Connect AWS Bedrock

Think of Amazon Bedrock as a giant vending machine for AI models—instead of snacks, it serves up powerful language models from Anthropic, Meta, and others, all with one simple payment method: your AWS account.

What You’ll Need

Before we start, make sure you have:

• An AWS account (free tier works fine)
• AWS credentials—these are like your ID card. You can use:
  • An IAM role if you’re on EC2/ECS/Lambda (zero setup!)
  • AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID + AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY environment variables
  • An AWS_PROFILE for SSO or named profiles
  • Just run aws configure for local development

Step 1: Install Hermes with Bedrock Support

Open your terminal and run:

cd ~/.hermes/hermes-agent
uv pip install -e ".[bedrock]"

This adds the Bedrock “plug-in” to your Hermes installation. Think of it like installing a language pack on your phone.

Step 2: Tell Hermes to Use Bedrock

Run this command to pick your provider:

hermes model

When prompted:

1. Choose “More providers…”
2. Select “AWS Bedrock”
3. Pick your region (like us-east-2)
4. Choose a model (e.g., Claude Sonnet 4)

Hermes will automatically save your settings. Your ~/.hermes/config.yaml will look something like:

model:
  default: us.anthropic.claude-sonnet-4-6
  provider: bedrock
  base_url: https://bedrock-runtime.us-east-2.amazonaws.com
bedrock:
  region: us-east-2

Step 3: Start Chatting

hermes chat

That’s it! You’re now talking to a model through AWS Bedrock.

Setting Your Region

You can set your AWS region in three ways (highest priority first):

1. Add region under bedrock: in your config file
2. Set the AWS_REGION environment variable
3. Set the AWS_DEFAULT_REGION environment variable

If you don’t set it, Hermes defaults to us-east-1.

Extra: Guardrails (Safety Filters)

Want to add content filters? Add this to your config:

bedrock:
  region: us-east-2
  guardrail:
    guardrail_identifier: "abc123def456"  # From Bedrock console
    guardrail_version: "1"                # Or "DRAFT"
    stream_processing_mode: "async"       # "sync" or "async"
    trace: "disabled"                     # "enabled", "disabled", "enabled_full"

Model Discovery

Hermes automatically finds available models in your region. You can customize which ones it shows:

bedrock:
  discovery:
    enabled: true
    provider_filter: ["anthropic", "meta"]

Summary

Connecting AWS Bedrock to Hermes is like plugging a new game console into your TV—install the driver, pick your game, and play. You get access to top-tier models with AWS’s security and reliability.

Practical tip: If you’re running on EC2 or Lambda, skip the API keys entirely. Just attach an IAM role with AmazonBedrockFullAccess and Hermes will detect it automatically. No config, no hassle—just pure AI power.