honeycomb CLI and MCP reference

The honeycomb command-line tool, MCP tool surface, and TypeScript SDK, in plain language. Every command talks to the local daemon at 127.0.0.1:3850.

honeycomb is used through the CLI (honeycomb remember, honeycomb recall, honeycomb setup, and more), an MCP server that gives assistants native memory tools, and a typed SDK. All four talk to the same local daemon at 127.0.0.1:3850.

What is the main honeycomb CLI command for saving a memory?

honeycomb remember \"your note\". To get it back, run honeycomb recall \"a related question\".

Does honeycomb work with MCP?

Yes. honeycomb runs an MCP server so assistants that speak MCP get memory tools like memory_search and memory_store directly in their tool list, with no separate setup step.

Is there an SDK for honeycomb?

Yes, a typed TypeScript client that wraps the same local daemon API used by the CLI and MCP server.

honeycomb has four ways in: the CLI, an MCP server, a TypeScript SDK, and harness hooks that fire automatically as you work. All four are thin clients of the same local daemon at 127.0.0.1:3850, the only process that actually touches your memory store. Pick whichever fits what you're building; none of them unlock more capability than the others.

#The CLI

honeycomb is the global command. Run honeycomb --help or honeycomb <command> --help any time for what your installed version actually supports; commands can gain flags between releases.

#Setup and connection

Command	What it does
`honeycomb install`	Bootstraps the daemon, stamps onboarding state, and opens the hive dashboard.
`honeycomb setup`	Detects every installed assistant and wires each one automatically. Safe to re-run any time.
`honeycomb connect <assistant>`	Wires exactly one assistant, for example `honeycomb connect claude-code`.
`honeycomb uninstall [<assistant>]`	Removes honeycomb's wiring from one assistant, or all of them, leaving everything else untouched.
`honeycomb login`	Signs in by device flow. Normally you do this from the hive dashboard's First time setup button instead.
`honeycomb status`	Reports whether the daemon is reachable, whether you're signed in, and whether your assistants are wired.
`honeycomb update`	Updates the CLI, the daemon, and every assistant's bundle.
`honeycomb dashboard`	Opens the local dashboard in your browser.

#Memory

Command	What it does
`honeycomb remember "<text>"`	Saves a memory.
`honeycomb recall "<query>"`	Retrieves memory by matching words and, when warmed up, meaning.

honeycomb remember "we deploy from the release branch, never from main"
honeycomb recall "how do we deploy"

#Codebase graph

Command	What it does
`honeycomb graph build`	Walks your repository and builds a map of files, symbols, and how they connect.
`honeycomb graph init`	Installs a hook that rebuilds the graph automatically after each commit.
`honeycomb graph pull`	Fetches a teammate's graph snapshot for the current commit.
`honeycomb graph diff <sha1> <sha2>`	Compares two snapshots by commit.
`honeycomb graph history`	Shows the audit log of past graph builds.

#Teams and scope

Command	What it does
`honeycomb org list` / `honeycomb org switch <name>`	List or switch the company you belong to.
`honeycomb workspace list` / `honeycomb workspace use <name>`	List or switch the team within the current company.
`honeycomb project list`	List the projects you're bound to.

#Skills, secrets, and goals

Command	What it does
`honeycomb skill pull`	Fetches the latest shared skills right now.
`honeycomb skill scope team --users alice,bob`	Shares your skills with named teammates.
`honeycomb secret list`	Lists the names of stored secrets. Values are never shown, even to you through this command; they're only used, never read back.
`honeycomb goal list`	Lists org and session goals surfaced in your assistant's context.

#Other useful commands

Command	What it does
`honeycomb sessions prune [--before <date>] [--session-id <id>]`	Cleans up captured trace history you no longer need.
`honeycomb telemetry --show`	Shows exactly what anonymous usage telemetry has been or would be sent.
`honeycomb hook`	Inspects and re-wires the lifecycle hooks for each assistant.

