diff --git a/CLAUDE.md b/CLAUDE.md
index 584e21b5..659d1e0d 100644
--- a/CLAUDE.md
+++ b/CLAUDE.md
@@ -141,6 +141,13 @@ hand-maintained per-file tree drifts out of sync with the code.
   dependency-free wire types.
 - **`hive-metric/`** — small CLI to push a single labeled metric to the
   OTEL collector via the OpenTelemetry Rust SDK / OTLP HTTP exporter.
+- **`swarm-controller/`** — swarm-level daemon, opt-in per host
+  (`services.hyperhive.swarm.controller.enable`). Where `hive-c0re` owns
+  the agents on **one** host, this owns what is true **across** hives; a
+  swarm runs one of them, so most hives leave it off. Serves HTTP over a
+  unix socket the gateway's nginx proxies to — ⚠️ **the socket's
+  directory is its access control**; the constraint that governs it is in
+  the crate's README, and a unit test pins the path.
 
 ### External dependencies with no directory here
 
diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index 22171566..caba39bb 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -4421,6 +4421,17 @@ version = "2.6.1"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "13c2bddecc57b384dee18652358fb23172facb8a2c51ccc10d74c157bdea3292"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "swarm-controller"
+version = "0.1.0"
+dependencies = [
+ "anyhow",
+ "axum",
+ "tokio",
+ "tracing",
+ "tracing-subscriber",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "syn"
 version = "1.0.109"
diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index ea41f781..61341ce6 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ members = [
   "hive-sock-client",
   "hive-types",
   "hivectl",
+  "swarm-controller",
 ]
 
 [workspace.package]
diff --git a/docs/swarm.md b/docs/swarm.md
index addf88f5..c255d44a 100644
--- a/docs/swarm.md
+++ b/docs/swarm.md
@@ -235,6 +235,19 @@ one store, because the receiver keys destinations by *agent* so a
 migrating agent keeps one unbroken incremental chain. See
 [snapshot-store.md](snapshot-store.md).
 
+## Swarm controller
+
+`services.hyperhive.swarm.controller.enable` runs the `swarm-controller`
+daemon on this host. **Off by default and deliberately not derived from
+`services.hyperhive.enable`**: a swarm has one controller, so enabling it
+is a statement about swarm topology, not about whether hyperhive is
+installed. Every hive runs `hive-c0re` (the agents on that host); one
+hive additionally runs this (what is true across hives).
+
+What it serves, why it is a unix socket rather than a port, and the
+socket-directory constraint that governs where `socketPath` may point:
+[`swarm-controller/README.md`](../swarm-controller/README.md).
+
 ## Cross-references
 
 - `docs/snapshot-store.md` — the swarm's `btrfs receive` endpoint, and
diff --git a/flake.nix b/flake.nix
index 87d4f7e4..62abd8ad 100644
--- a/flake.nix
+++ b/flake.nix
@@ -142,6 +142,9 @@
                 agentBaseToplevel = lib.mkDefault self.packages.x86_64-linux.agent-base-toplevel;
                 managerToplevel = lib.mkDefault self.packages.x86_64-linux.ruth-toplevel;
               };
+              services.hyperhive.swarm.controller.package =
+                lib.mkDefault
+                  self.packages.${pkgs.stdenv.hostPlatform.system}.swarm-controller;
               services.hyperhive.gateway.swaggerUiTheme =
                 lib.mkDefault
                   self.packages.${pkgs.stdenv.hostPlatform.system}.swagger-ui-theme;
diff --git a/nix/host-modules/default.nix b/nix/host-modules/default.nix
index 2b87a421..3b5e41cc 100644
--- a/nix/host-modules/default.nix
+++ b/nix/host-modules/default.nix
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@
     ./hive-priv.nix
     ./hive-tls.nix
     ./otel.nix
+    ./swarm-controller.nix
     ./swarm-snapshot-store.nix
     ./swarm-wireguard.nix
     ./swarm.nix
diff --git a/nix/host-modules/swarm-controller.nix b/nix/host-modules/swarm-controller.nix
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..9449e39b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/nix/host-modules/swarm-controller.nix
@@ -0,0 +1,117 @@
+# The swarm-level controller daemon. Per-host opt-in: a swarm has one
+# controller, so most hives leave this off and point at the hive that
+# runs it. Distinct from hive-c0re, which every hive runs — c0re owns
+# the agents on one host, this owns what is true across hives.
+#
+# Serves HTTP over a unix socket rather than a TCP port: the gateway's
+# nginx is the only intended client, it reaches the socket through a
+# bind-mount, and a socket that is never bound to an address cannot be
+# reached from off-host by mistake.
