CLI Reference

Manage a running SlackHive install with slackhive status / start / stop / logs / update.

Once you’ve installed SlackHive, the slackhive command is your day-to-day control surface - simple verbs for start, stop, status, logs, and update.

slackhive status

Show whether SlackHive is running and where.

slackhive status

Reports:

• Whether the web UI is up and on which port
• Whether the runner is up and its PID
• The path to ~/.slackhive/ (data and logs)

If you see running but can’t reach the UI, check troubleshooting.

slackhive logs

Tail the runner log live.

slackhive logs

Runs with --follow by default. Ctrl-C to stop.

The log is JSON per line. To filter to a single agent:

slackhive logs | grep '"agent":"data-bot"'

The Logs tab in the web UI shows the same stream with level badges and search.

slackhive stop

Gracefully stop SlackHive.

slackhive stop

This:

1. Sends SIGTERM to the managed runner and the web server
2. Sweeps any orphan runner processes (e.g. an accidental tsx watch from a previous dev session)
3. Unlinks the ~/.slackhive/runner.lock file

A single command cleans the whole stack. No stale processes, no manual kill.

slackhive start

Start SlackHive.

slackhive start

This:

1. Checks ~/.slackhive/runner.lock - if another runner is alive, exits with a clear error
2. If the lock is stale (the PID isn’t alive), removes it automatically
3. Picks free ports for the web and runner (default 3001 / 3002; auto-negotiates if taken)
4. Writes the new PID into the lock
5. Starts the web and runner

slackhive update

Pull the latest code and rebuild.

slackhive update

Rebuilds and restarts SlackHive. Your data (~/.slackhive/data.db) is preserved.

• npm install (recommended): slackhive update detects your install type. If you installed via npm, it will tell you to run npm update -g slackhive instead.
• git clone install: runs git pull, npm install, rebuilds the runner and web app, restarts.

If git pull fails (e.g. local changes), stash them first: git stash && slackhive update.

Where data lives

Path	What it holds
~/.slackhive/data.db	SQLite DB - agents, memories, skills, history, settings
~/.slackhive/agents/<slug>/	Per-agent workspace (CLAUDE.md, sessions, copies of assigned wiki folders)
~/.slackhive/knowledge/<folderId>/wiki/	Compiled wikis for the Knowledge Library (source of truth)
~/.slackhive/logs/runner.log	Full runner log stream
~/.slackhive/runner.lock	Singleton lock - JSON with pid, startedAt, mode
~/.slackhive/slackhive.pid	Web-server PID file

Back up ~/.slackhive/ to preserve your entire install.

Running from any directory

slackhive commands work from anywhere on disk - the CLI finds the install via the apps/runner marker. You don’t need to cd into the repo.

Troubleshooting

See operations / troubleshooting for common errors and what they mean.