Starting the daemon by hand

The daemon is the background process that fires schedules and runs tasks, with or without the app's window open. It starts with the system only when you turn that on, and it is off by default. When it does not start with the system, or after you stopped it, you start it by hand from the dashboard.

Where to start it

When the dashboard finds that the daemon is not running, the app's window shows a screen titled The HarmFlow daemon is not running, which says that schedules fire only while the daemon runs, and that it keeps running when you close the window. Press its Start daemon button.

Settings and the Overview show the daemon's state as well:

• In Settings, the Daemon section, in the This computer group, has a Status panel. Its Running now row reads Not running while the dashboard has no connection to the daemon, and offers Start daemon in place of Stop daemon.
• The Overview's Daemon panel shows two states side by side: Running now, which reads Yes or Not running, and Start with the system, which reads Enabled or Off.

Once the dashboard has found that the daemon stopped, the not-running screen takes the place of the whole dashboard; Settings and the Overview come back once the daemon runs again.

While it starts, and once it runs

While the daemon starts, the button cannot be pressed again: on the not-running screen it reads Starting the daemon…, and in Settings Starting….

Once the daemon is up, the dashboard comes back. In Settings, Running now reads Yes, with the daemon's process ID and how long it has been up, and Stop daemon takes the place of Start daemon. Starting the daemon by hand leaves the option to start it with the system as it was: off, if it was off.

When the start fails

If the daemon does not start, the dashboard tells you why. The not-running screen shows the message The daemon did not start: followed by the reason; in Settings, the dashboard shows the reason in a message. Either way, the Start daemon button can be pressed again.

Running now and starting with the system are separate

Whether the daemon is running now and whether it starts with the system are two different states, and the dashboard shows them apart, on Settings and on the Overview.

• The option is in the same Daemon section of Settings, in its Startup panel: Start the daemon automatically with the system. When it is on, the daemon — and the menu bar, if you show HarmFlow there — start when you sign in.
• Turning the option on or off does not start or stop the daemon now. Once you turn it on, the Overview reads Enabled under Start with the system, while Running now still reads what it read before.
• Stopping the daemon does not turn the option off: Start with the system stays as you left it.

What the other sections of Settings hold is in the guide's section on the Settings screen.