# How to connect RunPod to Hermes Agent (paste one key, 13 tools) > Connect RunPod to Hermes with ClawLink: paste your RunPod key once and 13 tools work from chat. No MCP server to run, nothing stored on your machine. Web version: https://claw-link.dev/hermes/runpod Most guides for giving Hermes Agent RunPod 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 RunPod setup: pair once in the browser and your always-on Hermes agent can act on RunPod 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 RunPod. 1. **Install ClawLink** — add the plugin to Hermes Agent once. 2. **Connect RunPod** — 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 runpod # connect RunPod (browser OAuth) npx -y @useclawlink/cli actions runpod # list available actions npx -y @useclawlink/cli run runpod --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 RunPod in the [ClawLink dashboard](https://claw-link.dev/dashboard) — paste your RunPod API key once. Verify the connection by asking Hermes: > Call runpod_get_myself and runpod_get_pod for \ and tell me the pod's status, its region, and which RunPod account this connection acts as. ### 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 RunPod is connected in the dashboard, that agent calls the same 13 RunPod 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). ## RunPod MCP for Hermes Looking for a RunPod MCP server for Hermes Agent? ClawLink connects RunPod to Hermes Agent and exposes 13 RunPod 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 RunPod integration](https://claw-link.dev/openclaw/runpod) works the same way. Search results for connecting RunPod to Hermes mostly assume you mean hosting a model on a GPU pod: launch the pod, expose port 11434 or 8000, and point an OpenAI-compatible provider at it. That is a legitimate setup and it is not this page. This page treats RunPod as the account you already manage: 13 tools for clusters, secrets, endpoints, templates, registry auth, GPU and CPU types, and your pods and user settings, called from chat through one API key pasted once and stored server-side. Hermes Agent pairs with `hermes clawlink begin` and `hermes clawlink finish`; nothing runs on your machine and no `RUNPOD_API_KEY` sits in an environment file. ## What the Hermes Agent RunPod integration can do 13 RunPod tools are ready for Hermes Agent once the account is connected. The 11 below are the ones people reach for most; your agent can call all 13. ### 11 of 13 RunPod tools for Hermes | Tool | What it does | |---|---| | **Create cluster** `runpod_create_cluster` | Create a new RunPod cluster | | **Create secret** `runpod_create_secret` | Create a new RunPod secret | | **Get gpu types** `runpod_get_gpu_types` | List available GPU types and filter cluster-compatible GPUs | | **Get myself** `runpod_get_myself` | Get the connected RunPod account details | | **Get pod** `runpod_get_pod` | Get details for a specific RunPod pod | | **List cpu types** `runpod_list_cpu_types` | List available CPU instance types | | **Save endpoint** `runpod_save_endpoint` | Create or update a RunPod serverless endpoint | | **Save registry auth** `runpod_save_registry_auth` | Save container registry authentication for private images | | **Save template** `runpod_save_template` | Create or update a RunPod pod or serverless template | | **Update registry auth** `runpod_update_registry_auth` | Update existing container registry authentication | | **Update user settings** `runpod_update_user_settings` | Update RunPod user settings | ## Example prompts **Check account and pods** > Call runpod_get_myself and runpod_get_pod for \ and tell me the pod's status, its region, and which RunPod account this connection acts as. **Plan capacity** > Use runpod_get_gpu_types and runpod_list_cpu_types and show me what is available, with prices, for the regions I can reach. **Store a secret** > Save a secret named \ with runpod_create_secret and confirm it is stored without printing its value back. **Save an endpoint** > Use runpod_save_endpoint for \ and tell me what arguments it required and what the saved configuration looks like. ## How the RunPod tools behave Details that decide whether a RunPod prompt manages the account or trips over its boundaries. - **The surface is account management, not inference.** `runpod_create_cluster`, `runpod_save_endpoint`, `runpod_save_template`, `runpod_save_registry_auth`, and `runpod_create_secret` manage what your RunPod account owns; there is no tool here that runs a model. - **Reads first.** `runpod_get_myself`, `runpod_get_pod`, `runpod_get_gpu_types`, and `runpod_list_cpu_types` answer what the account can do and what it has before any write. - **Secrets are write-only.** `runpod_create_secret` stores a value; the agent should never print it back into chat. - **Ownership is the boundary.** Pods, endpoints, and clusters belong to teams, so a resource owned by another team fails like a permission error rather than a not-found. - **One key, one account.** The pasted key carries the permissions and team role of the RunPod user it was created for, which is why key-permission and role checks come first on any 403. ## 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 RunPod working from chat. | | Manual | ClawLink | |---|---|---| | **Credential handling** | Collect, validate, store, and rotate the RunPod API key yourself, then make sure every tool call uses the right account. | Users complete the hosted ClawLink setup once and the connected RunPod 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 RunPod. | 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 RunPod actions to the runtime in a format your agent can reliably use. | 13 tools for RunPod are already exposed through ClawLink, so the agent can read and act from chat immediately. | ## ClawLink vs. Composio Composio also exposes RunPod 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 RunPod in the browser, and the 13 tools above work from chat. There is no SDK and no config file, and the RunPod 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 RunPod 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 RunPod 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 RunPod tools RunPod 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 RunPod 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. ### RunPod 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. ### RunPod returns a permission error although the account shows as connected The causes the engines teach for this error are the real ones, and they replace the workspace-and-inbox theory that used to sit here, RunPod has no such concepts. First, the key's permissions: RunPod launched fine-grained scoped API keys, and a key without the permission for an action fails exactly that action. Second, team roles: Billing cannot connect