> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.hiveku.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Set up Claude Code with Hiveku

> Step by step, on a Mac or a Windows PC: install the Hiveku plugin in the Claude desktop app or Claude Code, connect one Hiveku account or many, and start working.

This walkthrough takes you from nothing installed to Claude working in your Hiveku account.
It takes about ten minutes. The steps are the same for one account or fifty; where they
differ, the page says so.

When you are done, each Hiveku account you connect has its own folder on your computer.
Open a folder in Claude, and Claude works in that account and no other. A folder that is not
linked to an account has no Hiveku tools at all. Hiveku calls this **one folder, one account**.

## Before you start

You need:

* **A Hiveku login** with access to the accounts you want to work in.
* **A Claude plan that includes Claude Code**: Pro, Max, Team or Enterprise, or an Anthropic
  Console account. The free Claude plan does not include it.
* **Node.js**, which the Hiveku plugin runs on.
* **On Windows only: Git for Windows.** Claude runs the plugin's commands in Git Bash, which
  comes with it.

<Tabs>
  <Tab title="Mac">
    <Steps>
      <Step title="Install Node.js">
        Download the **LTS** version from [nodejs.org](https://nodejs.org) and run the
        installer. If you use Homebrew, `brew install node` does the same.
      </Step>

      <Step title="Check it">
        Open **Terminal** (in Applications > Utilities) and run:

        ```bash theme={null}
        node --version
        ```

        It must print **v22.12** or later (or **v20.19** or later on Node 20). An older
        version cannot run the plugin: install the current LTS over it.
      </Step>
    </Steps>
  </Tab>

  <Tab title="Windows">
    <Steps>
      <Step title="Install Node.js">
        Download the **LTS** Windows installer (`.msi`) from [nodejs.org](https://nodejs.org)
        and run it with the default options. Keep **Add to PATH** selected.
      </Step>

      <Step title="Install Git for Windows">
        Download it from [git-scm.com/downloads/win](https://git-scm.com/downloads/win) and
        run it with the default options. Without it, the plugin's commands cannot run.
      </Step>

      <Step title="Check both">
        Open **PowerShell** (search for it in the Start menu) and run:

        ```powershell theme={null}
        node --version
        git --version
        ```

        `node` must print **v22.12** or later (or **v20.19** or later on Node 20), and `git`
        any version. If Claude was already open, quit it and open it again, so it sees what
        you just installed.
      </Step>
    </Steps>
  </Tab>
</Tabs>

## Step 1: Install Claude

Use either one. The rest of the walkthrough covers both.

* **The Claude desktop app.** Download it from [claude.com/download](https://claude.com/download)
  and sign in. You will work in its **Code** tab.
* **Claude Code in a terminal.** On a Mac, in Terminal:

  ```bash theme={null}
  curl -fsSL https://claude.ai/install.sh | bash
  ```

  On Windows, in PowerShell:

  ```powershell theme={null}
  irm https://claude.ai/install.ps1 | iex
  ```

  Then open a new terminal window, run `claude`, and follow the sign-in prompts.

## Step 2: Install the Hiveku plugin

<Tabs>
  <Tab title="Claude desktop app">
    <Steps>
      <Step title="Open Plugins">
        Open **Settings** (`Cmd+,` on a Mac, `Ctrl+,` on Windows). Under **Customize**, click
        **Plugins**.
      </Step>

      <Step title="Add Hiveku's repository">
        Click **Add**, choose **Add from a repository**, paste this and confirm:

        ```
        lvahost/hiveku-claude-plugin
        ```
      </Step>

      <Step title="Install the plugin">
        Adding the repository installs nothing by itself. Click the **hiveku** plugin in the
        list, then **Install**. If you are asked for a scope, choose the one for **all
        projects**, so Hiveku works in every folder.
      </Step>
    </Steps>
  </Tab>

  <Tab title="Claude Code in a terminal">
    Start `claude`, then run these two commands in the session:

    ```
    /plugin marketplace add lvahost/hiveku-claude-plugin
    /plugin install hiveku@hiveku
    ```

    If it says `Run /reload-plugins to activate`, run `/reload-plugins`.

