CLI reference

hive has two vocabularies: issue verbs (file operations, work without the app) and hive ctl (drives the running app over a local socket). Agents use the same CLI from Bash; there is no MCP server. Conventions:

--json prints one line of machine-readable output; errors are {"ok":false,"code":"…","message":"…"}.
Issue ids accept MYP-1 or @MYP-1; hive @MYP-1 is hive show. Ids from registered repos resolve automatically.

In the syntax below, brackets mark optional arguments and angle brackets mark values you supply. See Getting started for runnable examples.

Exit codes

Exit	Meaning
0	ok
2	usage — the error lists valid values
3	app not running (canvas verbs)
4	timeout (`hive ctl read`)
5	not found
6	unauthorized
7	refused/unsupported — the runtime cannot do this
1	other

Issues

hive init --prefix MYP [--no-agentic]   # create tracker (+ agentic stack by default)
hive init                               # refresh the agentic stack
hive add skill                          # refresh the skills only

hive new "Title" [--label l …] [--parent ID] [--state backlog] [--github N]
          [--assignee claude --assignee-type agent] [--assignee-model m]
          [--description d] [--ac "criterion one || criterion two"]
hive list [--state todo] [--assignee id] [--label l] [--parent none|ID]
hive show MYP-1
hive update MYP-1 [--state s] [--title t] [--assignee id|none]
                 [--add-label l] [--rm-label l] [--github N|none] [--note "…"]
hive close MYP-1 [--reason "…"]         # --reason → cancelled, else done
hive reopen MYP-1 [--state todo]

hive task MYP-3 add "Subtask" [--assignee id]   # sub-issues: MYP-3.1, …
hive task MYP-3 done 2                          # tail number or full id
hive task MYP-3 list

States: backlog · todo · in_progress · in_review · done · cancelled.

Structure and registries

hive link MYP-4 --parent MYP-1          # re-parent, or --parent none
hive relate MYP-4 OPS-7 [--type blocks] [--remove]
                                        # relates | blocks | blocked-by | duplicates |
                                        # parent-of | child-of | moved-to | moved-from
hive move MYP-4 OPS [--copy]            # move refuses issues with sub-issues
hive workspace list
hive workspace register
hive agent detect                     # detect agent CLIs
hive agent context                    # regenerate .agent.md
hive resolve "text"                     # expand @ID mentions to markdown links

`hive ctl` — canvas

hive ctl list [--frame f]               # tiles grouped by frame, with status
hive ctl frames                         # frames: id, title, repo, branch, tiles
hive ctl spawn [--agent claude] [--prompt "…"] [--name "title"]
               [--frame id|repo|title] [--mode plan] [--model sonnet]
               [--no-report] [--supervise all|Bash,Edit]
                                        # → {"tileId":…}; workers auto-report by default
hive ctl send <tileId> "text"
hive ctl keys <tileId> Down,Enter       # Esc, Tab, digits, …
hive ctl read <tileId> [--timeout 90000] [--poll]   # default wait 100 s; --poll: no wait
hive ctl stream <tileId> [--lines 40] [--since <offset>] [--timeout ms]
                       [--snapshot] [--json]        # NDJSON tail with byte offsets
hive ctl focus <tileId>
hive ctl close <tileId>
hive ctl connect <src> <dst>
hive ctl disconnect <src> [<dst>]

`hive ctl` — workflows, supervision, review

hive ctl workflow --shape fanout|pipeline|mapreduce
                  [--items "a || b"] [--prompt "Review {item}"]
                  [--stages "draft || critique || rewrite"] [--input "seed"]
                  [--reduce-prompt "Merge {results}"]
                  [--agent claude] [--model m] [--frame f] [--supervise all]
                  [--max-concurrent 6] [--timeout 600000] [--close]
                                        # per-worker timeout; blocks until all replies
hive ctl approve <reqId> allow|deny|always|never [--reason "…"]
hive ctl report "summary"               # to the tile that spawned you ($HIVEMIND_TILE)
hive ctl open-review --file plan.md [--cwd dir] [--timeout ms]   # default ceiling 24 h

`hive ctl` — issue verbs

hive ctl set-state MYP-1 in_progress [--note "…"]
hive ctl add-comment MYP-1 "root cause found in …"
hive ctl mark-acceptance MYP-1 0 [--undone]   # 0-based index from hive show --json
hive ctl delete-issue MYP-1                   # irreversible
hive ctl list-workspaces

Views, agents, config, theme, upgrade

Views, agent files and the settings file are on the unreleased development line — expect change.

hive views list                         # installed view plugins + load errors
hive views install <dir>                # dir with hivemind-view.json; asks the app to rescan
hive views remove <id>

hive agents list                        # every agent, its source, on/off, and why any failed
hive agents list --found                # only agents whose CLI is on this machine
hive agents install <dir>               # dir with agent.yaml; checked before it is copied
hive agents remove <id>                 # agents you installed; switch built-ins off instead

hive config path
hive config get [dotted.path]
hive config set <path> '<json>'
hive theme list
hive theme use nord
hive theme export f.json
hive theme import f.json
hive upgrade [--dev]

hive config set takes a JSON value ('"nord"' for strings) and asks a running app to reload; themes cover ubuntu, dracula, nord, solarized-dark, one-dark.

hive agents install and remove ask a running app to rescan, so the change shows up without a restart. hive ctl spawn --agent and hive ctl workflow accept agents added this way, and refuse any agent switched off in Settings. See Add your own agent for the file format.

Optional tools

Browser is an optional bundled tool. Switch it on in Settings > Tools, or set the enabled plugin list through the CLI. These commands replace the complete list; read hive config get tools.enabledPlugins first if you have other plugins enabled.

hive config set tools.enabledPlugins '["hivemind/web"]'
hive ctl open-tool hivemind/web/browser --url https://example.com --json
hive config set tools.enabledPlugins '[]'

open-tool accepts --frame <frame-id>. Browser URLs must use HTTP/HTTPS or about:blank. A disabled Browser returns UNAUTHORIZED; disabling does not close existing browser panels. Fresh profiles start with Browser disabled, while older version-1 settings preserve its availability during migration.