# How to connect Nous Portal to LinkedIn, step by step

Source: https://finchreach.com/guides/nous
Third-party facts checked on 2026-10-28.

Nous Portal has no MCP client of its own, so connect Finchreach to a client that runs it (Hermes Agent): create a key at finchreach.com/api-keys, connect LinkedIn, add the server with the key, test, and approve drafts.

## What you need

- A Finchreach account (sign in at [finchreach.com](https://finchreach.com/sign-in)) and the LinkedIn account you want Nous Portal to work on.
- An MCP client to run Nous Portal in: Hermes Agent.
- About five minutes.

## Step 1: Create a Finchreach API key

1. Sign in at finchreach.com and open [API keys](https://finchreach.com/api-keys).
2. Create a key and name it after the tool, for example “Nous Portal”.
3. Copy it right away: it starts with `lk_` and is shown only once.

## Step 2: Connect your LinkedIn account

1. Open [Accounts](https://finchreach.com/accounts) and click to connect LinkedIn.
2. Follow the steps until the account shows as connected.

Approval mode is on by default: nothing the assistant drafts reaches LinkedIn until you approve it.

## Step 3: Run Nous Portal in an MCP client and add Finchreach

Nous Portal doesn’t connect to MCP servers itself, so the client you run it in does. Not applicable to the Portal itself; Hermes Agent sends the Finchreach key.

1. Install Hermes Agent and sign in with your Portal account: `hermes setup --portal`.
2. Add Finchreach to Hermes (see the Hermes Agent guide), so the Portal models can call the LinkedIn tools.

~/.hermes/config.yaml:
```yaml
mcp_servers:
  finchreach:
    url: "https://mcp.finchreach.com/mcp"
    headers:
      Authorization: "Bearer lk_YOUR_KEY"
```

> Replace `lk_YOUR_KEY` with your key. Keep the key out of shared files and repos; where Nous Portal can read it from an environment variable, prefer that.

Client guides with the exact config:

- [Hermes Agent](https://finchreach.com/guides/hermes) (connects directly)

## Step 4: Test the connection

In the client you connected, start with a read:

> Ask your assistant: “List my connected LinkedIn accounts, then summarize my five latest notifications.”

You should see calls to `linkedin_list_accounts` and `linkedin_get_notifications`. Then try a write, which goes to your approval queue instead of LinkedIn:

> Ask your assistant: “Draft a short LinkedIn post saying I’m trying a new AI assistant workflow. Submit it for my approval.”

## Step 5: Approve or reject it in Finchreach

1. Open [Approvals](https://finchreach.com/approvals). The draft is there with its exact text and the account it would go out from.
2. Approve it to publish, or reject it (reject the test post if you don’t want it live).
3. The assistant can check the result with `linkedin_get_action`: pending, approved, rejected, executed, failed or expired.

## Troubleshooting

- If you only use the Portal’s chat, there is nowhere to add an MCP server: use Hermes Agent.
- 401 or “unauthorized”: the key is wrong, revoked or missing its prefix. Finchreach accepts `Authorization: Bearer lk_…` or `X-API-Key: lk_…`; check for a missing `Bearer `, quotes or a trailing space.
- A tool is missing: the key’s permissions don’t include it. Create a key with the permissions you need under [API keys](https://finchreach.com/api-keys).
- “No LinkedIn account”: connect one under [Accounts](https://finchreach.com/accounts), or reconnect it if its session expired.
- A post or message “didn’t go out”: it is probably still waiting under [Approvals](https://finchreach.com/approvals). Writes run only after you approve them.

Still stuck? Compare your setup with [Nous Portal’s documentation](https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/docs/), checked on 2026-10-28; client screens change often.

## What to ask it next

> Ask your assistant: “Using a Hermes model, draft a LinkedIn post about our research release.”

> Ask your assistant: “Summarize my LinkedIn notifications and messages for today.”

> Ask your assistant: “Search LinkedIn for researchers posting about reasoning models.”

More ideas on the [Nous Portal integration page](https://finchreach.com/integrations/nous).

## Questions

### I lost my API key. Can I see it again?

No, a key is shown only once. Create a new one under [API keys](https://finchreach.com/api-keys), put it in your config, and revoke the old one.

### Does Nous Portal see my LinkedIn password?

No. The client only gets your Finchreach API key. Your LinkedIn connection stays in Finchreach, and you can revoke the key at any time without touching LinkedIn.

### Can I use the same key in several tools?

Yes, but one key per tool (for example one named “Nous Portal”) lets you revoke one without breaking the others.

### How do I disconnect Nous Portal?

Revoke its key under [API keys](https://finchreach.com/api-keys); Nous Portal gets a 401 from then on. Then remove the server from its config.

## Sources

- [Nous Portal docs](https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/docs/)

## Related

- [What Nous Portal can do on LinkedIn](https://finchreach.com/integrations/nous)
- [Read-only LinkedIn market research with Nous models and Hermes Agent](https://finchreach.com/blog/nous-linkedin-market-research)
- [Connect Hermes Agent](https://finchreach.com/guides/hermes)
- [Quickstart and tools](https://finchreach.com/docs)
- [All setup guides](https://finchreach.com/guides)