+{
+  lib,
+  config,
+  ...
+}:
+let
+  cfg = config.services.hyperhive.swarm.controller;
+in
+{
+  options.services.hyperhive.swarm.controller = {
+    enable = lib.mkOption {
+      type = lib.types.bool;
+      default = false;
+      description = ''
+        Run the swarm-controller daemon on this host. Off by default and
+        deliberately not derived from `services.hyperhive.enable`: a swarm
+        has one controller, so enabling it per hive is a decision about
+        swarm topology, not about whether hyperhive is installed.
+      '';
+    };
+
+    package = lib.mkOption {
+      type = lib.types.package;
+      defaultText = lib.literalExpression "hyperhive.packages.\${system}.swarm-controller";
+      description = ''
+        swarm-controller package. Wired by default from this flake's own
+        package set (see `flake.nix`); override to run a different build.
+      '';
+    };
+
+    socketPath = lib.mkOption {
+      type = lib.types.str;
+      default = "/run/swarm-controller/controller.sock";
+      description = ''
+        Unix socket the daemon serves on, and the path the gateway's nginx
+        proxies to.
+
+        The **directory** is the access control here, not the socket mode:
+        the socket itself is `0666` (nginx runs as another user, and
+        `connect(2)` needs write), exactly as hive-c0re publishes the
+        per-agent sockets. What keeps that safe is that the directory holds
+        one socket and is bind-mounted into one container. Moving this path
+        under a directory that carries anything else — `/run/hyperhive`,
+        which holds the host admin socket, above all — hands whatever else
+        lives there to every consumer that mounts it.
+
+        Changing this therefore means re-checking the gateway bind-mount,
+        not just the daemon.
+      '';
+    };
+  };
+
+  config = lib.mkIf (config.services.hyperhive.enable && cfg.enable) {
+    users.users.swarm-controller = {
+      isSystemUser = true;
+      group = "swarm-controller";
+      description = "hyperhive swarm-controller daemon";
+    };
+    users.groups.swarm-controller = { };
+
+    systemd.services.swarm-controller = {
+      description = "hyperhive swarm-level controller daemon";
+      wantedBy = [ "multi-user.target" ];
+      after = [ "network.target" ];
+
+      serviceConfig = {
+        ExecStart = "${cfg.package}/bin/swarm-controller";
+        User = "swarm-controller";
+        Group = "swarm-controller";
+        Restart = "on-failure";
+        RestartSec = "5s";
+
+        # `/run/swarm-controller` — its own directory, holding only the
+        # socket. See `socketPath`'s description for why that is a security
+        # property and not tidiness.
+        RuntimeDirectory = "swarm-controller";
+        # 0751: traverse-only for others, so the gateway's nginx can reach
+        # the socket path without being able to list the directory. Same
+        # shape (and same reason) as hive-c0re's runtime dir.
+        RuntimeDirectoryMode = "0751";
+        # Preserved across restarts so the bind-mount source never vanishes
+        # from under a running gateway container. The daemon unlinks a stale
+        # socket on start, which is what makes preservation safe.
+        RuntimeDirectoryPreserve = "yes";
+
+        StateDirectory = "swarm-controller";
+        StateDirectoryMode = "0750";
+
+        # Nothing here needs a writable filesystem, real privileges, or a
+        # view of the rest of the machine; the daemon reads its socket path
+        # from config and serves.
+        PrivateTmp = true;
+        ProtectSystem = "strict";
+        ProtectHome = true;
+        NoNewPrivileges = true;
+        PrivateDevices = true;
+        ProtectKernelTunables = true;
+        ProtectKernelModules = true;
+        ProtectControlGroups = true;
+        RestrictAddressFamilies = [
+          "AF_UNIX"
+        ];
+      };
+
+      environment.SWARM_CONTROLLER_SOCKET = cfg.socketPath;
+    };
+  };
+}
diff --git a/nix/packages/default.nix b/nix/packages/default.nix
index 70c5baa7..6713ae6e 100644
--- a/nix/packages/default.nix
+++ b/nix/packages/default.nix
@@ -133,6 +133,16 @@ in
 }
 // binPkgs
 // {
+  # Swarm-level controller daemon. Deliberately NOT in `daemonBins`:
+  # that list is the core stack — the binaries hive-c0re and the agent
+  # harness are made of — and it drives the `default` bundle that
+  # `services.hyperhive.c0re.package` points at. This daemon is a
+  # separate swarm-scoped service with its own module and its own
+  # `package` option, and one hive in a swarm runs it, so folding it
+  # into the core bundle would put it in every hive's closure to no end.
