diff --git a/docs/tools/hivectl.md b/docs/tools/hivectl.md
index 36704eeb..40d92c05 100644
--- a/docs/tools/hivectl.md
+++ b/docs/tools/hivectl.md
@@ -214,11 +214,15 @@ new containers and restarts pick the values up immediately.
 
 Drop into an interactive Claude session inside an agent container.
 Replaces the current process with `machinectl shell <name>@h-<name>`
-running claude from the agent's state dir. Requires root (same as all
-`machinectl shell` operations) — hyperhive ships no polkit rule granting
-those actions to the operator group, so `choom` refuses up front with a
-message naming that requirement rather than letting systemd reject the
-exec later.
+running claude from the agent's state dir. Requires root, or membership in
+`hive-admin` (the same sudoless-`hivectl` group as the [host admin
+socket](../trust-boundary/boundary.md) — hive-c0re ships a polkit rule
+granting that group the one action `machinectl shell` needs); `choom`
+checks this itself and refuses up front with a message naming the
+requirement rather than letting systemd reject the exec later with an
+opaque polkit prompt. Same caveat as the socket grant: a shell opened
+before you were added to `hive-admin` won't see it until you log back in
+— secondary group membership applies at login.
 
 It also needs the daemon socket, unlike the other exec-into-a-container
 paths: the "is this actually an agent?" pre-flight reads the agents root,
diff --git a/hivectl/src/choom.rs b/hivectl/src/choom.rs
index 42ce0b18..4880ea1b 100644
--- a/hivectl/src/choom.rs
+++ b/hivectl/src/choom.rs
@@ -10,21 +10,65 @@ use anyhow::{Result, bail};
 
 use crate::util::agent_exists;
 
