Nerve

See every agent. Understand every run. Command the whole fleet.

An open-source visual command center for OpenClaw and Hermes agents.

Quickstart · Why Nerve · Architecture · Adapter contract · Roadmap · Contributing

Important

Nerve is a public-alpha, single-operator control plane. Live Hermes HTTP and OpenClaw Gateway adapters, encrypted connections, commands, skill management, PostgreSQL persistence, audit events, and Railway packaging are implemented. Runtime compatibility is not guaranteed until v1.0.

Why Nerve

Agent runtimes are good at running agents. They are not always the best place to understand a whole organization of agents at once.

Nerve sits above individual runtimes and gives operators one legible surface:

• a spatial map of agents, missions, handoffs, and dependencies;
• a live view of what each agent is doing and why it needs attention;
• one conversation layer across OpenClaw and Hermes;
• fleet-wide commands with explicit approval and audit boundaries;
• runtime-neutral traces, metrics, artifacts, and memory references.

The goal is not to replace agent runtimes. It is to make operating many of them calm, observable, and safe.

What works today

• Unified OpenClaw and Hermes agent map
• Server-side OpenClaw Gateway protocol-v4 connection and agent discovery
• Server-side Hermes API connection, capabilities, runs, stop, and approvals
• Working, waiting, completed, and idle states
• Agent filtering and canvas zoom
• Run inspection with progress, trace, model, token, and timing data
• Direct commands and stop controls with idempotency records
• Direct operator-to-agent questions that start runtime-native work
• OpenClaw ClawHub skill installation per agent
• Hermes installed-skill discovery and Nerve-side assignment
• Encrypted credentials, authenticated APIs, endpoint SSRF policy, and audits
• PostgreSQL migrations and production health checks
• Fleet-wide command bar
• Responsive layouts for desktop and smaller screens

The dashboard falls back to sample agents until a live runtime is connected. See Connecting runtimes for supported APIs and network requirements.

Quickstart

Requirements

• Node.js 22.13 or newer
• npm 10 or newer
• PostgreSQL 15 or newer

Run locally

git clone https://github.com/boyeesu/nerve.git
cd nerve
npm install
cp .env.example .env.local

Fill DATABASE_URL, NERVE_ENCRYPTION_KEY, NERVE_SESSION_SECRET, and NERVE_ADMIN_TOKEN, then initialize and run:

npm run db:migrate
npm run dev:next

Open the local URL and unlock Nerve with NERVE_ADMIN_TOKEN.

Deploy on Railway

Nerve includes a Docker image, config-as-code, pre-deploy migrations, a PostgreSQL service contract, and readiness checks. Follow the Railway deployment guide.

Validate a change

npm run build
node --test tests/rendered-html.test.mjs
npm run lint

How it fits together

flowchart LR
    OC["OpenClaw"] --> OCA["OpenClaw adapter"]
    HE["Hermes"] --> HEA["Hermes adapter"]
    OCA --> EN["Event normalizer"]
    HEA --> EN
    EN --> MG["Mission graph"]
    EN --> TS["Trace store"]
    UI["Nerve UI"] <--> API["Control API"]
    API <--> MG
    API <--> TS
    API --> CB["Command bus"]
    CB --> OCA
    CB --> HEA
    PE["Policy + approvals"] --> CB

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Nerve treats each runtime as an adapter behind a shared model for agents, runs, events, messages, commands, approvals, and artifacts. Read Architecture for system boundaries and Adapter contract for the proposed integration interface.

Project status

Area	Status
Product interface	Live connection-aware alpha
Connection persistence	PostgreSQL + encrypted credentials
OpenClaw adapter	Protocol-v4 subset; pairing, agents, commands, skills
Hermes adapter	HTTP API; capabilities, runs, actions, skills
Live event transport	Poll/request foundation; durable streaming planned
Authentication	Single-operator secure session
Tenancy and RBAC	Planned
Policy engine	Runtime approvals supported; central policy planned

No production compatibility promise is made before v1.0.0. Breaking changes will be documented in CHANGELOG.md.

Documentation

Document	Purpose
Architecture	System boundaries, services, data flow, safety, and deployment
Adapter contract	Runtime-neutral types, events, capabilities, and commands
Connecting runtimes	OpenClaw/Hermes setup, pairing, scopes, and network access
Production readiness	Implemented controls and remaining stable-release gates
Railway deployment	Docker, PostgreSQL, variables, health checks, and template definition
Development	Setup, project layout, testing, and local workflows
Roadmap	Milestones from prototype to stable release
Governance	Decision-making, roles, and project stewardship
Contributing	How to propose, build, test, and submit changes
Security	Supported versions and responsible disclosure
Support	Where to ask questions and report problems
Code of Conduct	Community participation standards

Contributing

Contributions are welcome, especially around runtime adapters, event normalization, observability, accessibility, and operator safety.

Start with CONTRIBUTING.md, review the architecture, and use the repository issue forms before beginning a large change.

Security

Please do not report vulnerabilities in public issues. Follow the private disclosure process in SECURITY.md.

License

Nerve is available under the MIT License.