Scarf
Native macOS and iOS App for the Hermes AI agent — multi-window, multi-server (local + remote over SSH). Chat, dashboard, sessions, memory, cron, MCP, and more.
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What is Scarf?
Scarf is a native macOS (and iOS) companion application for the Hermes AI agent, providing a full graphical interface to manage and interact with your Hermes installation. It offers complete visibility into what Hermes is doing, when it runs, and what it creates. The app supports both local Hermes installations at ~/.hermes/ and remote Hermes servers accessed over SSH, enabling multi-window operation where each window ties to a different server.
Key features include Live Chat with two modes (Rich Chat streaming via Agent Client Protocol with iMessage-style bubbles and markdown rendering, plus Terminal mode with full ANSI coloring), a comprehensive Dashboard showing system health and token usage, an Insights panel with usage analytics and cost tracking, a Sessions Browser for full conversation history with search and export, Memory Viewer/Editor for MEMORY.md and USER.md, a Skills Browser with Skills Hub integration for installing/updating skills, and Project Dashboards that render custom agent-generated visualizations with widgets like stats, charts, tables, and embedded webviews.
Scarf also provides extensive configuration capabilities including native GUI setup for 13 messaging platforms (Telegram, Discord, Slack, WhatsApp, Signal, etc.), MCP Server management with curated presets and custom configurations, Cron Manager for scheduled jobs with full write support, Gateway Control for messaging gateway management, Health diagnostics, Log Viewer with real-time tailing, and a restructured 10-tab Settings interface exposing ~60 configuration fields. The iOS companion app ScarfGo enables remote Hermes access from iPhone via pure-Swift SSH.
The tool is designed for Hermes AI agent users who want a native GUI instead of命令行 interaction, developers managing multiple Hermes installations (local and remote), teams needing usage analytics and cost tracking, and anyone who wants project-specific dashboards generated and maintained by their AI agent.
Scarf pricing
Pricing model: Freemium
Scarf is completely free and open-source under the MIT License. No paid tiers, subscriptions, or premium features exist. The app is available as pre-built universal binaries (Apple Silicon + Intel) from GitHub Releases, and can also be built from source with Xcode 16.0+. The developer accepts voluntary support through Buy Me a Coffee and GitHub Sponsors, but these are optional with no feature restrictions for non-donors.
Scarf pros
- Native macOS GUI with SwiftUI for natural Mac integration
- Multi-window, multi-server support for local and remote Hermes instances
- Remote SSH access with ControlMaster connection pooling for fast operations
- Rich Chat mode with real-time streaming and iMessage-style bubbles
- Terminal mode with SwiftTerm for full ANSI color support
- Comprehensive Dashboard with system health, token usage, and cost tracking
- Insights panel with usage analytics, activity heatmaps, and model statistics
- Sessions Browser with full-text search, JSONL export, and reasoning display
- Skills Hub integration for browsing, installing, and updating skills from registry
- Native GUI setup for all 13 messaging platforms without manual .env editing
- Project Dashboards with customizable widgets including embedded webviews
- MCP Server management with curated presets and one-click connection testing
- Cron Manager with full CRUD support for scheduled jobs
- Auto-updates via Sparkle framework with automatic check on launch
- Fully signed and notarized binaries with no Apple install warnings
- Supports 7 languages including English, Chinese, German, French, Spanish, Japanese, Portuguese
- Session persistence and auto-reconnection with session recovery
- Bitwarden Secrets Manager integration for centralized credential management
- Per-session edit-approval modes with Default, Accept Edits, and Don't Ask options
- Supply-chain audit button running OSV.dev vulnerability scanning
Scarf cons
- macOS only - no Windows or Linux desktop support
- Requires macOS 14.6+ (Sonoma) which excludes older Macs
- iOS companion ScarfGo only available via TestFlight beta
- Requires Hermes agent v0.6.0+ installed separately at ~/.hermes/
- Remote servers need sqlite3 and pgrep on PATH for full functionality
- App sandbox disabled for direct ~/.hermes/ access (security consideration)
- Not available on Mac App Store due to sandbox restrictions
- Remote connection setup requires manual SSH key configuration
- Some advanced features require Hermes v0.15.0 for full support
- Database schema changes in Hermes may require Scarf updates
Frequently asked questions about Scarf
What is Scarf and what does it do?
Scarf is a native macOS companion app for the Hermes AI agent that provides full graphical visibility into what Hermes is doing, when, and what it creates. It mirrors Hermes's surface area through a sidebar-based UI with sections for Monitor (Dashboard, Insights, Sessions Browser, Activity Feed), Interact (Live Chat in Rich or Terminal modes, Memory Viewer/Editor, Skills Browser), Configure (Platforms, Personalities, Quick Commands, Credential Pools, Plugins, Webhooks, Profiles, Hermes Proxy), Manage (Tools, MCP Servers, Gateway Control, Cron Manager, Health, Log Viewer, Settings), Project Dashboards, and System (Hermes Process Control, Menu Bar status).
