. - **"Tunnel" is the old word.** ngrok renamed them agent endpoints, which is why the tools read `ngrok_create_endpoint` and `ngrok_get_endpoint`. Search results still say tunnel. - **Edges have per-route modules.** IP restrictions, OIDC, SAML, compression, circuit breaking, request and response headers, and webhook verification are each their own tool against a route — configuration lives deeper than the endpoint level. - **Credentials, API keys, and secrets are all reachable.** `ngrok_create_api_key` mints a credential, so treat it as the most privileged tool in the set and keep it away from open-ended instructions. - **Resources are account-scoped.** An id from another ngrok account fails as a permission error rather than a not-found, which is easy to misread as a broken connection. ## ClawLink vs. building it yourself The alternative to ClawLink is usually manual API key setup plus your own token handling, permission troubleshooting, and tool plumbing for Hermes Agent. That is fine if you want to build and maintain the integration yourself. Most teams just want Ngrok working from chat. | | Manual | ClawLink | |---|---|---| | **Credential handling** | Collect, validate, store, and rotate the Ngrok API key yourself, then make sure every tool call uses the right account. | Users complete the hosted ClawLink setup once and the connected Ngrok account becomes available to the agent without you building credential management. | | **Ongoing maintenance** | You own refresh logic, permission debugging, environment config, and every provider-specific edge case for Ngrok. | ClawLink handles the repetitive integration plumbing so your team can focus on the workflow instead of the infrastructure. | | **Agent usability** | You still need to expose the right Ngrok actions to the runtime in a format your agent can reliably use. | 102 tools for Ngrok are already exposed through ClawLink, so the agent can read and act from chat immediately. | ## ClawLink vs. Composio Composio also exposes Ngrok to AI agents. It is developer infrastructure: Python and TypeScript SDKs, an MCP server, and a catalog past 1,000 apps, aimed at teams shipping agent products. ClawLink is built for Hermes Agent users instead. You install the plugin once, connect Ngrok in the browser, and the 102 tools above work from chat. There is no SDK and no config file, and the Ngrok key you paste at setup is stored server-side rather than kept in your environment. Choosing between them? Read the full [Composio alternatives](https://claw-link.dev/hub/composio-alternatives) comparison. ### Hermes paired but still can't use Ngrok Pairing is a two-step handshake: run `hermes clawlink begin`, approve the link in your browser, then run `hermes clawlink finish`. If you ran finish before approving, or the approval link expired, run `hermes clawlink begin` again to get a fresh link. Confirm the plugin was installed with `--enable`, then verify with `hermes clawlink test`. ### Connection succeeds but no tools appear Reconnect Ngrok from the dashboard, then start a fresh chat if the runtime still has the old tool catalog loaded. ### "Tool schema not loaded yet" error when calling Ngrok tools Ngrok tool schemas load on demand the first time a tool runs and are cached after that, so this error usually clears on its own: wait a few seconds and retry the same request. If every Ngrok call keeps failing with it in a fresh chat, reconnect from the dashboard, and contact support if it still persists — that pattern points to a configuration problem on our side, not something you can fix by reconnecting again. ### Ngrok returns 403 or "permission denied" on one action while others work Two usual causes. The connected account may not have access to the specific workspace, inbox, store, or project in the request — check that first. If access looks right, the agent may have sent a placeholder value (like "YOUR_ID" or an example id from documentation) instead of a real one: ask it to run a list or search tool first, then retry the action with a real id from those results. Most failures at this stage are one of these two, not ClawLink bugs. ### ngrok returns 401 or 403 although the connection shows as connected "Connected" means a key was accepted at setup, so start with the key. If it was deleted or rotated in ngrok afterwards, every call fails from that point and re-pasting the current key from the dashboard is the fix — a total failure across all tools is the signature. If some calls work and others do not, the key is alive and you are looking at what it is permitted to do: ngrok API keys carry the account's access, so a key from an account without rights to a resource returns a permission error for that resource while everything else behaves. The third cause is scope of account — ngrok resources belong to an account, so an endpoint or domain id from a different account fails the same way, as does a placeholder id copied from documentation. Ask the agent to diagnose it: ```text Call ngrok_get_credentials and list what this connection can see. Then quote the exact error from the failed call and tell me which resource id it used. Do not retry yet. ``` ### The agent cannot find a tool to start a tunnel Correct, and it is not confused — nothing here starts a tunnel from your machine, because that requires a local process and this integration is the management API. `ngrok_create_endpoint` configures an endpoint in your ngrok account; it does not open a connection from your laptop. If you need traffic reaching a locally running Hermes, run the ngrok CLI alongside it. If the agent invents a name like ngrok_start_tunnel, that name has never existed and the error will list the