Overview
hive.terminal-tools-foundations is an open-source workflow skill for Claude Code and compatible agents, published by aden-hive. Its author describes it as: “Required reading whenever any shell_* tool is available. Teaches the foreground/background dichotomy (terminal_exec auto-promotes past 30s, returns a job_id you poll with terminal_job_logs), the standard envelope shap…”. The project has 11k stars on GitHub and is available under the Apache-2.0 license. Add it to your setup with `git clone https://github.com/aden-hive/hive ~/.claude/skills/terminal-tools-foundations`.
What hive.terminal-tools-foundations does
These tools give you a real terminal: foreground exec with smart envelopes, background jobs with offset-based log streaming, persistent PTY shells, and filesystem search. Bash-only on POSIX.
What’s inside
The SKILL.md for hive.terminal-tools-foundations is organised into these sections:
- Tool preference (read first)
- The standard envelope
- Auto-promotion (the core mental model)
- Semantic exit codes — read semanticstatus, not raw exitcode
- Destructive warnings — re-read your command
- Output handles — never lose output
- Bash, not zsh — even on macOS
- Windows — check shellkind before assuming bash
- Pipelines and complex commands
- When to use what (cheat sheet)
Installation
Add hive.terminal-tools-foundations to your agent with:
git clone https://github.com/aden-hive/hive ~/.claude/skills/terminal-tools-foundationsReview a skill’s source before installing it — skills can instruct your agent to run commands. This command comes from the skill’s public repository, which is the source of truth for setup steps. New to skills? Read how to install Claude Code skills.
Supported agents
Neither the skill nor its repository names a specific agent. It uses the SKILL.md format, which several agents can load — check the repository for any agent-specific requirements.
License
hive.terminal-tools-foundations is published under the Apache-2.0 license.
Strengths
- Clear Apache-2.0 license — safe to read and adapt within its terms
- Ships in aden-hive/hive, an established project with 10,923 GitHub stars
- Actively maintained — repository updated in the last 90 days
Author
Topics
Frequently asked questions
- What does hive.terminal-tools-foundations do?
- Required reading whenever any shell_* tool is available. Teaches the foreground/background dichotomy (terminal_exec auto-promotes past 30s, returns a job_id you poll with terminal_job_logs), the standard envelope shape (exit_code, stdout, stdout_truncated_bytes, output_handle, semantic_status, warning, auto_backgrounded, job_id), output handle pagination via terminal_output_get, when to read semantic_status instead of raw exit_code (grep/rg/find/diff/test exit 1 is NOT an error), the destructive-warning surface (rm -rf, git push --force, DROP TABLE), tool preference (the terminal handles ALL file read/write/edit/search; use gcu-tools / hive_tools where they fit), and the bash-only-on-macOS policy. Skipping this leads to "tool returned no output" surprises, orphaned jobs, and panic over benign grep exit codes.
- How do I install hive.terminal-tools-foundations?
- Run git clone https://github.com/aden-hive/hive ~/.claude/skills/terminal-tools-foundations in your agent, then reload your skills. Review the source at https://github.com/aden-hive/hive before installing.
- Is hive.terminal-tools-foundations free to use?
- Yes. hive.terminal-tools-foundations is free and open source under the Apache-2.0 license, so you can read, run, and adapt it within that license's terms.
- Where does hive.terminal-tools-foundations come from?
- hive.terminal-tools-foundations ships inside aden-hive/hive, a repository that contains 25 catalogued skills in total. The repository's 10,923 GitHub stars apply to that whole collection, not to this skill on its own.