Background Daemon

jolt includes a background daemon that collects battery and power data even when the TUI isn’t running. This enables historical tracking and analysis over time.

Why Use the Daemon?

• Continuous monitoring — Collect data 24/7
• Historical analysis — Track trends over days/weeks
• Low overhead — Minimal resource usage
• TUI integration — Seamless data sharing with the TUI

Starting the Daemon

Basic Start

jolt daemon start

The daemon runs in the background and automatically starts collecting data.

Foreground Mode

For debugging or testing:

jolt daemon start --foreground
# or use the short option
jolt daemon start -f

Press Ctrl+C to stop.

Stopping the Daemon

jolt daemon stop

Checking Status

jolt daemon status

Shows:

• Running state
• PID
• Uptime
• Data collection stats
• Last sample time

Viewing Logs

# Show recent logs (last 50 lines)
jolt logs

# Show specific number of lines
jolt logs --lines 100

# Follow logs in real-time
jolt logs --follow

Auto-Start on Login

macOS

Install a LaunchAgent:

jolt daemon install

This creates a LaunchAgent that starts the daemon automatically when you log in.

If a LaunchAgent already exists, use --force to overwrite it:

jolt daemon install --force

Linux

Use systemd to run on login:

# Create user service
mkdir -p ~/.config/systemd/user
cat > ~/.config/systemd/user/jolt-daemon.service << 'EOF'
[Unit]
Description=Jolt Battery Monitor Daemon
After=graphical-session.target

[Service]
ExecStart=%h/.local/bin/jolt daemon start --foreground
Restart=on-failure

[Install]
WantedBy=default.target
EOF

# Enable and start
systemctl --user enable jolt-daemon
systemctl --user start jolt-daemon

Uninstall

macOS:

jolt daemon uninstall

Linux:

systemctl --user disable jolt-daemon
systemctl --user stop jolt-daemon
rm ~/.config/systemd/user/jolt-daemon.service

Configuration

Daemon settings in config file:

macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/jolt/config.toml Linux: ~/.config/jolt/config.toml

[daemon]
# Enable daemon functionality
enabled = true

# Sample interval in seconds
sample_interval = 60

# Socket path for IPC (macOS: ~/Library/Caches/jolt/daemon.sock, Linux: ~/.local/share/jolt/daemon.sock)
socket_path = "auto"

Sample Interval

Controls how often the daemon records data:

Interval	Storage/Day	Use Case
30s	~2.8 MB	Detailed analysis
60s	~1.4 MB	Default, balanced
120s	~0.7 MB	Long-term storage
300s	~0.3 MB	Minimal overhead

[daemon]
sample_interval = 60

Data Storage

The daemon stores data in SQLite:

macOS:

~/Library/Caches/jolt/history.db

Linux:

~/.local/share/jolt/history.db

Storage Management

# View storage usage
jolt history summary

# Prune old data
jolt history prune --older-than 30

TUI Integration

When the daemon is running, the TUI automatically:

• Connects via IPC socket
• Displays daemon status in the UI
• Uses daemon data for extended history
• Shows daemon stats in About dialog

Press d in the TUI to view daemon status.

Troubleshooting

Daemon Won’t Start

1. Check if already running:

   jolt daemon status

2. Check logs for errors:

   jolt logs

3. Try foreground mode for debugging:

   jolt daemon start --foreground

High CPU Usage

Increase the sample interval:

[daemon]
sample_interval = 120

Connection Issues

If TUI can’t connect to daemon:

1. Verify daemon is running:

   jolt daemon status

2. Check socket file exists:

   macOS:

   ls ~/Library/Caches/jolt/daemon.sock

   Linux:

   ls ~/.local/share/jolt/daemon.sock

3. Restart daemon:

   jolt daemon stop && jolt daemon start

Data Not Appearing

1. Wait for at least one sample interval
2. Check daemon logs for errors
3. Verify history is enabled:

   jolt config | grep history