#Useful environment variables

Variable	Effect
`HONEYCOMB_CAPTURE=false`	Read-only mode: nothing new gets written, recall still works.
`HONEYCOMB_EMBEDDINGS=false`	Turns off semantic search; recall falls back to matching words.
`HONEYCOMB_TELEMETRY=0` or `DO_NOT_TRACK=1`	Silences all anonymous usage telemetry.
`HONEYCOMB_PORT`, `HONEYCOMB_HOST`, `HONEYCOMB_BIND`	Override where the daemon listens (used for team deployments).

#The MCP server

honeycomb runs a Model Context Protocol server so assistants that speak MCP get memory tools directly in their own tool list, no separate "add an MCP server" step; it's registered automatically during honeycomb setup or honeycomb connect.

Tools split into two kinds:

Read and resolve tools return exactly the row you asked for. No ranking, no guessing.
Search and mine tools run hybrid recall (matching words and meaning at once) and are honest about it: a degraded flag tells you when the result came from word-matching alone because semantic search wasn't available.

#Memory tools

Tool	Purpose	Writes?
`memory_store`	Save a memory.	Yes
`memory_search`	Hybrid recall over your memories.	No
`memory_get`	Fetch one memory by id or path.	No
`memory_list`	List memories in scope.	No
`memory_modify`	Change an existing memory (requires a reason, it's audited).	Yes
`memory_forget`	Remove a memory from recall (requires a reason, it's audited).	Yes
`memory_feedback`	Flag whether a recalled memory was actually useful.	Yes

#Browse tools (the memory filesystem)

Tool	Purpose
`honeycomb_search`	Search across memory summaries and raw sessions.
`honeycomb_read`	Read the content at a given memory path.
`honeycomb_index`	List the most recent summaries and sessions, to orient before searching.

#Codebase tools

Tool	Purpose
`honeycomb_code_search`	Find symbols by name or pattern.
`honeycomb_code_context`	Show a symbol's detail plus what it connects to.
`honeycomb_code_blast`	Show everything that depends on a symbol.
`honeycomb_code_impact`	Report what changing a symbol would affect.

#Goals, coordination, and secrets

Tool	Purpose	Writes?
`honeycomb_goal_add`	Create a goal surfaced in agent context.	Yes
`honeycomb_kpi_add`	Attach a measurable target to a goal.	Yes
`agent_peers`	List agents sharing the workspace.	No
`agent_message_send`	Send another agent a message.	Yes
`agent_message_inbox`	Read messages sent to you.	No
`secret_list`	List secret names, never values.	No
`secret_exec`	Run a command with named secrets injected, without the agent ever seeing the values.	Runs a process

#The SDK

@honeycomb/sdk is a typed HTTP client for Node, Bun, or the browser, with no native dependencies. It wraps the same daemon API as the CLI and MCP server.

import { HoneycombClient } from "@honeycomb/sdk";

const honeycomb = new HoneycombClient({
  daemonUrl: "http://localhost:3850",
  token: "Bearer hc_sk_...",   // needed for team or hybrid daemon modes
  actor: "agent-name",
  actorType: "llm",
});

await honeycomb.remember("prefers TypeScript", { importance: 0.9, tags: "language" });
const { results } = await honeycomb.recall("language preferences", { limit: 5 });

GET-style calls retry automatically; anything that writes does not, since writes aren't safe to repeat blindly. Errors come back typed, so you can tell an API error from a network failure or a timeout.

#Harness hooks

Once you've run honeycomb setup, capture and recall happen automatically through each assistant's own lifecycle hooks. You don't call the CLI, MCP tools, or SDK yourself for the everyday flow; this is what makes honeycomb feel invisible day to day. Reach for the CLI, MCP tools, or SDK directly when you want to do something on purpose: save a specific note, script something, or build on top of honeycomb.

#Common questions

What is the main honeycomb CLI command for saving a memory? honeycomb remember "your note". To get it back, run honeycomb recall "a related question".

Does honeycomb work with MCP? Yes. honeycomb runs an MCP server so assistants that speak MCP get memory tools like memory_search and memory_store directly in their tool list, with no separate setup step.

Is there an SDK for honeycomb? Yes, a typed TypeScript client that wraps the same local daemon API used by the CLI and MCP server.