Browser-first onboarding · Optional Hermes setup

Start in your browser. Add Hermes only if you want it.

The browser path works on a phone, tablet, Chromebook, Mac, or Windows computer. This guide also includes the optional desktop Hermes path for nurses who want local folders, reusable skills, and user-approved tools.

Available-now boundary: This is the public Community experience: D0/D1 personal, learning, and professional material only; no PHI and no external action. It does not activate Florence-X, mechanical EDENA enforcement, institutional authority, credentials, connectors, schedules, or autonomous tools. See the status register →
A word before you start — especially if you're a student: some of this may feel over your head at first. That's normal, and it isn't a test. You only ever need the next step, never the whole map. Skip what confuses you, come back later, and bring questions to the Lamp Huddle — every nurse there started exactly where you are. And the one rule that never changes: no patient data, ever — this system runs on your life, never your patients. The safety rules →

Door 2 only — the Hermes readiness check (2 minutes)

Skip this box if you are starting in ChatGPT or Claude. The browser path does not require a new computer or a Hermes installation.

Optional Hermes requires a supported Mac or Windows desktop or laptop — not a phone, tablet, or Chromebook. Your Nurse AI OS files and local Hermes state can stay on your machine. Model processing is a separate boundary: unless you deliberately use a local model, prompts and selected context may be sent to your configured model provider under that provider's terms. Rough guide: a computer from the last ~5 years with at least 8 GB of memory and a few GB free usually does fine — the official Hermes documentation lists current requirements.

Prep the field — like clearing a sterile field before a procedure: your system will live in one dedicated folder (the Starter Kit builds it), and nothing private should live inside it — no tax documents, no family photos, no work files. On a shared family computer, consider a separate user account: your own med cart instead of a shared one.

If Hermes will not install, compatibility or configuration may be the issue — not you, and not proof that you made a mistake. Use the browser path now and check the current Hermes documentation before troubleshooting further.

Using a phone, tablet, or Chromebook? You can use the core product today. Take the SOUL Quiz, download your files, and use the guided prompts and templates in ChatGPT or Claude. A computer is needed only if you later choose the optional Hermes path.
Two doors — pick yours before Step 1. Door 1 (the default): skip installation and follow the four browser-safe steps in ChatGPT or Claude on the device you already use. Do not use the Hermes-only file and dashboard steps below. Door 2 (optional advanced path): continue here to install Hermes for local folders, reusable skills, and tools you approve. Both paths retain the no-PHI and human-review rules; neither creates clinical authority or a privacy guarantee. Let the Setup Helper guide you one verified step at a time → Or compare the two doors.

Door 2 only — go over the Pre-Procedure Checklist, then install Hermes

Hermes is a separate, free, open-source desktop runtime from Nous Research and an optional host for Nurse AI OS. Install it only if you want the advanced path. It works like a chat, but it can also use files, terminal commands, and other tools when configured. Review commands and permissions, keep approvals on, and stop when anything is unclear.

The Pre-Procedure Checklist →  Get Hermes (official site)  Download (PDF)

The checklist is your time-out before the procedure — equipment, field prep, permissions, the one rule. Two minutes, like verifying right patient, right site.

Then pick your guide: the Hermes Essentials Guide if you count your dollars (students and budget-smart staff — run it nearly free), or The Hermes Power Guide when you're ready for profiles, scheduled jobs, and leader-grade governance. Both provide advisory Directive v1.1 guidance; neither guide proves that EDENA controls are mechanically enforced by Hermes.

The cheat sheet, right here:

Install & first launch
Download from the official site for your computer (Mac or Windows) and follow their steps. Open it. When it asks about an AI model or provider, you have two routes: the Nous subscription (the default — simplest, one bill) or Full Setup → Bring Your Own Keys (most cost-effective — can be nearly free with an OpenRouter key and a spending limit; §1.7 of the Pre-Procedure Checklist walks you through it). Either works, and you can change later. Menus move as Hermes updates; when in doubt, their official docs are the truth.
Your first conversation
Type like you'd text a colleague. Start with: "I'm a nurse setting up my Nurse AI OS. I'll give you my SOUL file next — treat it as my standing instructions."
Permissions — give it a room, not the house
When Hermes asks for permission to access files, grant access only to your My-Nurse-AI-OS folder — the one from the Starter Kit — and decline anything broader (full disk, Desktop, Downloads, Photos). Think of a float nurse's badge: access to the assigned unit, not every floor of the hospital. Granted too much by accident? Remove it in your computer's privacy settings.
Smart habit — a fresh Gmail for your AI life
Just like you don't do personal banking from the unit's charting station, create a free, separate Gmail (something like yourname.ai@gmail.com) used only for your AI work, courses, and community. Your personal and family email stays private — and the new account's free Google Drive and Docs pair beautifully with your system later.
The five phrases that do most of the work
"Run my morning huddle." · "Give me a Kardex entry for this session." · "Make that correction permanent." · "Before you start, interview me like an admission assessment." · "Show me your plan before you do anything." — that last one keeps your hand on every decision.

On Door 1? Do not continue into the Hermes-only file and dashboard steps below. Follow the four no-install steps instead; they work in ChatGPT or Claude without filesystem access. The two doors →

Door 2 only — take the SOUL Quiz, then give Hermes your SOUL file

Honest onboarding takes time. Allow 30–45 minutes for a careful first SOUL pass, or complete it across multiple sessions. Broad strokes now; go deeper later as trust grows. The wait is worth it: better context and boundaries make the system more useful without handing over your judgment. It downloads your personal SOUL.md file. Already took it? Just find your file.

