diff --git a/hermes_cli/main.py b/hermes_cli/main.py
index 03c739d5..b232d5b5 100644
--- a/hermes_cli/main.py
+++ b/hermes_cli/main.py
@@ -754,12 +754,31 @@ def cmd_update(args):
         
         print()
         print("✓ Update complete!")
+        
+        # Auto-restart gateway if it's running as a systemd service
+        try:
+            check = subprocess.run(
+                ["systemctl", "--user", "is-active", "hermes-gateway"],
+                capture_output=True, text=True, timeout=5,
+            )
+            if check.stdout.strip() == "active":
+                print()
+                print("→ Gateway service is running — restarting to pick up changes...")
+                restart = subprocess.run(
+                    ["systemctl", "--user", "restart", "hermes-gateway"],
+                    capture_output=True, text=True, timeout=15,
+                )
+                if restart.returncode == 0:
+                    print("✓ Gateway restarted.")
+                else:
+                    print(f"⚠ Gateway restart failed: {restart.stderr.strip()}")
+                    print("  Try manually: hermes gateway restart")
+        except (FileNotFoundError, subprocess.TimeoutExpired):
+            pass  # No systemd (macOS, WSL1, etc.) — skip silently
+        
         print()
         print("Tip: You can now log in with Nous Portal for inference:")
         print("  hermes login              # Authenticate with Nous Portal")
-        print()
-        print("Note: If you have the gateway service running, restart it:")
-        print("  hermes gateway restart")
         
     except subprocess.CalledProcessError as e:
         print(f"✗ Update failed: {e}")