Nine hive-types. One that probably looks like yours.
Hives come in distinct shapes. The shape changes which disciplines matter most for you. Click between the nine examples below to find the one that fits your setup, or several that do.
What changes between hives
A handful of qualitative axes describe the differences: how many agents are running, how many vendors are in play, whether external stakeholders are involved, and how the practice is governed. The axes appear plainly on each type below.
Click between the nine types
One type-detail at a time. Use the thumbnails to switch — every example uses the same simple frame so you can compare them visually.
Type code · SI
Single-Instance Solo
Only one concurrent agent / hive instance running.
Default archetype for solo-operator practices and single-tenant hives. Includes the BDFL pattern (decision-process=C, final-authority=I) which maps to SI primary plus an OSS-substrate-declaration via §14.0.
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Default axis-vector
instance=S
Examples
Solo-developer agentic IDE workflow
Single-tenant internal automation
BDFL-led OSS project
Type code · MI
Multi-Instance Federated
≥1 concurrent-write event from non-primary instance, primary also live, in last 90 days.
Federated topology. Sequential failover (write-baton) does NOT qualify — that remains SI. Event-based criterion (per §15-A3) replaces the earlier 5%-time-window measure.
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Default axis-vector
instance=M
Examples
Active-active hive replication
Geographically-distributed multi-region agents
Type code · MV
Multi-Vendor Production
Production traffic actively routed across ≥2 distinct LLM/agent vendors.
Requires ≥30 days evidence of cross-vendor routing plus documented failover or cost-routing rationale. Single-vendor-with-fallback-on-paper does not qualify.
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Default axis-vector
vendor=M, mode=P
Examples
Anthropic + OpenAI dual-routed agent platform
Cost-router across 3 model providers
Type code · NP
No-PII Internal Tooling
No externally-enforced SLA with external legal entity; no PII processing.
Holding-company intercompany flows with shared-leadership / IP / substrate qualify as NP. A real client-SLA with breach-remedy clauses pushes the practice into EX.
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Default axis-vector
pii=N, ext=N
Examples
Internal devtools hive
Intercompany automation under shared leadership
Type code · EX
External-Stakeholder Practice
SLA with breach-remedy enforced by an external legal entity.
OR a customer-facing deliverable acceptance is recorded against an external party. EX/SVC formal boundary-rule was dropped — multi-type-tagging plus cohort-tier-A handles overlap cleanly.
Practices should prefer an archetype-claim if axes match cleanly; HY is reserved for genuinely mixed shapes. Per-axis rules and item-overrides resolve applicability.
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Default axis-vector
declared per axis
Examples
Mixed regulated / non-regulated workloads under one practice
Type code · REG
Regulated-Jurisdiction Practice
Specific regulatory framework explicitly applies (EU AI Act high-risk, GDPR-bound, AML, HIPAA).
Documented obligation-registry per regime is mandatory. Production-mode is required for regulatory exposure to count.
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Default axis-vector
mode=P
Examples
EU AI Act high-risk system operator
HIPAA-bound healthcare agent
AML monitoring hive
Type code · SVC
Service-Provider (Agentic-as-a-Service)
Provides agentic-software-development as a service to third parties.
Deploys hives FOR client organisations and carries deployer-obligations under EU AI Act Art. 26.
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Default axis-vector
ext=Y, mode=P
Examples
Hive-deployment consultancy
Agentic-platform vendor with managed-service tier
Type code · OSC
Open-Source / Community-Maintained
Strict precondition: decision-process=C AND final-authority=D.
Post-2018 Python steering-council pattern, Apache Foundation, CNCF graduated projects. Type-canon mandates evidence-property-class: public + cryptographically-signed releases + fork-recoverable. Substrate is declared per practice. BDFL is explicitly NOT OSC.
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Default axis-vector
decision-process=C, final-authority=D
Strict precondition
decision-process=C AND final-authority=D
Examples
Apache Foundation top-level project
CNCF graduated project
Python core under steering-council
What if more than one type fits?
It happens often. A practice can carry several type-tags at once. Where two tags disagree, the more conservative reading wins; if no rule covers the overlap we say so plainly rather than guess.
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Axes (full reference)
Code
Axis
Allowed values
Meaning
instance
Instance topology
S / M
Single vs Multi-instance (concurrent agent / hive instances).
vendor
Vendor topology
S / M
Single vs Multi-vendor (production traffic across ≥2 LLM/agent vendors).
pii
PII processing
Y / N
Practice processes personal identifiable information.
ext
External stakeholders
Y / N
Practice has external customer / client recipients of deliverables.
mode
Production / research
P / R
Production-mode vs Research-mode operation.
decision-process
Governance process
I / C
Individual vs Collaborative-process decision-making.
final-authority
Final-authority topology
I / D
Individual vs Distributed final-veto-authority. Optional quorum_size annotation: small (≤5) / medium (6-15) / broad (>15).
Want to see this on your own practice?
The self-score uses plain observations to infer the most likely shape. You never have to pick the answer yourself.
