diff --git a/docs/observability.md b/docs/observability.md
index 67224a0e..18d71712 100644
--- a/docs/observability.md
+++ b/docs/observability.md
@@ -327,13 +327,18 @@ Agents can push arbitrary labeled metrics to the same OTEL collector via the
 ### Usage
 
 ```text
-hive-metric <name> <value> [--type counter|gauge] [--labels key=value...]
+hive-metric <name> <value> [--type counter|gauge] [--temporality delta|cumulative] [--labels key=value...]
 ```
 
 - `<name>` — metric name (e.g. `tasks_completed`, `latency_ms`).
 - `<value>` — numeric value (f64; integers and floats both accepted).
-- `--type counter|gauge` — metric kind: `counter` (cumulative sum, default) or
+- `--type counter|gauge` — metric kind: `counter` (increasing sum, default) or
   `gauge` (instantaneous point-in-time value).
+- `--temporality delta|cumulative` — counter reporting mode (`counter` only,
+  ignored for `gauge`): `delta` (this call's own contribution, default — send
+  `1` each time and the collector accumulates) or `cumulative` (this call
+  reports the running total, which a stateless one-shot CLI can't track
+  itself).
 - `--labels key=value` — extra per-data-point labels. May be repeated.
   The resource labels (agent, hive, swarm, service.name) are inherited
   automatically from `OTEL_RESOURCE_ATTRIBUTES` — do not re-specify them.
@@ -341,7 +346,7 @@ hive-metric <name> <value> [--type counter|gauge] [--labels key=value...]
 ### Examples
 
 ```text
-# Counter: cumulative tasks finished (default type — no --type flag needed)
+# Counter: one more task finished (delta is the default — no flag needed)
 hive-metric tasks_completed 1 --labels phase=scan
 
 # Gauge: current queue depth (absolute value — must use --type gauge)
@@ -366,8 +371,17 @@ with an informative error message. No silently-dropped metrics.
 
 ## Metrics temporality
 
-OTEL export is always configured with **cumulative** temporality
+OTEL export is configured with **cumulative** temporality by default
 (`OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_METRICS_TEMPORALITY_PREFERENCE=cumulative`),
 overriding Claude Code's default of DELTA. This avoids silent metric drops in
 Prometheus-family backends (including Grafana LGTM / Mimir) that don't ship a
 delta-to-cumulative processor.
+
+**`hive-metric` counters are the one exception**, reporting delta by default
+(see above) — programmatically set on the exporter, which overrides this
+container-wide env var for that tool specifically. `--type gauge` is
+unaffected either way; gauges have no temporality. The hive-tier collector
+runs a `deltatocumulative` processor ahead of export, so a delta
+`hive-metric` counter still lands in VictoriaMetrics as a cumulative
+series — the standard `rate()`/`increase()` idioms work on it exactly like
+any other counter in this system, no special query needed.
diff --git a/hive-metric/src/main.rs b/hive-metric/src/main.rs
index 48e066eb..0e107031 100644
--- a/hive-metric/src/main.rs
+++ b/hive-metric/src/main.rs
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@
 //!
 //! # Usage
 //! ```text
-//! hive-metric <name> <value> [--type counter|gauge] [--labels key=value...]
+//! hive-metric <name> <value> [--type counter|gauge] [--temporality delta|cumulative] [--labels key=value...]
 //! ```
 
 use anyhow::{Context, Result, bail};
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ use clap::Parser;
 use opentelemetry::KeyValue;
 use opentelemetry::metrics::MeterProvider;
 use opentelemetry_otlp::{Protocol, WithExportConfig};
+use opentelemetry_sdk::metrics::Temporality;
 
 #[derive(Parser)]
 #[command(
@@ -39,10 +40,17 @@ struct Cli {
     /// negative; counters must be >= 0 (they only increase).
     value: f64,
 
-    /// Metric kind: `counter` (cumulative sum, default) or `gauge` (instantaneous value).
+    /// Metric kind: `counter` (increasing sum, default) or `gauge` (instantaneous value).
     #[arg(long = "type", value_name = "TYPE", default_value = "counter")]
     metric_type: MetricKind,
 
+    /// Counter reporting mode: `delta` (this call's own contribution, default —
+    /// send `1` each time and the collector accumulates) or `cumulative` (this
+    /// call reports the running total, which a stateless one-shot CLI can't
+    /// track itself — only meaningful for `--type counter`; ignored for `gauge`).
+    #[arg(long, value_name = "MODE", default_value = "delta")]
+    temporality: TemporalityArg,
+
     /// Extra label(s) as `key=value` pairs. May be repeated.
     /// Resource labels (agent, hive, swarm) come from `OTEL_RESOURCE_ATTRIBUTES`
     /// automatically — do not re-specify them here.
@@ -52,12 +60,29 @@ struct Cli {
 
 #[derive(Clone, Debug, clap::ValueEnum)]
 enum MetricKind {
-    /// Counter: monotonically increasing cumulative sum (default).
+    /// Counter: increasing sum (default).
     Counter,
     /// Gauge: point-in-time instantaneous value.
     Gauge,
 }
 
+#[derive(Clone, Debug, clap::ValueEnum)]
+enum TemporalityArg {
+    /// Report this call's own contribution since the last report (default).
+    Delta,
+    /// Report the running total as of this call.
+    Cumulative,
+}
+
+impl From<TemporalityArg> for Temporality {
+    fn from(arg: TemporalityArg) -> Self {
+        match arg {
+            TemporalityArg::Delta => Temporality::Delta,
+            TemporalityArg::Cumulative => Temporality::Cumulative,
+        }
+    }
+}
+
 fn main() -> Result<()> {
     let cli = Cli::parse();
 
@@ -86,6 +111,7 @@ fn main() -> Result<()> {
     let exporter = opentelemetry_otlp::MetricExporter::builder()
         .with_http()
         .with_protocol(Protocol::HttpJson)
+        .with_temporality(cli.temporality.into())
         .build()
         .context("failed to build OTLP metric exporter")?;