closest real tools. Ask the agent to diagnose it: ```text List every ngrok tool you actually have access to and tell me plainly whether any of them can start a tunnel from this machine. Do not guess at names. ``` ### ngrok tools are missing entirely, or one name is not found Two problems that present the same way. If Hermes shows no ngrok tools at all, the pairing or the connection is incomplete: check that the plugin was installed with `--enable`, that `hermes clawlink begin` and `hermes clawlink finish` both completed, and that ngrok shows as connected in the dashboard. If most tools work and one fails, that name is wrong rather than missing. There is also a first-call timing case: schemas load on demand, so the opening ngrok call in a fresh session can arrive before the catalog and just needs a retry. Editing a client config file, which is what search results for this symptom usually suggest, is not part of this setup. Ask the agent to diagnose it: ```text List the ngrok tools you have access to. If there are none, say so. If there are, tell me which one lists endpoints and use that exact name. ``` ### API key setup works but results look incomplete Double-check that the API key for Ngrok has the right scopes or account access. A valid key can still be too limited for some reads or writes. ### Is there a Hermes Agent Ngrok integration? Yes. ClawLink is the fastest way to connect Hermes to Ngrok: link your Ngrok account once in the browser and Hermes Agent can call the Ngrok API through 102 ready-made tools — no custom code or token handling. ### How do I connect Ngrok to Hermes with ClawLink? Install the plugin with `hermes plugins install ClawLink-HQ/hermes-plugin --enable`, then pair once: run `hermes clawlink begin`, approve the link in your browser, and run `hermes clawlink finish`. Connect Ngrok in the dashboard and Hermes can use it from the next message — no config files, and the Ngrok key you paste is stored server-side instead of in your environment. ### How long does it take to connect Ngrok to Hermes Agent? About two minutes. Sign in, click Connect next to Ngrok in the dashboard, authenticate, and Hermes Agent can use it from the next chat message. ### Why use ClawLink instead of wiring Ngrok up myself? The alternative to ClawLink is usually manual API key setup plus your own token handling, permission troubleshooting, and tool plumbing for Hermes Agent. That is fine if you want to build and maintain the integration yourself. Most teams just want Ngrok working from chat. ### Does this create a tunnel to my local machine? No, and this is the distinction worth getting straight first. Starting a tunnel — what ngrok now calls an agent endpoint — from your own machine is the ngrok CLI's job, because something has to be listening locally for traffic to be forwarded to. This integration talks to ngrok's management API instead: it can create and configure endpoints, reserved domains, edges and their route modules, IP restriction policies, credentials, and API keys in your account, and read what already exists. Think of it as the ngrok dashboard as tools, rather than as a replacement for the CLI. ### How is this different from ngrok's AI Gateway? They solve unrelated problems that happen to share a vendor and a marketing phrase. ngrok's AI Gateway sits in front of model providers and routes LLM requests through a single key — it is about your agent's traffic to models. This integration is about your ngrok account itself: what endpoints exist, which domains are reserved, what the IP restrictions are, who holds credentials. If you searched for running an agent without managing API keys and landed on the gateway, that is a reasonable answer to a different question. ### Which ngrok key does it need, and where does it live? An ngrok API key, created in your ngrok dashboard, pasted once into the hosted setup page. It carries the access of the account it belongs to, so the agent can see and change what that account can. Because it is held server-side rather than in an environment variable, rotating it in ngrok means updating one place, and removing the connection from the ClawLink dashboard cuts access immediately rather than whenever someone cleans up a machine. ### What is this actually good for day to day? Auditing and changing account configuration without opening the dashboard. Asking which endpoints are live and what they point at, checking which reserved domains exist before someone claims another, reviewing IP restriction policies, and finding stale API keys and credentials that should have been revoked. The last one is the most common real use: ngrok accounts accumulate keys, and an agent that can enumerate them turns a periodic chore into a question you ask in chat. ### Hermes paired but still can't use Ngrok Pairing is a two-step handshake: run `hermes clawlink begin`, approve the link in your browser, then run `hermes clawlink finish`. If you ran finish before approving, or the approval link expired, run `hermes clawlink begin` again to get a fresh link. Confirm the plugin was installed with `--enable`, then verify with `hermes clawlink test`. ## Related - [GitHub tools](https://claw-link.dev/hermes/github) — Manage repositories, issues, pull requests, and workflows - [Hermes PagerDuty integration](https://claw-link.dev/hermes/pagerduty) — Manage incidents, on-call schedules, and services - [Hermes SafetyCulture integration](https://claw-link.dev/hermes/safetyculture) — SafetyCulture (formerly iAuditor) is a workplace operations platform that enables teams to conduct digital inspections, manage audits, track issues, schedule tasks, and maintain compliance through mobile and web applications.