A systematic algorithm to design multiple thermostat systems in the framework of the Nosé–Hoover type non-Hamiltonian formulation is presented. Using ‘non uniform’ time transformations in a generalised Hamiltonian equation, we develop the non-Hamiltonian equations of motion for multiple thermostat systems having an arbitrary number of thermostats and arbitrary connections between a physical system and thermostats (‘Nosé–Hoover network’). We then present the algorithm to construct the Nosé–Hoover network equations based on a simple diagram only. On the basis of this algorithm, recursively attached Nosé–Hoover thermostats are introduced as an example of the Nosé–Hoover network and its high efficiency in sampling the canonical distribution for an one-dimensional double-well system is illustrated by numerical calculations.