+  # Uses the same per-bin extractor, just bound on its own.
+  swarm-controller = mkBinPackage "swarm-controller" "hyperhive swarm-level controller daemon";
+
   # Bundled browser assets — see ./frontend.nix. Output is
   # $out/{dashboard,agent}/ which the Rust binaries serve via
   # tower_http::ServeDir.
diff --git a/swarm-controller/Cargo.toml b/swarm-controller/Cargo.toml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..877efecd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/swarm-controller/Cargo.toml
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+[package]
+name = "swarm-controller"
+version.workspace = true
+readme = "README.md"
+edition.workspace = true
+
+[[bin]]
+name = "swarm-controller"
+path = "src/main.rs"
+
+[dependencies]
+anyhow.workspace = true
+axum.workspace = true
+tokio.workspace = true
+tracing.workspace = true
+tracing-subscriber.workspace = true
+
+[lints]
+workspace = true
diff --git a/swarm-controller/README.md b/swarm-controller/README.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..0d896e85
--- /dev/null
+++ b/swarm-controller/README.md
@@ -0,0 +1,60 @@
+# swarm-controller
+
+The **swarm-level** daemon. Where `hive-c0re` owns the agents on one host, this
+owns what is true *across* hives — so a swarm runs one of them and most hives
+leave it off.
+
+Opt-in per host via `services.hyperhive.swarm.controller.enable`, which is
+deliberately **not** derived from `services.hyperhive.enable`: turning it on is
+a statement about swarm topology, not about whether hyperhive is installed.
+
+## What it does today
+
+Serves one `/health` endpoint and holds no state.
+
+That is the whole intent of the first slice. The point is to make the *unit*
+real — service user, runtime and state directories, socket, nginx
+reachability — so the swarm-level surfaces that follow have somewhere to land.
+Inventing those surfaces before they are agreed would bake in a shape nobody
+chose. See #3066 and the `hyperhive.swarm` consolidation epic.
+
+## Why a unix socket, not a port
+
+The hive-gateway's nginx is the only intended client and reaches the socket
+through a bind-mount. A listener that is never bound to an address cannot be
+reached from off-host by mistake.
+
+The socket path is `services.hyperhive.swarm.controller.socketPath`, default
+`/run/swarm-controller/controller.sock`, exported to the process as
+`SWARM_CONTROLLER_SOCKET`.
+
+## ⚠️ The socket's directory is its access control
+
+The socket is `0666`. It has to be: nginx runs as a different user and
+`connect(2)` needs write. This matches how `hive-c0re` publishes the per-agent
+sockets, and rests on the same argument — *"the bind source dir is per-agent on
+host so blast radius is unchanged."*
+
+What keeps that safe is that the directory holds **one** socket and is
+bind-mounted into **one** container. So:
+
+> **Never point `socketPath` at a directory that carries anything else.**
+> `/run/hyperhive` above all — it holds `host.sock`, the host **admin** socket.
+> Mounting that directory to reach this socket would hand the gateway container
+> the admin socket along with it.
+
+Changing `socketPath` therefore means re-checking the gateway bind-mount, not
+just the daemon. A unit test pins the default path so a tidying edit fails
+instead of reviewing cleanly.
+
+`RuntimeDirectoryPreserve=yes` and the daemon's stale-socket unlink on start are
+a **pair**: preserving the directory without the unlink means `bind` fails with
+`EADDRINUSE` after a restart.
+
+## Packaging
+
+Built by the workspace derivation and extracted as its own package
+(`nix build .#swarm-controller`). Deliberately **not** in `nix/packages`'
+`daemonBins` — that list is the core stack and drives the bundle
+`services.hyperhive.c0re.package` points at, so folding this in would put a
+swarm-scoped service into every hive's closure.
diff --git a/swarm-controller/src/main.rs b/swarm-controller/src/main.rs
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..aefb3a75
--- /dev/null
+++ b/swarm-controller/src/main.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,117 @@
+//! Swarm-level controller daemon. Runs as the unprivileged
+//! `swarm-controller` user on whichever host the operator flips
+//! `services.hyperhive.swarm.controller.enable` on, and serves HTTP over a
+//! unix socket that the hive-gateway's nginx proxies to.
+//!
+//! **Today it serves one endpoint and owns no state.** That is deliberate:
+//! this slice exists to make the *unit* real — service user, runtime and
+//! state directories, socket, nginx reachability — so the swarm-level
+//! surfaces that follow have somewhere to land. Guessing those surfaces
+//! now would bake in a shape nobody has agreed to.
+//!
+//! Distinct from `hive-c0re`, which is per-hive: c0re owns the agents on
+//! one host, this owns what is true across hives.
