Connect an assistant to Hive

Hive runs a Model Context Protocol server. Point any MCP client at it and the assistant can publish, schedule, read performance across every connected account, work the inbox, and build DM automations - on the account holder’s own connected channels, under their own consent.

Connecting

The server speaks Streamable HTTP in stateless JSON response mode, and supports protocol versions 2025-11-25, 2025-06-18, 2025-03-26 and 2024-11-05.

Authentication is OAuth 2.1 with PKCE and dynamic client registration, or a scoped static Bearer API key for server-to-server use. Clients that follow RFC 9728 will find the protected-resource document at /.well-known/oauth-protected-resource/api/mcp; the unauthenticated challenge names it directly. An OpenAPI description of the REST surface is published at /api/v1/openapi.

In a consumer client the whole flow is one step: add the connector, paste the endpoint, sign in to Hive, pick a workspace.

Connecting a specific client

Hive is a remote MCP server: there is nothing to install and nothing to run locally. Clients differ only in whether they can talk to a remote server directly.

Claude

Direct, no bridge. Settings → Connectors → Add custom connector, paste the endpoint, Connect, sign in to Hive, choose the workspace. Available on every Claude plan; the Free plan allows one custom connector. This is the path Hive was first proven on.

Codex, Gemini and other CLI or desktop clients

Clients that expect a local command rather than a URL reach Hive through the standard remote bridge. The config lives in a different file for each client, but the entry has the same shape everywhere:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "hive": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "mcp-remote", "https://hivepublish.com/api/mcp"]
    }
  }
}

The bridge opens Hive’s sign-in page in a browser on first run; after that the client holds the token. If your client takes a remote MCP URL directly, skip the bridge and give it the endpoint.

Your own backend

Issue an API key in Hive under Settings → API and send it as Authorization: Bearer hive_…. Keys are scoped, so a key only carries the permissions you tick when you create it. Use OAuth for anything acting on behalf of another person; use a key only for your own workspace.

What a token can carry

Every tool is gated on a scope, and tools that touch a paid surface check the caller’s workspace role and plan on top of that. Write permissions are off by default: the consent screen shows the read scopes already ticked and every write scope unticked, and the account holder switches on exactly the ones a client should have. They can change or revoke them later under Settings → API. A client cannot request extra permissions for itself - the choice is the account holder’s, every time.

Where a human stays in the loop

Reads and internal drafting run immediately - there is no friction in asking an assistant what happened last week or having it draft ten captions. Anything that reaches a real audience does not work that way.

Audience-facing actions use the approval preference the owner chose when connecting. With Hive approval enabled, publishing, scheduling, sending and activating return a confirmation link. Administrative changes always require Hive approval.

Approval is exact, single-use and short-lived: it authorises one call with those arguments. Changing the action invalidates it. Native workspace permissions, account availability and provider rules still apply. Provider credentials and unsupported operations remain outside the connector; some account actions open a browser handoff.

Example prompts

Once Hive is connected, these work in plain language. Each one reaches a different part of the server.

• “Which of my accounts grew the most this month, and what did they post?”
• “Draft five captions for the product launch and check them against Instagram and LinkedIn before you suggest times.”
• “Schedule that carousel to Instagram and TikTok for the best slots next week.”
• “What is sitting unanswered in the inbox, and who has been waiting longest?”
• “Set up a DM automation: when someone comments GUIDE on the launch reel, send them the link.”
• “Add the new podcast episode to my link-in-bio page, above the newsletter.”

Reads and draft edits run within the granted permissions. Publishing and sending follow the owner’s approval preference; administrative actions always stop for Hive approval.

Tools

258 tools. Reads first, then the ones that change something.

Reading

Writing

Try the API

Every call below comes from the same description your tools import at /api/v1/openapi.json. Paste your own key in Authorize to send real requests. The key stays in this tab and is never saved.

Contacts and automations from your own tools

The same tools work as plain HTTPS calls, so Zapier, Make or your own backend can do what a teammate does in Contacts. Send POST /api/v1/tools/<tool name> with a JSON body and an Idempotency-Key header on every change.

• read_contacts finds people by email, phone, or a fieldId with its fieldValue.
• create_contact adds an email contact, only when the person agreed to get emails from you.
• add_contact_tag and remove_contact_tag tag a person by tag id or exact name.
• update_contact saves one field, or up to 20 at once with fields.
• read_bot_fields and set_bot_fields read and save values shared by every automation.
• The same calls also have plain addresses: GET /api/v1/contacts?email=, POST /api/v1/contacts/<id>/tags, /fields, /flows and /messages, and /api/v1/bot-fields. Fields and tags can be named instead of using their ids.
• start_flow_for_contact starts a live automation for one person. It sends real messages, so it follows the approval choice made when connecting, and Hive refuses it when the reply window is closed, the person has not opted in, or automations are paused for them.

Each call runs with the permissions of the person who connected it, on the accounts they can see. A contact in another workspace, or on an account they cannot reach, answers “Contact not found”.

Webhooks

A workspace owner or admin can ask Hive to call a public HTTPS address when something happens. Register one with POST /api/v1/webhooks, a url and the events you want. Hive shows the signing secret once.

Every call carries X-Hive-Event, X-Hive-Timestamp and X-Hive-Signature. To check it, compute an HMAC SHA-256 of the timestamp, a dot and the raw body with your secret, and compare it with the value after v1=. Contact events carry ids and tag or field names, never names, email addresses, phone numbers or field values; read the person with read_contact when you need them. Bulk changes and imports do not send one event per contact. A failed call is tried up to six times over about 15 hours.

Rate limits

Hive inherits each network’s own limits and enforces them per connected account, so an assistant cannot push an account into a penalty. Instagram and Messenger private replies run at 700 per hour against Meta’s 750 ceiling; DMs at 5,000 per hour smoothed to 100 per minute; public comment replies at 300 per hour; WhatsApp respects the number’s own tier. When a provider rate-limits a call, Hive waits at least as long as the provider asks before retrying. When a provider restricts an account outright, Hive stops sending on it and leaves it stopped until a workspace admin reviews and resumes it in Hive - it never quietly resumes itself.

Getting access

You need a Hive Publish account. Publishing and channel analytics need a connected channel; link-in-bio and workspace settings can be used before one is connected. Every plan, including the free 14 days, can use the connector. There is no plan gate on access itself. Plans differ in monthly request volume: 7,500 on Worker Bee, 15,000 on Swarm, 50,000 on Queen Bee. A few tools are plan-specific and say so when called. API keys are issued in Hive Publish under Settings, API.

What it costs

Every workspace starts with 14 days of Worker Bee free, with 1 connected account and no card. After the 14 days, everything pauses until a card is added. Nothing is deleted, the Hive Bio page stays online, and adding a card turns everything back on.

• Worker Bee: $6 per connected account per month, or $5 per account per month paid yearly. As many connected accounts as you pay for, unlimited live automations, unlimited contacts.
• Swarm: $12 per connected account per month, or $10 per account per month paid yearly. As many connected accounts as you pay for, unlimited live automations, unlimited contacts.
• Queen Bee: $85 a month, or $75 a month paid yearly. Unlimited connected accounts, unlimited live automations, unlimited contacts.

Hive Publish charges for each connected social account, not for the people you talk to. Contacts are unlimited on every plan. Tools that charge per contact get more expensive as your audience grows; this one does not. Current prices are always at hivepublish.com/pricing, and the same numbers are machine readable at /pricing.json and in plain words at /ai-info.

Questions: support@hivepublish.com.