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HiveMind

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Pre-release software

HiveMind is under active development. Expect bugs and breaking changes between releases.

Run one voice assistant — or one chatbot — on a computer you already own, and let every other device in your home talk to it. The Raspberry Pi in the kitchen, a five-dollar microcontroller on the nightstand, an old phone, a browser tab on your laptop: each becomes a satellite of the same assistant. All the thinking happens on your server. No account, no cloud, nothing leaving your network — unplug the internet and it still answers.

That server is hivemind-core. The small devices are satellites. HiveMind is the language they speak to each other.

In a nutshell

  • One brain, many bodies. The assistant runs once, on hivemind-core; cheap devices connect as satellites and borrow it.
  • It's yours. Self-hosted, encrypted end to end, and fully functional offline — the network never has to leave the building.
  • Anything can be a satellite. A browser, a microcontroller, a phone, a Pi, a terminal — one protocol, over whatever transport you have.

Picture it

You set up hivemind-core once, on a mini PC in a closet. Then you scatter satellites around the house:

   "what's the weather?"                          "set a 10 minute timer"
        kitchen Pi  ───────┐                 ┌─────── bedroom microcontroller
                           │                 │
      laptop browser ──────┤   hivemind-core ├────── your phone
                           │  (the assistant │
        garage CLI  ───────┘   lives here)   └─────── a friend's house, over the internet

Every satellite reaches the same assistant — same skills, same memory, same voice. Add a device by handing it a key; it joins in seconds. The microcontroller doesn't run speech recognition or an LLM — it can't. It just captures audio and lets hivemind-core do the heavy lifting, then plays back the reply. That's why a satellite can cost five dollars.

And because hivemind-core runs on hardware you control, the conversation stays with you. There is no service to sign up for and no server on the other side of the world holding your recordings. Take the whole thing to a cabin with no internet — the satellites still talk to hivemind-core over the local network, and the assistant still works.

What can it run?

hivemind-core is the mesh; the intelligence is a back end you choose and plug in:

  • an OpenVoiceOS skills server — a full, private voice assistant (weather, timers, music, home control, hundreds of skills);
  • a persona — an LLM with a personality, for open-ended conversation;
  • or your own back end, through the agent-protocol plugins.

Swap the brain without touching a single satellite. The devices never know the difference.

Where to start

You don't need to write any code.

I want to… Go to
Understand HiveMind in plain terms About
Set up hivemind-core and connect my first satellite Quick Start
Run it all from a friendly web UI Admin Panel
Pick the right satellite for my hardware Choosing a Satellite
Run it in Docker Docker Deployment
Just chat with an LLM Persona Server
Connect Home Assistant Home Assistant
Get unstuck FAQ · Glossary

Connect from code, port the protocol elsewhere, or extend hivemind-core.

I want to… Go to
Connect from Python Client Library
Implement HiveMind in another language Protocol Specification
Add a transport, back end, database, or policy Writing Plugins
Test a satellite, server, or whole mesh Testing
Look up a flag, config key, or message type Reference

Under the hood: every satellite authenticates with its own key and password, the session is encrypted with a modern Noise handshake (no TLS required, though you can add it), and hivemind-core instances chain into a mesh — messages ESCALATE up to a bigger brain or BROADCAST down to a room full of devices. Start with the Protocol Specification.

Totally new to this?

Read About for the plain-language tour, keep the Glossary open in a tab, then do the Quick Start. Running HiveMind does not require being a developer.

Community

Next: Quick Start — set up hivemind-core and connect your first satellite.