hivectl: add start/stop agent verbs, rename spawn to create

CLAUDE.md

@@ -39,9 +39,10 @@ hand-maintained per-file tree drifts out of sync with the code.
 - **`hivectl/`** — standalone operator CLI (`hivectl` binary). Talks to
   the `hive-c0re` daemon over the host admin socket (`hive-host-sock`
   wire types) — does NOT link `hive-c0re`. Verbs: `list-agents`,
-  `agent <name> <spawn|kill|destroy|rebuild|restart|set-parent|choom|
-  watch|…>`, `approvals <pending|approve|deny>`, `forge`/`matrix`/
-  `github`/`gateway` provisioning, `stop`/`start`, `wg`/`peer-config`.
+  `agent <name> <start|create|request-create|stop|kill|destroy|rebuild|
+  restart|set-parent|choom|watch|…>`, `approvals <pending|approve|deny>`,
+  `forge`/`matrix`/`github`/`gateway` provisioning, `stop`/`start`,
+  `wg`/`peer-config`.
 - **`hive-agent/`**, **`hive-agent-mcp/`** —
   in-container harness, two sibling crates for every agent (not a
   single `hive-ag3nt/` dir — that's the runtime/binary-family nickname,

docs/approvals.md

@@ -119,10 +119,10 @@ kind-specific payload carrier.
 - `Spawn` — direct container creation from the agent's config repo.
   `commit_ref` is empty. Submitted via `HostRequest::RequestSpawn`
   (operator-gated, the `◆ R3QU3ST SP4WN` dashboard button +
-  `hivectl agent <name> request-spawn` CLI). The host-level `HostRequest::Spawn`
+  `hivectl agent <name> request-create` CLI). The host-level `HostRequest::Spawn`
   variant bypasses the approval queue entirely — privileged-context use
-  only (operator on the host shell, test scripts, one-off recoveries).
-  This is the **canonical first-spawn**: a new agent's `InitConfig`
+  only (operator on the host shell, test scripts, one-off recoveries;
+  `hivectl agent <name> create`). This is the **canonical first-spawn**: a new agent's `InitConfig`
   seeds its config repo, the submitting agent customises it, then the
   operator spawns to create the container. Subsequent config changes go
   through a `MergeConfigPr` PR.

docs/tools/hivectl-cli.md

@@ -24,8 +24,10 @@ This document contains the help content for the `hivectl` command-line program.
 * [`hivectl agent restart`↴](#hivectl-agent-restart)
 * [`hivectl agent pause`↴](#hivectl-agent-pause)
 * [`hivectl agent resume`↴](#hivectl-agent-resume)
-* [`hivectl agent spawn`↴](#hivectl-agent-spawn)
-* [`hivectl agent request-spawn`↴](#hivectl-agent-request-spawn)
+* [`hivectl agent start`↴](#hivectl-agent-start)
+* [`hivectl agent create`↴](#hivectl-agent-create)
+* [`hivectl agent request-create`↴](#hivectl-agent-request-create)
+* [`hivectl agent stop`↴](#hivectl-agent-stop)
 * [`hivectl agent kill`↴](#hivectl-agent-kill)
 * [`hivectl agent destroy`↴](#hivectl-agent-destroy)
 * [`hivectl agent rebuild`↴](#hivectl-agent-rebuild)
@@ -342,9 +344,11 @@ Everything here targets a single named agent (`hivectl agent foo restart`, `hive
 * `restart` — Stop and start this agent container without rebuilding config
 * `pause` — Park this agent's turn loop, leaving the container running
 * `resume` — Resume this paused agent — it drains whatever queued up while parked
-* `spawn` — Spawn this agent container directly, bypassing the approval queue
-* `request-spawn` — Queue a spawn request for operator approval
-* `kill` — Stop this managed container (graceful)
+* `start` — Start this EXISTING agent container. Fails immediately if `name` has no config/topology entry at all — it never attempts first-time creation. Use `create` for that
+* `create` — Create this agent container from scratch (full first-time provisioning), bypassing the approval queue
+* `request-create` — Queue a first-creation request for operator approval
+* `stop` — Gracefully stop this agent container: signal → drain → reconcile. Never escalates to a hard kill — use `kill` for that
+* `kill` — Hard-stop this managed container
 * `destroy` — Tear down this sub-agent container, keeping its state by default. No undo
 * `rebuild` — Apply pending config to this managed container
 * `set-parent` — Move this agent in the topology tree — under a new parent, or to root
@@ -390,27 +394,43 @@ Resume this paused agent — it drains whatever queued up while parked
 