    Then switch on automatic updates: run `/plugin`, open the **Marketplaces** tab, select
    **hiveku**, and choose **Enable auto-update**. Claude Code starts other companies'
    marketplaces with updates off, so skip this and you stay on today's version.
  </Tab>
</Tabs>

<Note>
  **Claude shows a red warning that the plugin can access everything on your computer.**
  Choose **Continue**. Claude shows it for every plugin that runs a program on your computer,
  Anthropic's own included. Hiveku's server program, listed as `hk`, connects only to
  `core.hiveku.com` and uses only the key of the account whose folder you are in.
</Note>

## Step 3: Connect your Hiveku accounts

In any Claude chat (desktop app) or session (terminal), run:

```
/hiveku:connect
```

<Steps>
  <Step title="Sign in and choose accounts">
    Your browser opens Hiveku's connect page. Sign in, then tick every account you want to
    use from Claude: one, or all of your clients at once.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Choose the access for each">
    Leave an account at full access, or mark it **read-only** for a look-but-don't-touch
    connection, such as one for reporting. Hiveku itself refuses every change through a
    read-only connection, whatever Claude asks.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Approve">
    Click **Approve**. Back in Claude, it lists the accounts it connected and the access each
    one has.
  </Step>
</Steps>

You never paste or type a key. If the connection cannot come back to Claude on its own (this
happens in the desktop app), the page shows a **one-time code** instead. Copy it and paste it
into the chat. The code works for 10 minutes; if it runs out, run `/hiveku:connect` again.

<Tip>
  Connect only works for accounts that already exist. For a brand-new client, create the
  account at [app.hiveku.com](https://app.hiveku.com) first, then connect it.
</Tip>

## Step 4: Give each account its folder

Run:

```
/hiveku:setup
```

It makes a **Hiveku-Accounts** folder in your home folder, with one folder inside for each
connected account, already linked to it:

| Computer | Where the folders are |
| - | - |
| Mac | `/Users/<you>/Hiveku-Accounts/` |
| Windows | `C:\Users\<you>\Hiveku-Accounts\` |

Each folder is named after its account, for example `acme-dental-1a2b3c4d`. Running
`/hiveku:setup` again later is safe: it adds folders for newly connected accounts and leaves
the existing ones alone.

**Prefer a folder you already use?** Skip `/hiveku:setup`. Open that folder in Claude and run
`/hiveku:bind`. Claude asks which account the folder is for. Then start a new chat in that
folder: Hiveku's tools appear when a chat starts.

## Step 5: Open an account's folder and start

<Tabs>
  <Tab title="Claude desktop app">
    In the **Code** tab, use the folder picker to choose the account's folder inside
    **Hiveku-Accounts**, and start a new chat there.
  </Tab>

  <Tab title="Claude Code on a Mac">
    ```bash theme={null}
    cd ~/Hiveku-Accounts/acme-dental-1a2b3c4d
    claude
    ```
  </Tab>

  <Tab title="Claude Code on Windows">
    ```powershell theme={null}
    cd $HOME\Hiveku-Accounts\acme-dental-1a2b3c4d
    claude
    ```
  </Tab>
</Tabs>

Claude knows from the start which account the folder belongs to. To check it yourself at any
time, run `/hiveku:status`: it shows the account, and whether its access is full or
read-only.

Then run `/hiveku:start` to see where to begin with this account, or just ask in plain words,
such as "how did our Google Ads do last week?" or "draft three blog post ideas".

## If you work with many accounts

* **Switch clients by switching folders.** Open the other client's folder and start a new
  chat. A chat only ever works in the account of the folder it was opened in.
* **See every client at once** with `/hiveku:fleet`, from any folder: for each connected
  account, whether it is reachable, its access level, and anything urgent waiting.
* **Add an account later.** Run `/hiveku:connect` again and tick the new account. The accounts
  already connected stay connected. Then run `/hiveku:setup` to give it a folder.
* **Change an account's access**, from read-only to full or back, by connecting it again with
  the access you want. The new key replaces the old one, and the old one is turned off.
* **Disconnect an account from this computer.** Ask Claude: "Remove the Acme Dental account
  from this computer with hiveku accounts remove." That turns the key off at Hiveku first and
  only then deletes it here. You can also turn off any key at
  [app.hiveku.com](https://app.hiveku.com) under **Settings > LLM Connectors**.

## Commands to know

| Command | What it does |
| - | - |
| `/hiveku:connect` | Connect accounts to this computer through your browser |
| `/hiveku:setup` | Make a linked folder for each connected account |
| `/hiveku:bind` | Link the folder you are in to one account |
| `/hiveku:status` | Which account this folder is linked to, with what access |
| `/hiveku:start` | Where to begin with this account, from its real data |
| `/hiveku:brief` | Get oriented on the account before doing any work |
| `/hiveku:daily` | Morning brief: what changed, what needs attention today |
| `/hiveku:fleet` | Every connected account at a glance |
| `/hiveku:pull` | Copy the account's department data into the folder as files |
| `/hiveku:code` | Work on one of the account's websites: edit, check, save, publish |
| `/hiveku:update` | Install the newest version of the plugin |
| `/hiveku:doctor` | Check the plugin's setup on this computer and fix what it can |

