🐝 Hive — WhatsApp Bot Framework for Reality Network

Build and run WhatsApp bots on decentralized infrastructure. No cloud. No monthly fees. Your device, your bot, your business.

What is Hive?

Hive is a framework that lets anyone create a WhatsApp-based business — ordering systems, customer service, booking, vouchers — and host it on their own device via Reality Network. Zero cloud costs. Works on a laptop or phone.

✅ Full Reality Network integration validated February 6, 2026 — See test results

Quick Start

For Builders (Non-Technical)

👉 Start here: FOR_BUILDERS.md

Use the interactive wizard:

./hive wizard my-business
# Answer 4 questions, your config is ready
./hive run my-business/
# Scan QR, bot is live

For Developers

# Use a template
./hive init --template food-delivery my-bot

# Or start from scratch
./hive init my-bot

# Edit your config
nano my-bot/config.yaml

# Run it
./hive run my-bot/

See all templates:

./hive templates

Templates

Hive includes 8 pre-built templates for common businesses:

• food-delivery — Restaurants, street food, home kitchens
• salon-booking — Hair salons, barbers, spas
• event-tickets — Concerts, workshops, classes
• tutoring — Private lessons, test prep
• voucher-store — Gift cards, loyalty programs
• community-store — Co-ops, farmer's markets
• customer-support — Help desk, ticket system
• real-estate — Property listings, viewings

See all templates:

./hive templates

Use a template:

./hive init --template food-delivery my-restaurant

Each template includes pre-filled menu items, messages, and settings — just customize and go.

Features

• Config-driven — define your bot in YAML, no coding required
• Menu & ordering — built-in support for product catalogs and order flows
• Vouchers — create and redeem voucher codes
• M-Pesa payments 🇰🇪 — STK Push, webhooks, admin notifications, reconciliation, B2C refunds (guide | advanced)
• Admin notifications — owner gets order alerts via WhatsApp
• Web dashboard — manage menu, orders, and analytics from a browser
• Decentralized hosting — runs on Reality Network, powered by your community
• Single binary — no Docker, no npm, no JVM. Just download and run.

Architecture

Your Device (laptop/phone)
├── WhatsApp Connection (whatsapp-rust)
├── Bot Engine (message routing, conversation state)
├── Plugin System (YAML config + handlers)
├── Web Dashboard (local admin panel)
├── SQLite (sessions, orders, menu)
└── Reality Network Node (rApp integration)

Reality Network Integration

Hive automatically submits state snapshots to Reality Network's L0 layer as a state channel. Every order, voucher redemption, and status change is captured and submitted on-chain.

✅ Integration Test Results (February 6, 2026)

Test Cluster:

• 3-node L0 + 3-node L1 consensus cluster
• Isolated test network (localhost:7000)

Full End-to-End Flow:

WhatsApp Message → Hive Bot → Order Created → State Changed
→ Snapshot Captured → MessagePack Serialization → L0 Submission
→ Accepted by Cluster → Ordinal Incremented

Logs from Live Test:

[2026-02-06T12:16:30Z INFO hive::bot] 📨 Message from 14152657184@s.whatsapp.net: 3
[2026-02-06T12:16:30Z INFO hive::network::service] 📸 Capturing state: 1 orders, 0 delivered
[2026-02-06T12:16:30Z INFO hive::network::client] Submitting state channel snapshot to http://localhost:7000/state-channels/NET4nFnmFxhdtG9kSR9LXxff35cgTHv6hW8pvzPx/snapshot
[2026-02-06T12:16:30Z INFO hive::network::client] ✅ State channel snapshot accepted by L0
[2026-02-06T12:16:30Z INFO hive::network::service] ✅ Snapshot submitted to Reality Network

[2026-02-06T12:16:51Z INFO hive::handlers::order] 📦 New order #2 from 14152657184@s.whatsapp.net — USD13.00
[2026-02-06T12:16:51Z INFO hive::network::service] 📸 Capturing state: 2 orders, 0 delivered
[2026-02-06T12:16:51Z INFO hive::network::client] ✅ State channel snapshot accepted by L0
[2026-02-06T12:16:51Z INFO hive::network::service] ✅ Snapshot submitted to Reality Network

Network Response:

• 3 snapshots submitted
• All accepted by L0 consensus layer
• Ordinal progression: 12 → 30 (18 snapshots processed)
• Node identity: NET4nFnmFxhdtG9kSR9LXxff35cgTHv6hW8pvzPx

Database Verification:

$ sqlite3 data/hive.db "SELECT id, customer_phone, total, status FROM orders;"
2|14152657184@s.whatsapp.net|13.0|confirmed
1|+254700111222|27.0|pending

How It Works

1. Identity Generation: Hive creates a secp256k1 keypair on first run (data/identity.json)
2. State Capture: Every message/order triggers snapshot generation
3. Serialization: State is encoded using MessagePack
4. Signing: Snapshot is cryptographically signed
5. Submission: HTTP POST to L0 node /state-channels/{address}/snapshot
6. Consensus: L0 cluster validates and incorporates into global snapshot
7. Finality: Snapshot ordinal increments, state is on-chain

See: docs/REALITY_INTEGRATION.md for technical details.

Documentation

• For Builders (Non-Technical) — Start here if you're new
• Builder's Guide — Full walkthrough with examples, tips, FAQ
• Video Tutorial — 5-minute screencast (production script)
• Quickstart — Minimal setup guide
• Reality Network Integration — Technical deep-dive
• Multi-Language Support — i18n configuration

Development

# Build from source
cargo build --release

# Run tests
cargo test

# Build with Reality Network support (default)
cargo build --release --features network

Roadmap

Phase 1: Launch (Q1 2026) ✅

• WhatsApp integration (QR pairing)
• Menu & ordering system
• Voucher system
• Web dashboard
• Multi-language support (7 languages)
• Reality Network integration
• MessagePack state serialization
• 8 business templates

Target: 10,000 businesses in 6 months
Focus: Africa (Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa)
Profile: Solo entrepreneurs, <100 orders/day
Value: $0/month, 5-min setup, on-chain proof

Phase 2: SME Features (Q2-Q3 2026)

• Enhanced analytics & reporting (export CSV, daily summaries)
• SMS fallback (Twilio integration, pay-per-use)
• Payment gateway integrations (M-Pesa)
• M-Pesa support (Kenya) — STK Push integration
• Backup/failover service (Reality nodes offer for $NET)
• Voice message support
• Delivery tracking integration
• Multi-device dashboard improvements

Target: Extend "works well" range to 500 orders/day
When: First 100 businesses hit scale constraints

Phase 3: Business API Bridge (Q4 2026+)

• WhatsApp Business API support (premium tier)
• Multi-agent routing (support teams)
• Template messages (pre-approved broadcasts)
• Queue management (ticket assignment)
• Shift handoff (24/7 operations)
• Enterprise analytics

Target: SMEs doing $10k+/month revenue
When: 10+ customers request (and can afford $49/month tier)

Scaling Considerations

See SCALING_ANALYSIS.md for detailed breakdown of where current model works (70-80% of SMEs) and where Business API is needed (multi-agent teams, 24/7 operations).

Contributing

See CONTRIBUTING.md

License

MIT — see LICENSE

Credits

Built on top of:

• whatsapp-rust — WhatsApp Web protocol
• Reality Network — Decentralized compute platform

Support

• Discord: discord.gg/realitynetwork
• Twitter: @RealityNetw0rk
• Issues: GitHub Issues

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Reality Network Ventures — First portfolio proof-of-concept
Target: African entrepreneurs, zero cloud costs, 5-minute setup