 
 
-## `hivectl agent spawn`
+## `hivectl agent start`
 
-Spawn this agent container directly, bypassing the approval queue.
+Start this EXISTING agent container. Fails immediately if `name` has no config/topology entry at all — it never attempts first-time creation. Use `create` for that
 
-Operator-on-the-host only; use `request-spawn` for an approval-gated spawn.
-
-**Usage:** `hivectl agent spawn`
+**Usage:** `hivectl agent start`
 
 
 
-## `hivectl agent request-spawn`
+## `hivectl agent create`
 
-Queue a spawn request for operator approval
+Create this agent container from scratch (full first-time provisioning), bypassing the approval queue.
 
-**Usage:** `hivectl agent request-spawn`
+Operator-on-the-host only; use `request-create` for an approval-gated creation.
+
+**Usage:** `hivectl agent create`
+
+
+
+## `hivectl agent request-create`
+
+Queue a first-creation request for operator approval
+
+**Usage:** `hivectl agent request-create`
+
+
+
+## `hivectl agent stop`
+
+Gracefully stop this agent container: signal → drain → reconcile. Never escalates to a hard kill — use `kill` for that
+
+**Usage:** `hivectl agent stop`
 
 
 
 ## `hivectl agent kill`
 
-Stop this managed container (graceful)
+Hard-stop this managed container
 
 **Usage:** `hivectl agent kill`
 

hive-host-sock/src/lib.rs

@@ -99,14 +99,26 @@ pub enum ReconcileDirection {
 #[derive(Debug, Clone, Serialize, Deserialize)]
 #[serde(tag = "cmd", rename_all = "snake_case")]
 pub enum HostRequest {
-    /// Create and start a sub-agent container directly, bypassing the
-    /// approval queue. Privileged-context only. See
-    /// `docs/approvals.md::Approval kinds (wire shapes)`.
+    /// Create and start a brand-new sub-agent container directly (full
+    /// first-time provisioning: proposed/applied repos, state subvolume,
+    /// meta-flake sync, `nixos-container create`), bypassing the approval
+    /// queue. Privileged-context only. Exposed on the CLI as `hivectl
+    /// agent <name> create`. See `docs/approvals.md::Approval kinds
+    /// (wire shapes)`. Wire name kept as `Spawn` (unrenamed underneath
+    /// the CLI-verb rename — `hivectl agent <name> start` reuses the
+    /// existing scope-based [`HostRequest::Start`] below instead of a
+    /// new per-agent variant, see its doc comment).
     Spawn { name: Ident },
-    /// Submit a spawn request for the operator to approve. See
+    /// Submit a first-creation request for the operator to approve. See
     /// `docs/approvals.md::Approval kinds (wire shapes)` (`Spawn`).
+    /// Exposed on the CLI as `hivectl agent <name> request-create`.
     RequestSpawn { name: Ident },
-    /// Stop a managed container (graceful).
+    /// Hard stop a managed container. Exposed on the CLI as `hivectl
+    /// agent <name> kill` — kept distinct from the new graceful-only
+    /// `hivectl agent <name> stop` (which reuses the scope-based
+    /// [`HostRequest::Stop`] below with `graceful: true`); `Kill`
+    /// escalates to a hard stop, `Stop` never does. Wire name kept as
+    /// `Kill`.
     Kill { name: Ident },
     /// Tear down a sub-agent container, optionally purging state.
     /// See `docs/approvals.md::Destroy semantics`.

hivectl/README.md

@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ talk to the daemon over their own MCP tool surface
 One module per subcommand family; `main.rs` is just the clap parse +
 dispatch:
 
-- **`agents.rs`** — container lifecycle (spawn/kill/rebuild/restart/…).
+- **`agents.rs`** — container lifecycle (start/stop/create/kill/rebuild/restart/…).
 - **`approvals.rs`** — the config/init-config/meta-input approval queue.
 - **`dag_progress.rs`** — rebuild-queue progress rendering.
 - **`power.rs`** — restart/start/stop at the container level.

hivectl/src/agents.rs

@@ -36,6 +36,55 @@ async fn agents_restart(socket: &Path, name: &str, no_wait: bool) -> Result<()>
     }
 }
 