## Keep it up to date

* **Claude desktop app.** The app does not update plugins by itself. When Hiveku has a new
  version, a chat starts with a one-line notice. Run `/hiveku:update`, then quit Claude
  completely and open it again (on a Mac, **Claude > Quit Claude**, or `Cmd+Q`; closing the
  window is not enough).
* **Claude Code in a terminal.** With auto-update on (Step 2), new versions arrive on their
  own. You can also run `/hiveku:update` at any time. A session that is already open keeps
  the version it started with: start a new one, or run `/reload-plugins`.

## What keeps your accounts safe

* **One folder, one account.** A chat can only reach the account its folder is linked to.
* **Read-only means read-only.** Hiveku refuses every change through a read-only connection.
* **A connection can do what the person who made it can do, and no more.** It follows that
  person's role in Hiveku, so someone who cannot delete a project in the app cannot delete
  one through Claude either. See
  [What a connection may do](/integrations/llm-connectors#what-a-connection-may-do).
* **Claude asks before it changes anything.** Reading is pre-approved; anything that changes
  data goes through Claude's normal permission check, so in Claude's default mode you approve
  each change first.
* **Every call is recorded.** Hiveku logs each call a connection makes, with the account and
  the tool used.
* **Where the keys are kept.** On a Mac, the plugin stores account keys encrypted, with the
  encryption key in your Keychain. On Windows, the plugin cannot use a keychain yet, so the
  keys are kept in a file in your Windows user folder, protected by your Windows account
  rather than encrypted. Keep your computer's sign-in private, and disconnect accounts from a
  computer you hand on.

## Troubleshooting

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="Something is not working and I don't know what">
    Run `/hiveku:doctor`. It checks the plugin's version, the settings Claude needs for Hiveku
    and the plugin's data folder, fixes the settings itself, and says what is left in plain
    words.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="I added the repository, but there is no Hiveku">
    Adding the repository only adds Hiveku's catalog. Click the **hiveku** plugin and click
    **Install**.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="The /hiveku commands do not show up">
    In the desktop app, quit Claude completely and open it again. In a terminal session, run
    `/reload-plugins`.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Claude says there are no Hiveku tools in this folder">
    Run `/hiveku:status`. If the folder is not linked to an account, run `/hiveku:bind` there,
    or open one of the folders in **Hiveku-Accounts**. A folder you just linked gets its tools
    in a new chat.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="The connect page never came back to Claude">
    Finish the approval in the browser: Claude waits up to 10 minutes. If the page shows a
    one-time code, paste it into the chat. If the browser never opened, Claude shows the link
    to open yourself.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Hiveku answers 401 (not authorized)">
    That account's key was turned off or replaced. Run `/hiveku:connect` again and approve the
    account.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="A request is refused because the person who made the connection lacks access">
    The connection follows the role of the person who made it. An account owner or admin can
    give that person the permission under **Settings > Team Members > Manage Roles**; the
    same connection works right after, with no new key.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Windows: 'node' is not recognized, or the Hiveku tools never appear">
    Node.js is missing or not on your PATH. Install the LTS version from
    [nodejs.org](https://nodejs.org) with **Add to PATH** selected, then quit Claude and open
    it again. Check with `node --version` in a new PowerShell window.

    If Node.js is there and the desktop app still shows no Hiveku tools, use Claude Code in
    PowerShell instead (Step 1). Anthropic is tracking an issue where some Windows installs of
    the desktop app cannot start a plugin's program
    ([anthropics/claude-code#98498](https://github.com/anthropics/claude-code/issues/98498)).
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Windows: the /hiveku commands fail with shell errors">
    Install [Git for Windows](https://git-scm.com/downloads/win), then quit Claude and open it
    again. If Claude still cannot find Git Bash, tell it where `bash.exe` is, in your Claude
    settings file:

    ```json theme={null}
    {
      "env": {
        "CLAUDE_CODE_GIT_BASH_PATH": "C:\\Program Files\\Git\\bin\\bash.exe"
      }
    }
    ```
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

## Remove it

First disconnect each account (see [If you work with many accounts](#if-you-work-with-many-accounts)),
so its key is turned off at Hiveku. Then remove the plugin: in the desktop app from
**Settings > Plugins**, or in a terminal session with:

```
/plugin uninstall hiveku@hiveku
```

For tool search, permission modes, the gateway and everything else, see
[Hiveku for Claude Code](/integrations/claude-code-plugin).


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