daemon-ops

name	daemon-ops
description	Operate the kbot daemon — the 24/7 background worker that runs code review, embeddings, i18n sync, and digest tasks via local Ollama. Use when user mentions daemon, background, 24/7, watchdog, ollama, kernel-coder, kbot-daemon, daemon:start, daemon:stop, daemon:log, or asks why the daemon is dead, slow, or chewing tokens.

daemon-ops

What the daemon is

tools/kbot-daemon.ts is a 24/7 background worker that runs scheduled tasks against the user's local Ollama models. Zero API cost — everything runs on localhost:11434. Triggered by macOS launchd every 15 minutes via ~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.kernel.kbot-daemon.plist.

State at tools/daemon-reports/state.json. Log at tools/daemon-reports/daemon.log.

Tasks and intervals

1. Git diff review — every run if new commits (uses kernel-coder:latest)
2. Code quality scan — every 4h
3. i18n sync — every 6h, translates 23 languages via kernel:latest
4. Embedding index — every 8h via nomic-embed-text
5. Test coverage gaps — every 12h, scaffolds new tests
6. Documentation gaps — every 12h, generates JSDoc
7. Daily digest — once per 24h

Commands

npm run daemon              # Run all due tasks once, manually
npm run daemon:stats        # Token usage dashboard (vs Sonnet pricing)
npm run daemon:log          # Tail tools/daemon-reports/daemon.log
npm run daemon:start        # Enable launchd service (24/7)
npm run daemon:stop         # Disable launchd service

Diagnosing a dead or slow daemon

Run these in order — each step rules out a layer:

1. Is it scheduled? launchctl list | grep kbot — should show com.kernel.kbot-daemon with a non-zero PID or 0 (last exit OK).
2. Is Ollama up? curl -s localhost:11434/api/tags | head — must return JSON. If it errors, start Ollama (ollama serve or the menu-bar app).
3. Are the models present? ollama list — must include kernel-coder:latest, kernel:latest, deepseek-r1:14b, nomic-embed-text. If any are missing, tools/setup-kernel-models.sh rebuilds them.
4. What's the last run say? npm run daemon:log — recent entries show which task ran, exit code, duration.
5. Force a manual run. npm run daemon — bypasses launchd timing, exposes errors.

What's safe to disable

• Daily digest — pure reporting, no side effects. Safe to skip.
• i18n sync — only matters before a web deploy. Safe to skip on a quiet day.
• Embedding index — semantic search degrades but doesn't break. Safe to skip.

What other systems depend on the daemon

• tools/kbot-discovery-daemon.ts (self-advocacy) reads daemon state but runs its own cycle. Independent.
• tools/kbot-social-daemon.ts (social posting) is independent — separate cron.
• The web companion's i18n cache busts at build time independent of the daemon. The daemon only refreshes the source translations.

When to stop the daemon

If the user reports unexpected token usage, npm run daemon:stats shows the breakdown. The daemon is local-only by design — if stats show non-zero API spend, something is misconfigured and the daemon should be stopped (npm run daemon:stop) until investigated.