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Hive Vault

Elastos Hive is a decentralized storage network where your data is stored in a personal vault hosted by a provider of your choice. Essentials includes a built-in Hive Manager for setting up and monitoring your vault. For a deeper explanation of how Hive works, see Hive Storage.

What You Need​

  • An Elastos Essentials wallet with an active DID (see Create a DID)
  • A small amount of ELA if you choose a paid storage plan

Your DID is how the vault provider verifies your identity. When you connect to a vault, Essentials uses your DID to authenticate automatically.

Setting Up a Vault​

Picking a Provider​

  1. Open the Hive Manager in Essentials
  2. If you do not have a vault yet, the app shows an introductory screen with a list of available providers
  3. Choose one of the suggested providers (such as the official Elastos Hive nodes), or enter a custom vault URL if you are using a self-hosted or third-party provider
  4. Tap to confirm your selection

The app connects to the provider and checks its status. If the provider is unreachable, you will see a message and can try another one.

Choosing a Storage Plan​

After selecting a provider, Essentials shows the available storage plans offered by that provider. Plans may include a free tier with limited storage and paid tiers with more capacity. Tap the plan you want.

If you selected a paid plan, a confirmation screen shows the plan details. Tap Purchase now to complete the transaction. Pending orders may take a moment to process; the Hive Manager refreshes automatically.

Managing Your Vault​

Once your vault is active, the Hive Manager shows:

  • Vault status -- the provider address and version
  • Current plan -- your active storage plan and its details
  • Pending orders -- any in-progress purchases or plan changes

You can change your plan at any time by selecting a different tier from the same provider. If you have pending orders, plan changes are disabled until they complete.

Vault transfers

Transferring a vault from one provider to another is planned but not yet available. For now, choose a provider you are comfortable with long-term.

How Authentication Works​

Your vault is tied to your DID. When Essentials connects to a vault provider, it proves your identity using a cryptographic challenge based on your DID keys. You do not need to create a username or password for the vault. If you restore your identity on a new device using your recovery phrase, your vault connection is restored along with it.

Hive Data Sync​

Background sync

Hive data sync is off by default. Enable it in Settings > Privacy > Hive data sync to periodically sync data with your vault in the background, keeping your stored information up to date across sessions. With sync disabled, Essentials only reads from or writes to your vault when you explicitly trigger an action.