+
+use std::os::unix::fs::PermissionsExt as _;
+use std::path::PathBuf;
+
+use anyhow::{Context, Result};
+use axum::{Router, routing::get};
+
+/// Where the daemon binds, overridable via `SWARM_CONTROLLER_SOCKET`.
+///
+/// A compiled-in default is legitimate here and is *not* the mistake that
+/// a hardcoded remote address would be: this is a path this process
+/// **creates**, not an address it hopes to find something at. systemd's
+/// `RuntimeDirectory=swarm-controller` makes the parent exist before
+/// `ExecStart`, so the default names a directory the unit just produced.
+///
+/// The directory is its own — deliberately not shared with hive-c0re's
+/// `/run/hyperhive`. nginx reaches a unix upstream by having the socket's
+/// *directory* bind-mounted into the gateway container, so co-locating
+/// this socket with c0re's admin socket would hand the gateway the admin
+/// socket along with it.
+const DEFAULT_SOCKET: &str = "/run/swarm-controller/controller.sock";
+
+fn socket_path() -> PathBuf {
+    std::env::var_os("SWARM_CONTROLLER_SOCKET")
+        .map_or_else(|| PathBuf::from(DEFAULT_SOCKET), PathBuf::from)
+}
+
+/// Liveness probe. Returns the build's version so an operator can tell
+/// *which* controller answered without shelling onto the host.
+async fn health() -> &'static str {
+    concat!("swarm-controller ", env!("CARGO_PKG_VERSION"), "\n")
+}
+
+#[tokio::main]
+async fn main() -> Result<()> {
+    tracing_subscriber::fmt()
+        .with_env_filter(
+            tracing_subscriber::EnvFilter::try_from_default_env()
+                .unwrap_or_else(|_| tracing_subscriber::EnvFilter::new("info")),
+        )
+        .init();
+
+    let path = socket_path();
+
+    // `RuntimeDirectoryPreserve=yes` keeps the directory across a restart,
+    // so a socket file from the previous run can outlive the process that
+    // owned it and `bind` would fail with EADDRINUSE. Unlinking a stale
+    // socket is safe precisely because the directory is ours alone: nothing
+    // else can have put a file at this path.
+    if let Err(e) = std::fs::remove_file(&path)
+        && e.kind() != std::io::ErrorKind::NotFound
+    {
+        return Err(e).with_context(|| format!("clearing stale socket at {}", path.display()));
+    }
+
+    let listener = tokio::net::UnixListener::bind(&path)
+        .with_context(|| format!("binding {}", path.display()))?;
+
+    // `bind` leaves the socket 0755, and connecting needs write — the
+    // gateway's nginx is a different user, so it would be locked out.
+    // 0666 matches how hive-c0re publishes the per-agent sockets
+    // (`socket_server::start`), and rests on the same argument: **the
+    // containing directory is the access control, not the socket mode.**
+    // This directory holds one socket and is bind-mounted into exactly
+    // one container. That is also why it must not be shared with
+    // hive-c0re's `/run/hyperhive` — with a 0666 socket, a directory
+    // that carries more than it should is the whole vulnerability.
+    std::fs::set_permissions(&path, std::fs::Permissions::from_mode(0o666))
+        .with_context(|| format!("chmod {}", path.display()))?;
+    tracing::info!(socket = %path.display(), "swarm-controller listening");
+
+    let app = Router::new().route("/health", get(health));
+    axum::serve(listener, app)
+        .await
+        .context("serving swarm-controller")
+}
+
+#[cfg(test)]
+mod tests {
+    use super::DEFAULT_SOCKET;
+    use std::path::Path;
+
+    /// The socket must not share a directory with anything else, because
+    /// the socket is `0666` and the directory is therefore the only access
+    /// control it has. `/run/hyperhive` in particular holds hive-c0re's
+    /// **admin** socket, and nginx reaches a unix upstream by mounting the
+    /// socket's whole directory into the gateway container.
+    ///
+    /// A test rather than a comment: the failure this guards against is a
+    /// one-word edit that looks tidier and reads fine in review.
+    #[test]
+    fn socket_lives_in_its_own_runtime_dir() {
+        let parent = Path::new(DEFAULT_SOCKET)
+            .parent()
+            .expect("socket path has a parent directory");
+        assert_eq!(
+            parent,
+            Path::new("/run/swarm-controller"),
+            "the socket's directory is its access control — moving it under a shared \
+             directory (notably /run/hyperhive, which holds the host admin socket) \
+             exposes everything else in that directory to the gateway container"
+        );
+    }
+}