Skip to main content
Loom can run as a long-lived background service. The loom serve command supports subcommands for daemon lifecycle management, log viewing, and boot auto-start.
Only one Loom daemon can run at a time. If a daemon is already running, loom serve start will refuse to start a new one regardless of the port specified. Use loom serve stop first, then start with a new port.

​
Running modes

Run the server in the current terminal session. Stops when you press Ctrl+C or close the terminal.
loom serve --port 8000

​
Port configuration

The server port can be specified in two ways (highest priority wins):
  1. Command-line flag: loom serve --port 9000 start
  2. Config file: server.port in configs/loom.yaml
  3. Default: 8000
# configs/loom.yaml
server:
  host: "0.0.0.0"
  port: 8000
The --port flag is defined on the serve group, so it works with all subcommands and foreground mode.

​
Daemon management

​
Start

loom serve start
loom serve --port 9000 start
loom serve --port 8000 --template general start
loom serve start --autostart
Options --host, --port, and --template are defined on the parent serve command and apply to all subcommands. Pass --autostart to also enable boot auto-start via systemd.

​
Stop

loom serve stop
loom serve stop --remove-autostart
Sends SIGTERM to the daemon and waits for graceful shutdown. Falls back to SIGKILL after 15 seconds if the process does not exit. Pass --remove-autostart to also disable the systemd auto-start service.

​
Restart

loom serve restart
loom serve --port 9000 restart
Stops the running daemon (if any), then starts a new one.

​
Status

loom serve status
Displays:
  • Running state and PID
  • Log file location
  • Uptime, memory usage, and CPU (when psutil is installed)
  • Whether auto-start is enabled
Install psutil (pip install psutil) for uptime, memory, and CPU metrics in the status output.

​
Boot auto-start

Use the --autostart flag on start to register a systemd user service: 
loom serve start --autostart
This:
  1. Starts the daemon immediately
  2. Generates a systemd unit file at ~/.config/systemd/user/loom.service
  3. Enables the service with systemctl --user enable loom
  4. Runs loginctl enable-linger so the service survives user logout
To remove auto-start later: 
loom serve stop --remove-autostart
Auto-start requires a Linux system with systemd. It is not supported on macOS or Windows.

​
Manual systemd control

After enabling auto-start, you can also manage the service directly with systemctl: 
systemctl --user start loom
systemctl --user stop loom
systemctl --user restart loom
systemctl --user status loom
journalctl --user -u loom

​
Log management

View recent server output: 
# Last 50 lines (default)
loom serve logs

# Last 200 lines
loom serve logs -n 200

# Follow in real time (like tail -f)
loom serve logs -f
Log file location: ~/.loom/loom.log

​
File locations

FilePurpose
~/.loom/loom.pidPID of the running daemon process
~/.loom/loom.logServer stdout and stderr output
~/.config/systemd/user/loom.serviceSystemd unit file (created by --autostart)

​
Command reference

CommandDescription
loom serveStart in foreground (Ctrl+C to stop)
loom serve startStart as background daemon
loom serve start --autostartStart daemon + enable boot auto-start (systemd)
loom serve stopStop the daemon
loom serve stop --remove-autostartStop daemon + disable boot auto-start
loom serve restartRestart the daemon
loom serve statusShow status, PID, uptime, memory, auto-start state
loom serve logsView logs (-f follow, -n line count)