diff --git a/machines/configuration.nix b/machines/configuration.nix
index 731ba72..eee3f25 100644
--- a/machines/configuration.nix
+++ b/machines/configuration.nix
@@ -5,7 +5,6 @@ let
     nixpkgs-unstable
     nixos-hardware
     sops-nix
-    hermes-agent
     #hyprland
     ;
   nixosSystem = nixpkgs.lib.makeOverridable nixpkgs.lib.nixosSystem;
@@ -63,7 +62,6 @@ in
       specialArgs = { inherit self; };
       modules = defaultModules ++ [
         # nixos-hardware.nixosModules.mibook
-        hermes-agent.nixosModules.default
         ./mibook/configuration.nix
       ];
     };
diff --git a/modules/environments/hermes-agent/default.nix b/modules/environments/hermes-agent/default.nix
index 81d2ba3..89c3dd1 100644
--- a/modules/environments/hermes-agent/default.nix
+++ b/modules/environments/hermes-agent/default.nix
@@ -3,21 +3,31 @@
   config,
   lib,
   pkgs,
+  self,
   ...
 }:
 let
   cfg = config.my.profiles.hermes-agent;
 in
 {
+  imports = [ self.inputs.hermes-agent.nixosModules.default ];
+
   options.my.profiles.hermes-agent.enable =
     lib.mkEnableOption "Hermes Agent (Telegram + Email gateway)";
 
   config = lib.mkIf cfg.enable {
     services.hermes-agent = {
       enable = true;
+      # Deliberate pin, matches the approved design — bump on purpose, not by drift.
       settings.model.default = "anthropic/claude-sonnet-4-5";
       environmentFiles = [ config.sops.secrets."hermes-env".path ];
       addToSystemPackages = true;
     };
+
+    # addToSystemPackages only puts `hermes` on $PATH; using it needs group
+    # access to /var/lib/hermes/.hermes (mode 2770 hermes:hermes). finn is
+    # this machine's one human user and already knows hermes-env's contents
+    # (typed them into sops directly), so this is not new exposure.
+    users.users.finn.extraGroups = [ "hermes" ];
   };
 }