hive.terminal-tools-foundations

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.

Installation

Add hive.terminal-tools-foundations to your agent with:

git clone https://github.com/aden-hive/hive ~/.claude/skills/terminal-tools-foundations

Always review a skill's source before installing it. This command comes from the skill's public repository; the linked repo is the source of truth for exact setup steps.

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)

When to use it

Reach for hive.terminal-tools-foundations when you want workflow help from your agent without writing the same instructions every session. Load the skill and the agent picks it up automatically for relevant tasks.

Strengths

• Clear Apache-2.0 license — safe to read and adapt
• Ships in aden-hive/hive, an established project with 10,923 GitHub stars
• Actively maintained (recent commits)

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.