# kardianos/service

Run go programs as a service on major platforms.

Repository: https://github.com/kardianos/service
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/service
Language: Go
License: Zlib
License Family: permissive
Last push: 2026-07-06T16:55:16+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 73/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 91, release rhythm 35, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 4258, "days_push": 58, "days_rel": null, "gap_med": null, "n_releases_24m": 0}
- flags: no_releases
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 4837, forks 727 (observed 2026-08-28T04:09:01.221268+00:00)

## What it is
A Go library that lets programs run as system services (daemons) across Windows, Linux (systemd, Upstart, SysV), and macOS (Launchd) with a single unified API. It handles install/uninstall and start/stop operations and can detect whether the program was launched from a terminal or a service manager.

## Use cases
- run a go program as a systemd service
- install my app as a windows service
- create a daemon from a go binary on macos
- cross-platform service management for a go application
- detect if my program is running under a service manager
- uninstall and stop a background service from go code

## When to choose
- you need one Go codebase to run as a native service on Windows, Linux, and macOS
- you want install/uninstall/start/stop lifecycle control from within the program itself
- you need to detect interactive vs service-manager invocation

## When to avoid
- you only target Linux and can call systemd unit files directly
- you need service dependencies on Linux or Launchd, which are not implemented
- you are not writing in Go

## Facets
- artifact type: library
- maturity: stable
- function: developer-tools, cli, configuration-management
- domain: developer-tools, cross-platform, operating-systems
- platform: windows, go, cross-platform
- tags: daemon, systemd, launchd, windows-service, sysv, upstart, service-wrapper, command-line, linux, macos

## Member repositories
- kardianos/service (main) score 73

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:09:01.221268+00:00.
- Health v2: computed from the inputs above; adoption is never an input.
- Inferred fields (summary, facets, guidance): AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, on 2026-08-29T18:18:29.050881+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/kardianos/service (fetched 2026-08-28T04:09:01.221268+00:00, sha d9e7582607fe)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.