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The bundled Hermes migration provider detects state at ~/.hermes, previews every change before applying, redacts secrets in plans and reports, and writes a verified OpenClaw backup before it touches anything.
Imports require a fresh OpenClaw setup. If you already have local OpenClaw state, reset config, credentials, sessions, and the workspace first, or use openclaw migrate apply hermes directly with --overwrite after reviewing the plan.

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Two ways to import

Detects Hermes at ~/.hermes and shows a preview before applying.
openclaw onboard --flow import
Or point at a specific source:
openclaw onboard --import-from hermes --import-source ~/.hermes

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What gets imported

  • Default model selection from Hermes config.yaml.
  • Configured model providers and custom OpenAI-compatible endpoints from providers and custom_providers.
MCP server definitions from mcp_servers or mcp.servers.
  • SOUL.md and AGENTS.md are copied into the OpenClaw agent workspace.
  • memories/MEMORY.md and memories/USER.md are appended to the matching OpenClaw memory files instead of overwriting them.
Memory config defaults for OpenClaw file memory. External memory providers such as Honcho are recorded as archive or manual-review items so you can move them deliberately.
Skills with a SKILL.md file under skills/<name>/ are copied, along with per-skill config values from skills.config.
Interactive openclaw migrate asks before importing auth credentials, with yes selected by default. Accepting imports OpenCode OpenAI OAuth and GitHub Copilot entries from OpenCode’s auth.json, plus the supported Hermes .env keys. Hermes’s own auth.json OAuth entries are legacy state: they surface as a manual reauth/doctor item instead of importing into live auth. Use --include-secrets to import credentials in a non-interactive run, --no-auth-credentials to skip credential import entirely, or the onboarding wizard’s --import-secrets flag.

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What stays archive-only

The provider copies these into the migration report directory for manual review, but does not load them into live OpenClaw config or credentials:
  • plugins/
  • sessions/
  • logs/
  • cron/
  • mcp-tokens/
  • state.db
OpenClaw refuses to execute or trust this state automatically because formats and trust assumptions can drift between systems. Move what you need by hand after reviewing the archive.
1

Preview the plan

openclaw migrate hermes --dry-run
The plan lists everything that will change, including conflicts, skipped items, and sensitive items. Nested secret-looking keys are redacted in the output.
2

Apply with backup

openclaw migrate apply hermes --yes
OpenClaw creates and verifies a backup before applying. This non-interactive example imports non-secret state only. Run without --yes to answer the credential prompt interactively, or add --include-secrets to include supported credentials in an unattended run.
3

Run doctor

openclaw doctor
Doctor reapplies any pending config migrations and checks for issues introduced during the import.
4

Restart and verify

openclaw gateway restart
openclaw status
Confirm the gateway is healthy and your imported model, memory, and skills are loaded.

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Conflict handling

Apply refuses to continue when the plan reports conflicts (a file or config value already exists at the target).
Rerun with --overwrite only when replacing the existing target is intentional. Providers may still write item-level backups for overwritten files in the migration report directory.
Conflicts are unusual on a fresh install. They typically show up when you re-run the import against a setup that already has user edits. If a conflict surfaces mid-apply (for example, an unexpected race on a config file), Hermes marks remaining dependent config items as skipped with reason blocked by earlier apply conflict instead of writing them partially. The migration report records each blocked item so you can resolve the original conflict and rerun the import.

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Secrets

Interactive openclaw migrate asks whether to import detected auth credentials, with yes selected by default.
  • Accepting imports OpenCode OpenAI OAuth and GitHub Copilot entries from OpenCode’s auth.json, plus the supported .env keys. Hermes’s own auth.json OAuth entries are reported for manual OpenAI reauth or doctor repair instead.
  • Use --no-auth-credentials, or answer no at the prompt, to import non-secret state only.
  • Use --include-secrets to import credentials in an unattended --yes run.
  • Use the onboarding wizard’s --import-secrets flag to import credentials from the wizard.

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JSON output for automation

openclaw migrate hermes --dry-run --json
openclaw migrate apply hermes --json --yes
With --json and no --yes, apply prints the plan and does not mutate state — the safest mode for CI and shared scripts.

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Troubleshooting

Inspect the plan output. Each conflict identifies the source path and the existing target. Decide per item whether to skip, edit the target, or rerun with --overwrite.
Pass --from /actual/path (CLI) or --import-source /actual/path (onboarding).
Onboarding imports require a fresh setup. Either reset state and re-onboard, or use openclaw migrate apply hermes directly, which supports --overwrite and explicit backup control.
Interactive openclaw migrate imports API keys only when you accept the credential prompt. Non-interactive --yes runs need --include-secrets; onboarding imports need --import-secrets. Only the supported .env keys are recognized — other .env variables are ignored.
  • openclaw migrate: full CLI reference, plugin contract, and JSON shapes.
  • Onboarding: wizard flow and non-interactive flags.
  • Migrating: move an OpenClaw install between machines.
  • Doctor: post-migration health check.
  • Agent workspace: where SOUL.md, AGENTS.md, and memory files live.