publish

name	publish
description	This skill should be used when the user asks to "send message to agent X", "publish to topic", "broadcast to all agents", "notify other sessions", "tell agent Y that...", or needs to send inter-agent messages, hand off work, or broadcast notifications across hive sessions.
compatibility	claude, opencode

Publish - Send Inter-Agent Messages

Send messages to other agents, broadcast to multiple sessions, or publish notifications to topic-based channels.

When to Use

• Handing off work to another agent
• Notifying other sessions of events or status
• Broadcasting updates to multiple agents
• Sending results or data to waiting agents
• Coordinating distributed work across sessions

How It Works

Messages are published to named topics. The sender is auto-detected from the current hive session context. Each message includes sender ID, timestamp, content, and topic(s).

Output: JSON confirmation line with status, resolved topics, and sender.

Commands

Publish with -m Flag (Recommended)

hive msg pub --topic <topic> -m "message content"

Examples:

# Send to specific agent's inbox
hive msg pub --topic agent.abc123.inbox -m "Task completed, ready for review"

# Send to multiple topics
hive msg pub -t agent.123.inbox -t agent.456.inbox -m "Important update"

Publish from Stdin

echo "Status update" | hive msg pub --topic notifications
cat report.txt | hive msg pub --topic reports

Publish from File

hive msg pub --topic agent.abc.inbox -f handoff-context.md

Publish with Positional Argument

hive msg pub --topic <topic> "message content"

Note: Prefer -m over positional args to avoid flag collision with single-character messages.

Broadcast with Wildcards

# Broadcast to all agent inboxes
hive msg pub -t "agent.*.inbox" -m "System maintenance in 5 minutes"

Wildcard * matches any characters within a segment. Topics are expanded at publish time.

Message Sources

Only one source may be used per publish:

• -m / --message flag (recommended)
• Positional argument
• -f / --file flag
• Stdin (default when no other source)

An error is returned if multiple sources are provided.

Topic Patterns

Standard Inbox Format

Agent inboxes follow: agent.<session-id>.inbox

# Find session IDs
hive ls

# Send to specific agent
hive msg pub --topic agent.abc123.inbox -m "Message"

Custom Topics

Create any topic name for specific use cases:

hive msg pub --topic deploy.started -m "Deployment initiated"
hive msg pub --topic build.events -m "Test suite running"

Topic Naming Conventions

• agent.<id>.inbox - Direct messages to agents
• <domain>.<event> - Event notifications (build.started, test.failed)
• <feature>.<channel> - Feature-specific channels

Avoid generic names, special characters besides ., -, _.

Common Workflows

Hand Off Work

# Complete work and notify next agent
hive msg pub --topic agent.xyz789.inbox -m "Auth implementation complete. See PR #123. Tests passing."

Notify Multiple Topics

hive msg pub \
  -t agent.abc.inbox \
  -t agent.xyz.inbox \
  -t coordinator.updates \
  -m "Feature X ready for review"

Send Command Output

go test -v ./... | hive msg pub --topic test.results

Override Sender ID

hive msg pub --topic test.channel --sender "custom-agent-id" -m "Test message"

Additional Resources

For troubleshooting, advanced patterns, and coordination workflows, see:

• references/troubleshooting.md - Common issues and solutions

Related Skills

• /hive:inbox - Check inbox for messages
• /hive:wait - Wait for messages with timeout
• /hive:session-info - Get session details and inbox topic