Take the SOUL Quiz →  Companion Guide — how to answer

Then attach or paste the file into Hermes and say:

This is my SOUL file. Treat it as my standing instructions for how to support me. Confirm what you understood about my values and my boundaries — especially what I will never delegate.

Read its summary back. Correct anything wrong — from now on, corrections stick.

Door 2 only — download the Starter Kit and show Hermes where it lives

The Starter Kit is the folder skeleton of your system — a home for your SOUL file, notes, and projects. Unzip it somewhere you'll find again (Documents is perfect).

Download the Starter Kit (ZIP) →

Then tell Hermes:

My Nurse AI OS folder is at [where you unzipped it]. This is where my files live — my SOUL file, my notes in the Memory folder, my projects in the Projects folder, my reusable prompts in Skills. If any of those three folders are missing, create them. Keep your work for me inside this folder.

Door 2 only — build your dashboard with Hermes, then bookmark it

Your starter kit includes a private, browser-only dashboard. This prompt has Hermes personalize it from your SOUL Quiz answers — your name, your priorities, your first goals — automatically:

Using my SOUL file, personalize the Local HTML Life Dashboard in my starter kit (08-Integrations/Local-HTML-Life-Dashboard). Fill in my name, my top priorities in each sphere, and my first goals and habits from my quiz answers. Save it as My-Dashboard.html in my Nurse AI OS folder and tell me exactly where it is.

Open the file it creates and bookmark it. That's your station board — everything you're building, one glance, nothing uploaded anywhere.

Later, if you ever want more: a Notion version, messaging access, and sovereign/on-premise setups exist in advanced topics. Not now. The bookmark is enough.

Both doors — run your first prompts

You're set up. Now make it earn its keep — pick whichever fits tonight:

The daily rhythm (start tomorrow morning)

Run my morning huddle. Ask me one question: "What is your number one priority today?" Then suggest three specific ways you can help — drafts, research, summaries, planning — never clinical decisions or anything with patient data. Ask which to start.

Students — one lecture, tamed

Here are my lecture notes on [topic]. Build me a plain-language study map, then quiz me Socratically — five questions, one at a time. Don't give me the answer until I've reasoned through it.

Students: your starter kit includes the full Study OS pack (folder 15-Student-Study-OS) — a Socratic tutor, NGN-style drills, simulated patients with guided debriefs, and spaced-repetition flashcards, all with academic-integrity guardrails built in. Door 2/Hermes only: tell Hermes, "Load the skills in 15-Student-Study-OS." Browser users can use the safe lecture-notes prompt above without loading a local folder.

Staff — get one thing off your plate

Build me a shift-recovery checklist based on my SOUL file — what helps me decompress, in order, for the first hour after I get home.

Leaders — your first governance move

Help me map one workflow on my unit (no patient data — just the process): what burden AI could reduce, what harm it could introduce, and where a human must stay in the loop.

When these feel natural, the six workflows take you the rest of the way — one per week, until the system truly knows you. And when you're ready to operate like a pro — memory, schedules, governance, the whole system — the Hermes Masterclass is the free deep track.

Start with the Setup Helper → Go directly to the SOUL Quiz
Questions along the way? The monthly Lamp Huddle is free, and a human answers email.

Finished the five steps? Make it official. Join the community list — one signup gets you the newsletter, invitations to the monthly Lamp Huddle, and founding-member status in our community home when it opens soon. Join the community list →
Where to go after tonight: the Hermes Masterclass — the free deep track. Ten modules grow this evening's setup into a governed, always-on system: memory, connections, scheduled work, an operator console, and EDENA governance in depth. Like momentum? It opens with a 7-day fast track — one visible win per day.

Something confusing in the five steps? Tell us — founding-year feedback gets built.

The rules that protect everyone

Plain-language safety rules

You memorized the rights of medication administration. These are shorter, and they protect your patients, your license, and you.

No patient data. Ever.

No names, charts, screenshots, room numbers, record numbers, dates, or stories that could identify a patient — in any AI tool, at any level. If you're unsure whether something counts: it counts. Leave it out.

AI drafts. You decide.

Every AI output is a draft until a human reviews it. Nothing gets sent, published, or acted on without your judgment.

Your license is not outsourceable.

No AI here supports clinical decisions, assessments, or patient-specific care questions. It carries your busywork — never your judgment.

Employer systems stay at work.

No EHR screens, no confidential policies, no identifiable staff or student data. Public, fictional, or personal material only — unless your organization's compliance team has explicitly approved a tool and workflow.

When in doubt, ask a human.

Bring gray areas to the Lamp Huddle or email robert@nurse-ai-os.org. A question asked early beats an incident reported late.

These rules are governed by EDENA — the governance, risk, safety, and assurance control plane. In the current public Community experience, EDENA provides review-first guidance for human judgment: 🟢 Green — low-risk and reversible 🟡 Yellow — human review before action 🟠 Orange — formal accountable review 🔴 Red-P prohibited · Red-E exceptional controlled use The Governance Kit provides advisory instruction files; it does not by itself enforce controls. Public action modes remain Observe, Draft, or Recommend; humans remain responsible for every action. Read the full risk, data, and action model →