Can I connect Scarf to remote Hermes servers?
Yes. Scarf 2.0 supports multiple Hermes installations including your local ~/.hermes/ plus any number of remote Hermes instances accessed via SSH. Each window binds to exactly one server. Add remote servers via File → Open Server → Add Server with host, user, port, optional identity file, and optional remote home directory override. Remote features use system SSH with ControlMaster connection pooling, scp/sftp for file I/O, sqlite3 atomic snapshots for database access, and ssh -T for ACP chat tunneling. All features work against remote servers identically to local.
What are the system requirements for Scarf?
Scarf requires macOS 14.6+ (Sonoma) for the Mac app and iOS 18.0+ for ScarfGo (the iPhone companion). To build from source you need Xcode 16.0+. The Hermes agent v0.6.0+ must be installed at ~/.hermes/ on each target host, with v0.15.0+ recommended for full v2.10 feature support. For remote servers, you need SSH access with key-based authentication, sqlite3 on the remote PATH for atomic DB snapshots, and the hermes CLI resolvable from the remote user's PATH or a specified path.
How do I install Scarf?
Download the latest build from GitHub Releases: Scarf-vX.X.X-Universal.zip for Apple Silicon + Intel (recommended) or Scarf-vX.X.X-ARM64.zip for Apple Silicon only. Unzip and drag Scarf.app to Applications, then launch normally. Builds are Developer ID signed and notarized, so Gatekeeper accepts them on first launch. Scarf checks for updates automatically on launch via Sparkle and daily thereafter. If you get a 'damaged app' error, run xattr -d com.apple.quarantine /Applications/Scarf.app.
What is ScarfGo?
ScarfGo is the iPhone companion app that connects to the same Hermes server you're running on your Mac, reachable over SSH. It supports multi-server connections, project-scoped chat, session resume, memory editor, cron list, skills tree, and read-only settings. It uses pure-Swift SSH (Citadel under the hood) with no ssh binary needed on iOS. Private keys live in the iOS Keychain and are excluded from iCloud sync. Available via public TestFlight, with onboarding taking about a minute to generate keys and add SSH public key to your Hermes host.
How does the Chat feature work?
Chat has two modes. Rich Chat streams responses in real-time via the Agent Client Protocol (ACP) with iMessage-style bubbles, markdown rendering, tool call visualization, thinking/reasoning display, and permission request dialogs. It includes a one-click /compress focus sheet when Hermes advertises the command. Terminal mode runs hermes chat with full ANSI color and Rich formatting via SwiftTerm. Both modes support session persistence, resume/continue previous sessions, auto-reconnection with session recovery, and voice mode controls. Sessions persist across navigation without losing your conversation.
What are Project Dashboards?
Project Dashboards are custom, agent-generated dashboards for any project. You define a simple JSON file (.scarf/dashboard.json) describing stat boxes, charts, tables, progress bars, checklists, rich text, and embedded web views. Scarf renders them with live refresh. Your Hermes agent can build and maintain these automatically. Widget types include stat, progress, text, table, chart, list, and webview. The webview widget embeds a live browser for local dev servers, HTML reports, or web-based tools. Register projects via Projects sidebar '+' button or by adding to ~/.hermes/scarf/projects.json.
How do I manage MCP servers in Scarf?
Go to Manage → MCP Servers in the sidebar. Add servers via curated presets (GitHub, Linear, Notion, Sentry, Stripe, and more) or fully custom with stdio command + args, or HTTP URL with optional bearer auth. Per-server detail view includes enable/disable toggle, environment variable + header editor, tool-include/exclude filters, resources/prompts toggles, request and connect timeouts, OAuth token detection + clearing, and one-click Test Connection that runs hermes mcp test and surfaces discovered tools. A gateway-restart banner appears after config changes requiring reload.
Is Scarf free or paid?
Scarf is completely free and open-source under the MIT License. There are no paid tiers, subscriptions, or premium features. All functionality is available to everyone. The developer (Alan Wizemann) accepts voluntary support through Buy Me a Coffee and GitHub Sponsors, but these are entirely optional with no feature restrictions for non-donors. Pre-built binaries are downloaded freely from GitHub Releases, and source code is available for building locally.
What languages does Scarf support?
Scarf is available in 7 languages: English, 简体中文 (Simplified Chinese), Deutsch (German), Français (French), Español (Spanish), 日本語 (Japanese), and Português (Brasil) (Brazilian Portuguese). The app interface translates across all these languages, making it accessible to international Hermes users.