Hive Queen Bee: Native agent-building agent

Hive Queen Bee: Native agent-building agent

Problem

Building a Hive agent today requires manual assembly of 7+ files (agent.py, config.py, nodes/__init__.py, __init__.py, __main__.py, mcp_servers.json, tests) with precise framework conventions — correct imports, entry_points format, conversation_mode values, STEP 1/STEP 2 prompt patterns, nullable_output_keys, and more. A single missing re-export in __init__.py silently breaks AgentRunner.load(). This is the #1 friction point for new users and a recurring source of bugs even for experienced ones.

There is no tool that understands the framework deeply enough to produce correct agents. General-purpose coding assistants hallucinate tool names, use wrong import paths (from core.framework...), create too many thin nodes, forget module-level exports, and produce agents that fail validation.

Proposal

Build Hive Coder (codename "Queen Bee") — a framework-native coding agent that lives inside the framework itself and builds complete, validated agent packages from natural language.

Design principles

1. Single-node, forever-alive — One continuous EventLoopNode conversation handles the full lifecycle (understand, qualify, design, implement, verify, iterate). No artificial phase boundaries that destroy context.

2. Meta-agent capabilities — Not just a file writer. Can discover available MCP tools at runtime, inspect sessions/checkpoints of agents it builds, run their test suites, and debug failures.

3. Self-verifying — Runs three validation steps after every build: class validation (graph structure), AgentRunner.load() (package export contract), and pytest. Fixes its own errors up to 3 attempts.

4. Honest qualification — Assesses framework fit before building. If a use case is a poor fit (needs sub-second latency, pure CRUD, massive data pipelines), says so instead of producing a bad agent.

5. Reference-grounded — Ships with embedded reference docs (framework guide, file templates, anti-patterns) that it reads before writing code. No reliance on training data for framework specifics.

Components

hive_coder agent (core/framework/agents/hive_coder/)

Coder Tools MCP Server (tools/coder_tools_server.py)

Dedicated tool server providing:

• File I/O: read_file (with line numbers, offset/limit), write_file (auto-mkdir), edit_file (9-strategy fuzzy matching ported from opencode), list_directory, search_files (regex)
• Shell: run_command (timeout, cwd, output truncation)
• Git: undo_changes (snapshot-based rollback)
• Meta-agent: discover_mcp_tools, list_agents, list_agent_sessions, get_agent_session_state, get_agent_session_memory, list_agent_checkpoints, get_agent_checkpoint, run_agent_tests

All file operations sandboxed to a configurable project root.

Framework changes

• hive code CLI command — direct launch shortcut
• hive tui — discovers framework agents as a source
• AgentRuntime — cron expression support (croniter) for async entry points
• prompt_composer — appends current datetime to system prompts
• NodeSpec.max_node_visits — default changed from 1 to 0 (unbounded), matching forever-alive as the standard pattern
• TUI graph view — cron display and hours in countdown
• CredentialError graceful handling in TUI launch

Acceptance criteria

• hive code launches Hive Coder in the TUI
• hive tui lists framework agents alongside exports/ and examples/
• Given "build me a research agent that searches the web and summarizes findings", Hive Coder produces a valid package in exports/ that passes AgentRunner.load()
• Tool discovery works: agent calls discover_mcp_tools() before designing, never fabricates tool names
• Self-verification: agent runs all 3 validation steps and fixes errors before presenting
• Cron timers fire on schedule (unit tested)
• max_node_visits=0 default does not break existing agents or tests
• Reference docs are accurate and match current framework behavior

Non-goals

• Multi-agent orchestration (queen spawning worker agents at runtime) — future work
• GUI/web interface — TUI only for v1
• Auto-publishing to a registry — agents are local packages