We're here to help.

You write a script in HDC — our keystroke language — inside HiveFusion Studio. Studio compiles it, lets you simulate it, and flashes it to the device over USB.

1. 1Open HiveFusion Studio and start a new .hdc file, or open the demo payload it ships with.
2. 2Write your payload with HDC commands — STRING to type text, DELAY to wait, GUI/CTRL/ALT for key combos.
3. 3Press Compile and check the output panel. Unknown commands fail the build with a line number, so fix those first.
4. 4Put Mantis into download mode (see below), then press Upload to flash your payload.

HiveFusion Studio is the free desktop app you use to write, compile and flash HDC payloads. Install it, plug in Mantis, and you're ready to go.

First, make sure you're on the latest version of Studio and that Mantis is plugged in directly to a USB port — not through an unpowered hub. Restarting Studio clears most one-off glitches.

If it still misbehaves, tell us exactly what happened — what you did, what you expected, and what Studio showed — and we'll dig in.

Mantis has two buttons — Reset and Upload. Download mode is how the board accepts a new payload from Studio, and it's driven by the Upload button.

1. 1Plug Mantis into a USB port.
2. 2Press and hold the Upload button — this is the button that puts the board into download mode.
3. 3Keep Upload held until HiveFusion Studio shows the device on its COM port, then press Upload in Studio to flash.
4. 4If the board doesn't appear, hold Upload and tap Reset once, then release — that forces it into download mode.

The buttons are labelled on the board if you're not sure which is which.

For running payloads, no — Mantis presents itself as a standard USB HID keyboard, which every operating system already trusts. For flashing, it appears as a USB serial (COM) port; on most systems the driver installs automatically the first time you connect.

HiveFusion Studio currently runs on Windows. Support for more platforms is on the way — join the waitlist on the product page and we'll announce it there.

It's legal to own and use on systems you own or have written permission to test. Using it against systems you don't control is illegal. Mantis is built for professionals, educators and researchers working inside that boundary — that's the whole brief.

Mantis is in stock. Because every unit is built in-house, allow 4–7 business days for us to build and dispatch yours after you buy.