lanchr — Launch Agent & Daemon Manager

Diagnose launch agent and daemon health:

!lanchr doctor 2>&1 || echo "lanchr not installed — brew install lu-zhengda/tap/lanchr"

Analyze the output above. Report broken plists, orphaned agents, and missing binaries. For each issue, explain the impact and recommend a fix (restart, disable, or remove). Offer to execute fixes.

Commands

| Command | Purpose | Example | |---------|---------|---------| | lanchr list | List all services | lanchr list --no-apple | | lanchr list -d <domain> | Filter by domain (user/global/system) | lanchr list -d user | | lanchr list -s <status> | Filter by status (running/stopped/error) | lanchr list -s error | | lanchr info <label> | Detailed service info (all plist keys + runtime) | lanchr info com.example.myapp | | lanchr search <query> | Search by label, path, or content | lanchr search redis | | lanchr enable <label> | Enable a disabled service (persists) | lanchr enable com.example.myapp | | lanchr disable <label> | Disable a service (persists) | lanchr disable com.example.myapp | | lanchr load <path> | Bootstrap a plist file | lanchr load ~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.example.plist | | lanchr unload <label> | Bootout a service | lanchr unload com.example.myapp | | lanchr restart <label> | Force restart a running service | lanchr restart com.example.myapp | | lanchr logs <label> | View service logs | lanchr logs com.example.myapp -f | | lanchr doctor | Diagnose broken plists and orphaned agents | lanchr doctor | | lanchr create | Scaffold a new plist from template | See below | | lanchr edit <label> | Open plist in $EDITOR | lanchr edit com.example.myapp | | lanchr export <label> [file] | Export agent as portable bundle | lanchr export com.me.backup agent.json | | lanchr import <file> | Import agent bundle | lanchr import agent.json |

Creating Launch Agents

Use lanchr create with templates instead of writing plist XML manually:

# Simple agent that runs a script at login
lanchr create -l com.me.backup -p /usr/local/bin/backup.sh --template simple --run-at-load

# Interval-based agent (every 30 minutes)
lanchr create -l com.me.sync -p /usr/local/bin/sync.sh --template interval --interval 1800

# Calendar-based agent (daily at 9am)
lanchr create -l com.me.report -p /usr/local/bin/report.sh --template calendar --calendar "Hour=9 Minute=0"

# Keep-alive agent (restart on crash)
lanchr create -l com.me.server -p /usr/local/bin/server --template keepalive --keep-alive

# File watcher agent
lanchr create -l com.me.watcher -p /usr/local/bin/process.sh --template watcher

Additional flags: --stdout <path>, --stderr <path>, --env KEY=VAL, --load (bootstrap after creation).

Monitor Templates

Pre-built templates that use toolkit tools for system monitoring:

# CPU/memory threshold monitoring (uses pstop)
lanchr create -l com.me.cpu-monitor -p pstop --template monitor-cpu

# Port listener monitoring (uses whport)
lanchr create -l com.me.port-monitor -p whport --template monitor-ports

# Security score monitoring (uses macdog)
lanchr create -l com.me.sec-monitor -p macdog --template monitor-security

# Disk space monitoring (uses macbroom)
lanchr create -l com.me.disk-monitor -p macbroom --template monitor-disk

Agent Portability

Export and import agent bundles for backup or migration:

# Export agent with all config
lanchr export com.me.backup backup-agent.json

# Import on another machine
lanchr import backup-agent.json

Diagnostic Workflow

1. lanchr doctor — identify broken plists, orphaned agents, missing binaries
2. lanchr list -s error — find services in error state
3. lanchr logs <label> -f — follow logs for a specific service
4. lanchr restart <label> — restart a misbehaving service

TUI Mode

Launch lanchr without arguments for interactive service management.