check-existing-service-before-starting-new-one

name	check-existing-service-before-starting-new-one
description	Use when attempting to start a server or service that connects to an existing robot endpoint, to avoid conflicts from duplicate processes.
category	automation

Check Existing Services Before Starting New Ones

Before launching a server or service that will connect to an endpoint:

1. Check if a process is already running on the target port: bash lsof -i :8175 | grep LISTEN

   or

   ps aux | grep -E "(uvicorn|server|robot)" | grep -v grep

2. Check what's already connected to the robot: bash curl -s "http://192.168.31.121:8175/api/status"

3. If a service is already running, use the existing one rather than starting a second instance.

4. If you must restart, kill the old process first: bash pkill -f "uvicorn.*server:app" sleep 2

   then start new

Anti-pattern: Running uvicorn server:app multiple times without checking if one is already active, causing port conflicts and "going away" WebSocket errors.