hive FAQ
common questions about hive: local-only binding, panel recovery, credential storage, and what the bee icons on the health rail mean.
hive binds to 127.0.0.1 only, stores no credentials or data of its own, recovers panels automatically once a service comes back, and uses five bee-shaped icons to show service health without relying on color.
Why does the address start with 127.0.0.1?
That is your own machine. The portal binds locally only, so nothing outside your device can reach it, and no account or cloud login is needed to view it.
A panel says unreachable. Is my data gone?
No. It means the service that owns that panel is not answering right now. doctor restarts crashed services automatically, and the panel recovers on its own once the service is back.
The whole page went to the readiness screen. Now what?
Wait a moment. The readiness screen means the stack is not fully healthy yet, and it dismisses itself the instant it is. If a tile stays on the error state, that service needs attention.
Does hive store my credentials?
No. hive passes your session through to the services that own your data and stores nothing itself. Signing in creates your credential on your machine, managed by honeycomb, not by the portal.
Do I need to use the terminal?
Rarely. The installer sets everything up. Day to day you only touch the browser at 127.0.0.1:3853.
What do the bee icons mean?
Each service uses five states drawn as distinct shapes so they read without color: an empty cell for starting, a settling bee for warming, a wide-winged bee for active, a one-winged bee with a caution mark for degraded, and a bee on its back for error.
Is the portal exposed to the network?
No. It binds to 127.0.0.1 with no way to override the host or port, so it is reachable only from your own machine.
Short answers to the common questions about hive.
#Why does the address start with 127.0.0.1?
That's your own machine. The portal binds locally only, so nothing outside your device can reach it, and no account or cloud login is needed to view it.
#A panel says "unreachable." Is my data gone?
No. It means the service that owns that panel isn't answering right now. doctor restarts crashed services automatically, and the panel recovers on its own once the service is back. The health page shows which service, and since when.
#The whole page went to the readiness screen. Now what?
Wait a moment. The readiness screen means the stack isn't fully healthy yet, and it dismisses itself the instant it is. If a tile stays on the error state, that service needs attention, and the health page's live logs are the first place to look.
#Does hive store my credentials?
No. hive passes your session through to the services that own your data and stores nothing itself. Signing in creates your credential on your machine, managed by honeycomb, not by the portal.
#Do I need to use the terminal?
Rarely. The installer sets everything up. Day to day you only touch the browser at http://127.0.0.1:3853. The command line has a few commands for completeness.
#What do the bee icons mean?
Each service uses five states drawn as distinct shapes so they read without color: an empty cell for starting, a settling bee for warming, a wide-winged bee for active, a one-winged bee with a caution mark for degraded, and a bee on its back for error.
#Why is there only one address to remember?
The apiary runs several services, each on its own port. hive is the single origin that serves the whole dashboard, so you bookmark one address and hive reaches every other service over local loopback on your behalf. No port hunting, no tab juggling.
#Is the portal exposed to the network?
No. It binds to 127.0.0.1 with no way to override the host or port, so it's reachable only from your own machine.
#Does uninstalling hive fully remove it?
Removing the service stops the portal and prevents it from starting on the next boot, but it doesn't remove hive's entry from doctor's registry. To make doctor forget hive as well, edit the doctor registry file by hand. This is a known, stated gap.
#Common questions
Why does the address start with 127.0.0.1? Because it's your own machine, the portal binds locally only and nothing outside your device can reach it.
A panel says unreachable, is my data gone? No, the service behind that panel just isn't answering right now, and it recovers on its own once doctor brings it back.
What do the bee icons mean? Five states drawn as distinct shapes, starting, warming, active, degraded, and error, so status reads without relying on color.