Setup Guide — Aether Agents

Clone & Install

git clone https://github.com/DarkArty07/Aether-Agents.git
cd Aether-Agents
python3 -m venv venv
source venv/bin/activate
pip install -e .

Use Python 3.11 or later. Activate the venv before every session.

Configure API Keys

Each Daimon reads its own .env file from profiles/<name>/.env. This keeps keys isolated — Hermes can use OpenAI while Hefesto uses Anthropic.

cp home/profiles/hermes/.env.example home/profiles/hermes/.env
# Repeat for each profile:
cp home/profiles/ariadna/.env.example home/profiles/ariadna/.env
cp home/profiles/hefesto/.env.example home/profiles/hefesto/.env
cp home/profiles/etalides/.env.example home/profiles/etalides/.env
cp home/profiles/daedalus/.env.example home/profiles/daedalus/.env
cp home/profiles/athena/.env.example home/profiles/athena/.env

Only fill in the key for your chosen provider. Other keys can be left unset.

Provider Setup

Set PROVIDER in the profile's .env and supply the matching API key. Supported providers:

OpenAI

https://api.openai.com

OPENAI_API_KEY

Anthropic

https://api.anthropic.com

ANTHROPIC_API_KEY

Google Gemini

https://generativelanguage.googleapis.com

GEMINI_API_KEY

Moonshot (Kimi)

https://api.moonshot.cn

MOONSHOT_API_KEY

OpenRouter

https://openrouter.ai

OPENROUTER_API_KEY

Ollama (local)

http://localhost:11434

No key needed

vLLM (local)

http://localhost:8000

No key needed

Exa Web Search

🔍 Etalides needs EXA_API_KEY for web search. Get a free key at exa.ai, then add it to Etalides' .env:

# home/profiles/etalides/.env
PROVIDER=anthropic
ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=sk-ant-...
EXA_API_KEY=exa-...

Without EXA_API_KEY, Etalides will start but web search queries will fail.

Verify & Launch

Set HERMES_HOME to point at the home directory, then start a Daimon:

export HERMES_HOME=~/Aether-Agents/home

# Use the verification script
bash scripts/start.sh

# Or run directly
HERMES_HOME=~/Aether-Agents/home hermes --profile hermes

Add export HERMES_HOME=~/Aether-Agents/home to your .bashrc or .zshrc so it persists across sessions.

Test a Daimon

Send a message and verify the response flows back correctly:

HERMES_HOME=~/Aether-Agents/home hermes --profile hefesto
HERMES_HOME=~/Aether-Agents/home hermes --profile ariadna

Try each Daimon — hermes ariadna hefesto etalides daedalus athena

Troubleshooting

Common Issues

Quick fixes for the most frequent setup problems.

🚨 HERMES_HOME not set → "No module" error. The runtime can't locate the home directory. Fix: export HERMES_HOME=~/Aether-Agents/home

🤫 Missing .env → Silent fallback to defaults. The agent may run but with wrong provider settings. Fix: cp .env.example .env for each profile.

🔌 Wrong PROVIDER value → Connection fails. Typos like open_ai or Anthropic (wrong case) cause lookup failure. Use exact values: openai, anthropic, google, moonshot, openrouter, ollama, vllm.

📐 YAML indentation → Use spaces, not tabs. Python's YAML parser rejects tabs. Enable "render whitespace" in your editor to spot them.

🔍 Exa key missing → Etalides can't search. Without EXA_API_KEY in profiles/etalides/.env, web search queries return errors. Get a free key at exa.ai.