First Hive
A Hive is your unit of work in SwarmADE: a folder plus a panel layout, the local Worker CLIs you enable, and the Queen state that orchestrates them. Creating one takes a couple of minutes through the Pre-flight Wizard, which detects your tools, prepares the workspace, and hands your spec to the Queen. This page walks you through it end to end.
The Queen runs server-side and plans your spec, but your Workers run entirely on your machine. Nothing executes until you write a spec and launch the Hive.
Create a Hive with the Pre-flight Wizard
Detect your CLIs
On launch, SwarmADE scans your PATH for installed Worker CLIs (Claude, Codex, opencode, Aider, Cline, Goose, Cursor) and shows each one with a counter. If a tool is missing, see Bringing Your CLI.
Choose a folder
Pick the working directory to turn into a Hive. You can open a recent folder, a bookmark, or clone from a Git URL first. Optionally initialize SwarmMemory if the folder does not already have a knowledge graph.
Select your Workers
Enable the Workers you want in this Hive. Quick-fill options like “Enable all”, “One of each”, or “Split evenly” populate slots fast, and per slot you can set a model variant and a working-directory override.
Set permissions
Choose a permission mode for the Swarm — how much your Workers can do without asking. This controls file writes, command execution, and network access. Review the details in Permissions before granting broad access.
Write your first spec
Open the Queen drawer and describe what you want built in plain language. A spec can be a single feature, a refactor, or a multi-step goal. This is the “Spec in” half of the tagline.
Watch the Queen plan and the Swarm execute
The Queen decomposes your spec into a task DAG, then drives your local Workers to implement each task. As tasks complete, Drones audit the results and report inline. This is “Swarm out. Queen-orchestrated.”
Server-side work — Queen planning and Drone reviews — consumes Honey from your monthly allowance. Worker CLI calls run on your own subscription and cost no Honey. Bigger specs and more review spend faster — start small while you learn the flow.
Where to go next
For a deeper look at how a spec becomes a coordinated Swarm, read How orchestration works.