+/// `hivectl agent <name> start` — start an EXISTING agent container.
+/// Fails immediately (no request even sent) if `name` has no state dir
+/// at all, rather than silently resolving to an empty scope. Reuses the
+/// exact hive-wide `hivectl start` DAG (`HostRequest::Start`'s
+/// scope-based path), just scoped to this one name — a separate
+/// per-agent wire request would have duplicated logic this scope-based
+/// one already covers.
+async fn agents_start(socket: &Path, name: &str) -> Result<()> {
+    if !crate::util::agent_exists(socket, name).await? {
+        bail!(
+            "no such agent: '{name}' (no state dir under {}/) — use 'hivectl agent {name} create' to provision a brand-new agent",
+            hive_host_sock::AGENTS_ROOT
+        );
+    }
+    render(
+        crate::client::request(
+            socket,
+            HostRequest::Start {
+                scope: hive_host_sock::LifecycleScope {
+                    agent_names: vec![name.to_owned()],
+                    ..Default::default()
+                },
+            },
+        )
+        .await?,
+    )
+}
+
+/// `hivectl agent <name> stop` — graceful-only stop (signal → drain →
+/// reconcile), never escalating to a hard kill. Reuses the hive-wide
+/// `hivectl stop --graceful` DAG (`HostRequest::Stop`'s scope-based
+/// path), scoped to this one name. Distinct from `AgentCmd::Kill`, which
+/// hard-stops via a separate DAG that does escalate.
+async fn agents_stop(socket: &Path, name: &str) -> Result<()> {
+    render(
+        crate::client::request(
+            socket,
+            HostRequest::Stop {
+                scope: hive_host_sock::LifecycleScope {
+                    agent_names: vec![name.to_owned()],
+                    ..Default::default()
+                },
+                graceful: true,
+            },
+        )
+        .await?,
+    )
+}
+
 /// `hivectl list-agents` — fetch the per-agent status roster from the
 /// daemon (`HostRequest::AgentStatus`) and render it as a padded table,
 /// or the raw JSON rows with `--json`. Reuses the dashboard's
@@ -149,14 +198,16 @@ pub(crate) async fn run_agent(socket: &Path, name: &str, cmd: AgentCmd) -> Resul
         AgentCmd::Restart { no_wait } => agents_restart(socket, name, no_wait).await,
         AgentCmd::Pause => set_paused(socket, name, true).await,
         AgentCmd::Resume => set_paused(socket, name, false).await,
-        AgentCmd::Spawn => {
+        AgentCmd::Start => agents_start(socket, name).await,
+        AgentCmd::Create => {
             let name = crate::util::parse_ident(name)?;
             render(crate::client::request(socket, HostRequest::Spawn { name }).await?)
         }
-        AgentCmd::RequestSpawn => {
+        AgentCmd::RequestCreate => {
             let name = crate::util::parse_ident(name)?;
             render(crate::client::request(socket, HostRequest::RequestSpawn { name }).await?)
         }
+        AgentCmd::Stop => agents_stop(socket, name).await,
         AgentCmd::Kill => {
             let name = crate::util::parse_ident(name)?;
             render(crate::client::request(socket, HostRequest::Kill { name }).await?)

hivectl/src/cli.rs

@@ -468,14 +468,22 @@ pub enum AgentCmd {
     Pause,
     /// Resume this paused agent — it drains whatever queued up while parked.
     Resume,
-    /// Spawn this agent container directly, bypassing the approval queue.
+    /// Start this EXISTING agent container. Fails immediately if `name`
+    /// has no config/topology entry at all — it never attempts
+    /// first-time creation. Use `create` for that.
+    Start,
+    /// Create this agent container from scratch (full first-time
+    /// provisioning), bypassing the approval queue.
     ///
-    /// Operator-on-the-host only; use `request-spawn` for an approval-gated
-    /// spawn.
-    Spawn,
-    /// Queue a spawn request for operator approval.
-    RequestSpawn,
-    /// Stop this managed container (graceful).
+    /// Operator-on-the-host only; use `request-create` for an
+    /// approval-gated creation.
+    Create,
+    /// Queue a first-creation request for operator approval.
+    RequestCreate,
+    /// Gracefully stop this agent container: signal → drain → reconcile.
+    /// Never escalates to a hard kill — use `kill` for that.
+    Stop,
+    /// Hard-stop this managed container.
     Kill,
     /// Tear down this sub-agent container, keeping its state by default.
     /// No undo.