Install hivemind with Homebrew, Nix

Project links

• Homepage
• Upstream docs
• Package manager page

Commands and aliases

• hivemind

Project history

The Hivemind repository begins on 2015-04-08 with an initial commit. Early commits added process supervision, command-line arguments, working-directory support, improved errors, and README material. The v1.0 tag appeared on 2016-06-03, followed by maintenance releases through v1.1.0 in 2021.

The README explains the motivation in relation to Procfile tools such as David Dollar's Foreman. Procfile-based tools simplify multi-process application development, but many process managers make child processes think they are writing to a file, which can cause lag, lost or broken colored output, and extra log decoration. Hivemind was created to fix those problems by using ptys to capture output.

Hivemind later became the smaller sibling in a pair with Overmind. The Hivemind README points users who need tmux integration, individual process restarts, process killing, and advanced configuration to Overmind, while keeping Hivemind focused on the simpler Procfile runner use case.

Adoption history

Hivemind's adoption is strongest among web application developers who use Procfile conventions for local stacks: a web server, worker, frontend builder, queue processor, or other long-running process groups. The README names Heroku and Deis as popular platforms that helped establish the Procfile format.

Homebrew and Nix packaging made Hivemind easy to install in developer environments, especially on macOS. Its official README also documents pre-built release binaries and source installation with Go.

The Evil Martians article linked from the README positioned Hivemind and Overmind as tools the team used over Foreman-style managers for Procfile-based development, giving the project an authoritative adoption story in Rails and full-stack development circles.

How it is used

A Hivemind user creates a Procfile with lines such as `web: bin/rails server`, `worker: bundle exec sidekiq`, and `assets: gulp watch`, then runs `hivemind` in the same directory. A custom file such as `Procfile.dev` can be passed as an argument.

The README documents `.env` support for variable assignments and states that every Hivemind option can be set through a corresponding environment variable. It supports Linux, FreeBSD, and macOS.

Why package nerds care

Hivemind is package-nerd-significant because it is a minimal process manager with one job: run Procfile processes correctly in a terminal. It deliberately avoids Overmind's tmux-centered feature set, which makes it attractive when a package user wants Foreman-like behavior without a Ruby dependency or tmux session.

It also shows how small developer tools often enter package managers: the problem is not algorithmic novelty but operational fit. Hivemind preserves colored output, avoids log clipping and delays, reads familiar Procfiles and `.env` files, and ships as a simple Go-built binary.

Timeline

• 2015-04-08: Repository history begins with the initial commit.
• 2015-04: Early commits add process management, CLI flags, working-directory support, and README material.
• 2016-06-03: v1.0 is tagged.
• 2017-08-07: Evil Martians publishes an article introducing Overmind and Hivemind.
• 2017-2021: Maintenance releases continue through v1.1.0.

Related projects

• Foreman is the Procfile manager named by the Hivemind README as the tool that started the pattern.
• Overmind is Hivemind's larger sibling, adding tmux support and more advanced process control.
• Heroku and Deis are named by the README as platforms that popularized Procfile conventions.

Sources

• Evil Martians article linked by the README for author/team context and Hivemind/Overmind introduction.
• Official Git repository tags and commits for timeline dates.
• Official Hivemind README for motivation, supported platforms, install, Procfile usage, `.env`, and relation to Foreman and Overmind.
• Official Overmind README for the sibling-project relationship and overlapping Procfile context.