to existing Pods, Basic cannot create or start them, and Dev and Admin have broader permissions, so the account behind the key decides what the agent can do. Third, ownership: a pod, endpoint, or cluster owned by another team fails like a permission error rather than a not-found. Then the hosted-flow causes: a placeholder id, a pod or endpoint id from documentation instead of from `runpod_get_pod` or `runpod_get_myself`, and SSH key configuration where pod access is involved, a fingerprint pasted instead of the public key, or the `ssh-ed25519` prefix omitted. Ask the agent to diagnose it: ```text Call runpod_get_myself and tell me which RunPod account and role this connection acts as, then quote the exact error and the id from the failed call. Do not retry it yet. ``` ### RunPod tools are missing, or one tool name is not found The fixes search results give for this symptom assume a locally configured MCP server, editing a client config file and restarting, which does not exist in this setup. Two hosted-flow causes cover it instead: schemas load on demand, so the opening RunPod call in a fresh session can arrive before the catalog and needs one retry, and if Hermes shows no RunPod tools at all the pairing is incomplete, so confirm the plugin was installed with `--enable` and that both `hermes clawlink begin` and `hermes clawlink finish` ran. If most tools work and a single name fails, the name is wrong rather than missing, and the error lists the closest real ones. Ask the agent to diagnose it: ```text List the RunPod tools you actually have access to. If there are none, say so plainly and tell me whether `hermes clawlink test` passes. If one name failed, quote it and the closest names from the error. ``` ### A pod tool fails with an SSH-related error The engines teach two causes for this shape and both are key-entry mistakes: the fingerprint was pasted where the public key belongs, or the public key was added without its `ssh-ed25519` prefix, which makes the key unparsable. The fix is RunPod-side, adding the key correctly to the pod, not reconnecting this connection. If the key looks correct, the remaining cause is ownership: the pod belongs to a team the connected account cannot reach, which surfaces as a permissions error on the pod tools while the rest of the connection works. Ask the agent to diagnose it: ```text Tell me which pod and which tool failed, and quote the exact error. If the error mentions a key, tell me whether the key starts with ssh-ed25519 and whether you added it as a public key or a fingerprint. ``` ### API key setup works but results look incomplete Double-check that the API key for RunPod 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 RunPod integration? Yes. ClawLink is the fastest way to connect Hermes to RunPod: link your RunPod account once in the browser and Hermes Agent can call the RunPod API through 13 ready-made tools — no custom code or token handling. ### How do I connect RunPod 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 RunPod in the dashboard and Hermes can use it from the next message — no config files, and the RunPod key you paste is stored server-side instead of in your environment. ### How long does it take to connect RunPod to Hermes Agent? About two minutes. Sign in, click Connect next to RunPod in the dashboard, authenticate, and Hermes Agent can use it from the next chat message. ### Why use ClawLink instead of wiring RunPod 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 RunPod working from chat. ### How is this different from RunPod's official @runpod/mcp-server? The official server is the unanimous answer to every "best RunPod MCP" query, and it deserves the name check: `npx -y @runpod/mcp-server@latest` runs a server that needs your `RUNPOD_API_KEY` in your own environment, and you maintain that setup per machine and per client. Underneath, both routes hit the same RunPod API. Here the key is pasted once on a hosted setup page and stored server-side, the tools appear after the pairing handshake, and there is no server process, config file, or environment variable for you to maintain. Choose on how much you want to run, not on which API the tools talk to. ### What does the agent actually manage in RunPod? Account-level infrastructure: `runpod_create_cluster` and `runpod_get_pod` for compute, `runpod_save_endpoint` and `runpod_save_template` for the serving layer, `runpod_create_secret` and `runpod_save_registry_auth` and `runpod_update_registry_auth` for credentials and image pull access, and `runpod_get_gpu_types` and `runpod_list_cpu_types` for capacity planning, with `runpod_get_myself` reporting which account the connection acts as. Reads come first in the tool set, which is the right shape: know what the account has before creating anything. ### Does it run my GPU workloads? No, and naming that is the honest part of this page. The setup search engines teach for running models, a pod serving Ollama or vLLM that Hermes points at as an OpenAI-compatible provider, is a different flow from this one and this connection does not replace it. What this connection does is manage the RunPod account from chat: pods, clusters, endpoints, templates, secrets, and registry auth. If your goal is Hermes calling a model on a RunPod pod, the manual model-host route is what the engines teach; if your goal is managing the RunPod account itself, that is this page. ### Is it safe to give an agent this much RunPod access? The engines' safety answers all land on the same controls: scoped keys, spend limits, least privilege, and human approval on destructive actions. On this connection the key is stored server-side rather than in an env file on a machine, disconnecting from the dashboard revokes the agent's use of it immediately, and the agent acts with the permissions of the RunPod user the key belongs to, so a key from an account without billing or admin access is itself a ceiling. RunPod's own scoped keys are a taught practice for manual setups; whatever key you paste here is the one the agent inherits. ### Hermes paired but still can't use RunPod 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 - [Connect DataRobot](https://claw-link.dev/hermes/datarobot) — DataRobot is a machine learning platform that automates model building, deployment, and monitoring, enabling organizations to derive predictive insights from large datasets. - [Hermes Chatbotkit integration](https://claw-link.dev/hermes/chatbotkit) — ChatBotKit is a platform that enables developers to build and manage AI-powered chatbots, offering comprehensive APIs and SDKs for seamless integration into applications. - [Griptape](https://claw-link.dev/hermes/griptape) — Griptape is a comprehensive platform offering tools and frameworks for building, deploying, and scaling generative AI applications.