Week 3: Agents, multi-agents, and Hermes
9 lessons · Back to full syllabus
What you keep
What an agent is (goal + tools + loop), why multi-agent beats one overloaded agent, how to build agent graphs in n8n, and how to operate an always-on Hermes agent on your channel.
You ship
A single-agent or orchestrator flow in n8n, and/or a live Hermes agent with skills doing real work.
Live session resources
Lessons
Workflow versus agent: the line that matters
Workflows follow your script; agents decide their own steps, use the simplest thing that does the job.
A peek under the hood (and where to go deeper)
A model using tools in a loop, and the honest bridge to the Engineering Bootcamp.
Automate with n8n
n8n is the canvas for workflows and AI agent graphs — single agent with tools, then orchestrator + specialists.
Operate your own agent with Hermes
Configure a persistent agent, connect it to WhatsApp, and watch it decide and act.
n8n automation patterns
Trigger-do-notify, enrich with an LLM, human in the loop, recognise the shape before you build.
Hermes skills authoring for non-coders
A skill is a described ability, write when to use it clearly, then test that it fires when it should.
The agent loop, explained without code
Think, act, observe, repeat, and why early wrong turns compound when an agent misbehaves.
Week 3 assignment support: Build your automation or agent
Step-by-step: pick workflow vs agent, build in n8n or Hermes, prove it, then optional stretch levels.
Add an automation or a live agent to your product
General submission: useful automation or agent on a real trigger. Stretch: multi-agent, notifications, Hermes, failure handling.
Lessons in this module