-/// Refuse early when the caller isn't root.
+/// Whether the caller's supplementary groups include `hive-admin`.
 ///
-/// `machinectl shell` needs root or a polkit grant, and hyperhive ships
-/// no polkit rules — so unprivileged callers hit an authentication
-/// prompt/refusal from systemd that says nothing about which hivectl
-/// verb wanted it. Naming the requirement here keeps the failure honest
-/// and points at the one thing that would fix it.
-fn require_root() -> Result<()> {
-    // SAFETY: `geteuid` takes no arguments, reads a process attribute
-    // the kernel always has, and cannot fail.
+/// hive-c0re's polkit rule (`nix/host-modules/hive-c0re/default.nix`) grants
+/// `org.freedesktop.machine1.shell` to this group, so a member reaches the
+/// same outcome as root without one. `getgrnam`/`getgroups` read the
+/// *process's* actual credentials, the same ones the kernel would check —
+/// not a fresh `/etc/group` lookup by name — so this can say no for a user
+/// who was just added to the group but hasn't logged back in yet, same
+/// caveat as the host-socket grant (`hivectl/src/client.rs::connect_hint`).
+fn in_hive_admin_group() -> bool {
+    // SAFETY: `getgrnam` takes a valid NUL-terminated string literal and
+    // returns either null (no such group) or a pointer to static storage
+    // owned by libc, which is read once, immediately, before any other
+    // libc call could invalidate it.
+    let gid = unsafe {
+        let grp = libc::getgrnam(c"hive-admin".as_ptr());
+        if grp.is_null() {
+            return false;
+        }
+        (*grp).gr_gid
+    };
+    // SAFETY: a zero-length call with a null buffer is documented to return
+    // the caller's supplementary-group count without writing anything, so
+    // the real buffer below is sized to exactly what the second call needs.
+    let count = unsafe { libc::getgroups(0, std::ptr::null_mut()) };
+    let Ok(count) = usize::try_from(count) else {
+        return false;
+    };
+    let mut groups = vec![0u32; count];
+    let Ok(capacity) = i32::try_from(groups.len()) else {
+        return false;
+    };
+    // SAFETY: `capacity` is exactly `groups.len()`, so this write cannot
+    // overflow the buffer.
+    let n = unsafe { libc::getgroups(capacity, groups.as_mut_ptr()) };
+    let Ok(n) = usize::try_from(n) else {
+        return false;
+    };
+    groups.truncate(n);
+    groups.contains(&gid)
+}
+
+/// Refuse early when the caller can't actually run `machinectl shell`.
+///
+/// Root always can. So can a `hive-admin` member, via the polkit grant
+/// above. Anyone else hits an opaque polkit authentication prompt/refusal
+/// from systemd that names neither hivectl nor the fix — naming both here
+/// instead is the entire point of this check.
+fn require_privilege() -> Result<()> {
+    // SAFETY: `geteuid` takes no arguments, reads a process attribute the
+    // kernel always has, and cannot fail.
     let euid = unsafe { libc::geteuid() };
-    if euid != 0 {
+    if euid != 0 && !in_hive_admin_group() {
         bail!(
-            "choom needs root: it runs `machinectl shell`, which requires root \
-             (hyperhive ships no polkit rule granting it) - re-run with sudo"
+            "choom needs root or `hive-admin` group membership: it runs `machinectl shell`, \
+             gated by a polkit rule for that group. If you were just added to `hive-admin`, \
+             log out and back in first — secondary group membership applies at login, so a \
+             shell opened before the change still won't have it. `id -nG` shows what your \
+             running shell actually has"
         );
     }
     Ok(())
@@ -36,8 +80,8 @@ fn require_root() -> Result<()> {
 /// user from its state dir, reproducing the harness's per-turn claude
 /// invocation (flags, session selection, why it never collides with the
 /// live harness session). See `docs/tools/hivectl.md` (Choom) for the
-/// full rationale. Inherits the caller's PTY; requires root + a running
-/// container.
+/// full rationale. Inherits the caller's PTY; requires root or `hive-admin`
+/// group membership, plus a running container.
 ///
 /// The existence check goes over the daemon socket even though the exec
 /// itself doesn't need it: the agents root isn't readable by the
@@ -50,7 +94,7 @@ pub(crate) async fn choom(socket: &Path, name: &str, resume_session: Option<&str
             hive_host_sock::AGENTS_ROOT
         );
     }
-    require_root()?;
+    require_privilege()?;
     let container = hive_host_sock::container_name(name);
     // Enter as the agent's unix user (== agent name) so claude reads the
     // right `$HOME/.claude`.
diff --git a/nix/host-modules/hive-c0re/default.nix b/nix/host-modules/hive-c0re/default.nix
index 4d71426e..83c753f4 100644
--- a/nix/host-modules/hive-c0re/default.nix
+++ b/nix/host-modules/hive-c0re/default.nix
@@ -229,6 +229,27 @@ in
       members = cfg.adminUsers;
     };
 
+    # Let `hive-admin` members run `hivectl agent <name> choom`
+    # (`machinectl shell`) without sudo, same opt-in-by-group shape as the
+    # socket grant above. `machinectl shell <name>@h-<name>` triggers exactly
+    # one polkit action, `org.freedesktop.machine1.shell` ("Acquire a shell
+    # in a local container") — not `.login` (a different verb, `machinectl
+    # login`, which `choom` never calls) and not `.host-shell` (the
+    # host-target variant, for a bare `machinectl shell` with no `@machine`
+    # suffix; `choom` always targets `<name>@h-<name>`). `enable = true` is
+    # required here: `security.polkit.extraConfig` is silently dropped
+    # unless the module itself is turned on, and nothing else in a headless
+    # hive pulls polkit in the way a desktop session would.
+    security.polkit.enable = true;
+    security.polkit.extraConfig = ''
+      polkit.addRule(function(action, subject) {
+        if (action.id == "org.freedesktop.machine1.shell" &&
+            subject.isInGroup("hive-admin")) {
+          return polkit.Result.YES;
+        }
+      });
+    '';
+
     # The gateway nginx is always the sole external entry point (it runs
     # alongside hyperhive), so the per-agent web-port range stays closed on
     # the host firewall. See `docs/networking/gateway.md::Firewall posture (host-level)`.