HiveKit provides building blocks for building W3C Web of Thing compatible applications using the golang language.
HiveKit provides components for serving device WoT interfaces, routing of action, event and property messages, logging of messages, a factory for constructing and reading TDs and certificate and authentication key creation and validation.
HiveKit is used in HiveFlow, the IoT Concentrator; for building agents that provide a WoT interface to 3rd party IoT protocols; and in the hub to provide a digital of IoT devices and WoT enabled services.
HiveKit components were originally part of the HiveOT Hub and have been extracted to encourage use in different applications.
Nov 2025: Kickoff, extraction from HiveOT Hub is complete. Nov 2025: Add documentation of building blocks and howto use.
This project is aimed at software developers for building secure IoT solutions. HiveOT users support the security mandate that IoT devices should be isolated from the internet and end-users should not have direct access to IoT devices. Instead, all access operates via a secured gateway of sorts.
Security is big concern with today's IoT devices. The Internet of Things contains billions of devices that when not properly secured can be hacked too easily. Unfortunately the reality is that the security of many of these devices leaves a lot to be desired. Many devices are vulnerable to attacks and are never upgraded with security patches. This problem is only going to get worse as more IoT devices are coming to market. A botnet of a billion IoT devices can bring parts of the Internet to its knees and cripple essential services. The idea of exposing IoT devices for direct use by consumers is considered ill advised and does not meet the needs of todays reality.
To two main goals of HiveOT are:
- Aid in improving security of IoT devices by isolating them from bad actors and providing a single secure endpoint.
- Simplify integration and usage of IoT devices by providing a single consist standardized way of interacting with all IoT devices including authentication, authorization, directory, history and other capabilities.
HiveOT is based on the W3C WoT TD 1.1 specification for interaction between IoT devices and consumers. It aims to be compatible with this standard.
Integration with 3rd party IoT protocols is supported through the use of IoT plugins. These plugins translate between the WoT protocol and 3rd party IoT protocols, interacting using properties, events and actions.
hub uses HiveFlow as its runtime and adds a digital twin model, service launcher, history, dashboard, and other features such as bridging in a single package.