# The hive command and its sockets

> What hive does on its own, how hive ctl reaches the app or a host, and the two local sockets behind it.

Source: https://hivemind.griiken.com/guide/hive-cli/

`hive` is one command for you and your agents. Most of it works alone: issues, plugins,
machines, your network. `hive ctl` drives a running workspace: the app, or `hive host` on a
server. An agent in a tile uses the same `hive ctl` you type.

<AgentPrompt description="Paste this into your coding agent to check that hive can reach your workspace." page="hive-cli">{`
Check that the hive command can drive my Hivemind workspace. Do not change anything.

1. Run \`hive --version\`.
2. Run \`hive ctl agents --json\` in this project. If it exits 3, the app is not open here and no host runs; tell me and stop. Otherwise summarise what it lists.
3. Run \`hive ctl list-workspaces\` and tell me which workspaces this computer knows.
4. If \`$HIVEMIND_TILE\` is set, tell me I am an agent in a tile, and which one.
`}</AgentPrompt>

![Diagram: Two local sockets](https://hivemind.griiken.com/guide/images/drive-sockets.svg)

- **hive ctl** and **your program** → **drive socket** (`drive.sock`): a hello with a token, then calls. The app or `hive host` checks the token's role. See [API](https://hivemind.griiken.com/guide/api/).
- **Agent hook** → **control socket** (`hcp.sock`): one `agent.event` each time the agent starts a turn, asks, or finishes.
- The background process owns the control socket, works out the agent's state, and passes each event on to the app or host (`hcp-host.sock`).
- `hive ctl report` and `hive ctl inbox` use the control socket too.
- Like the drive socket, the control socket opens only for your user: a file with mode 0600, or a named pipe on Windows.

## Inside a tile [#inside-a-tile]

Hivemind starts each agent with `HIVEMIND_TILE` set to its tile's id, and a token for that tile.
So `hive ctl` in a tile acts as that agent: a worker it spawns is its own, and `hive ctl report`
answers its lead. The variables are in [Environment variables](https://hivemind.griiken.com/guide/environment-variables/).

## Teach your agent [#teach-your-agent]

The `hive` skills teach an agent every `hive ctl` command: [Use these docs from your agent](https://hivemind.griiken.com/guide/docs-for-agents/).
Every command is in the [CLI reference](https://hivemind.griiken.com/guide/cli/).

<LastValidated />