Operations

Kandev can run as a desktop app, an interactive CLI process, an OS-managed service, or a container. All modes run the same backend and web application. Pick one owner for a given database and workspace root; do not start a second backend against the same SQLite file.

Kandev does not currently provide a user-login boundary for the web application, HTTP API, WebSocket, or external MCP routes. Treat anyone who can reach the backend as an operator. Keep it on a trusted host or private network, or put the entire origin behind an authenticated TLS reverse proxy.

Choose an operating model

See Desktop app, CLI, Run as a service, Docker, and Kubernetes for mode-specific prerequisites and commands.

Health and readiness

Use the top-level readiness endpoint for supervisors and probes:

curl -fsS http://127.0.0.1:38429/health

After startup it returns HTTP 200 with:

{"status":"ok","service":"kandev","mode":"websocket+http"}

It returns HTTP 503 with status: "starting" until routes, the agent registry, and the listener are ready. The supplied Kubernetes probes use this endpoint.

For application diagnostics, open Settings > System > Status or request:

curl -fsS http://127.0.0.1:38429/api/v1/system/health

This diagnostic checks the Git executable, GitHub authentication/rate limits, agent discovery, and Linux inotify pressure. It returns a JSON healthy field and issue list, but normally uses HTTP 200 even when healthy is false; do not substitute it for /health in a status-only probe.

For a managed service, also check its process manager:

kandev service status
kandev service logs -f

Add --system to both commands for a system service.

State and storage

KANDEV_HOME_DIR relocates the Kandev home. Its default is ~/.kandev; the derived data directory is always <home>/data.

Database snapshots do not contain Git worktrees, clones, the master key, service metadata, or provider-side objects. Native agent and gh login files also normally live in the service user's home outside ~/.kandev (for example ~/.codex and ~/.config/gh). The official container instead sets HOME=/data/home, so those CLI credentials live on its mounted volume.

The supported SQLite layout for the System database and restore pages is the derived <home>/data/kandev.db. database.path can point the persistence layer elsewhere, but the current System page still derives its displayed path, WAL path, and restore destination from <home>/data/kandev.db. Treat a custom SQLite path as operator-managed: back it up and restore it with SQLite-aware tooling while Kandev is stopped.

Storage maintenance

Open Settings > System > Storage to inspect Kandev-managed disk usage and configure cleanup. Analyze is read-only. Run now applies only the enabled cleanup rules and refuses to start while task resources are active or another maintenance run owns the cleanup gate.

Storage analysis results are cached in the running backend for 15 minutes, so page reloads and policy saves reuse the displayed snapshot instead of scanning disk again. The page shows when that snapshot was last analyzed. Select Analyze to force a fresh scan; restarting the backend also clears the in-memory snapshot.

Scheduled cleanup is disabled by default and runs only after the configured resource-idle quiet period. Orphaned task workspaces move into Kandev's quarantine before permanent deletion; review the quarantine list to restore an entry or request deletion as a background job. Host-wide Docker build-cache and unused-image cleanup remain disabled until you confirm that Kandev owns a dedicated Docker daemon. Do not enable those rules on a daemon shared with unrelated workloads.

Host-local agents inherit the Kandev service's TMPDIR, TMP, and TEMP values unchanged. If the service leaves them unset, agent tools use their normal operating-system defaults; if an operator sets them on the service, all host-local agents share those configured locations. This permits tools whose caches are derived from the temporary directory, such as Node or Playwright tooling, to reuse cache data across agent instances. Kandev does not create a per-instance temporary root or claim ownership of arbitrary files in the shared temporary directory. On Unix, keep an explicit service temp path short enough for local Unix-domain socket paths; an excessively long path can exceed the platform socket-address limit.

Persistent Go build caching is separate: Go's default GOCACHE is not derived from TMPDIR, and Kandev injects its managed Go-cache location only when that opt-in Storage setting is enabled. Scratch cleanup in the inherited temporary directory belongs to the operating system or the host's temporary-file policy. Archive and delete stop and reap the task's host-local processes, but do not recursively delete shared temporary files.

Older versions may have left inactive directories under /tmp/kandev-agent/*. Storage analysis and cleanup do not delete this legacy data by name or age. Remove it only through a deliberate host-administrator procedure after confirming that no live process references the target; stopping the Kandev service first provides the clearest maintenance boundary.

Database operation

SQLite

SQLite is the default and is appropriate for a desktop, CLI, service, or single-replica container installation. Kandev uses one writer connection and a read pool in WAL mode. Only one Kandev backend should own the file.

Open Settings > System > Database to see database size, WAL size, schema version, path, and the newest modification time among regular entries in data/backups. That timestamp is a filesystem hint, not proof of a valid snapshot: an unrelated or temporary file in the directory can affect it. SQLite exposes three maintenance actions:

• Optimize runs PRAGMA optimize. It is quick and updates planner statistics.
• Vacuum runs VACUUM, compacts the file, and reports bytes reclaimed. It can need substantial temporary disk and can block writes, so run it during a quiet period.
• Factory reset is destructive and is described below.

These actions run as background system jobs. Closing the browser does not cancel a job. Check the page or logs for its terminal state before starting another maintenance operation.

PostgreSQL

PostgreSQL is an external, operator-managed database. The Database page shows driver, database-level size, and schema version, but hides SQLite path, WAL, backup time, and maintenance controls. Kandev does not take a pre-migration PostgreSQL dump and the System Backups page is not a PostgreSQL backup/restore facility. Use your platform backup policy or pg_dump/pg_restore.

One executable pattern, after setting standard PGHOST, PGPORT, PGUSER, PGDATABASE, and a secure password source such as .pgpass, is:

pg_dump --host "$PGHOST" --port "${PGPORT:-5432}" \
  --username "${PGUSER:-kandev}" --format=custom \
  --file "kandev-$(date -u +%Y%m%dT%H%M%SZ).dump" \
  "${PGDATABASE:-kandev}"

Switching database.driver does not migrate data. PostgreSQL and shared NATS remove two single-process data constraints, but they do not make Kandev horizontally scalable: WebSocket subscriptions, execution lifecycle/control state, and task workspaces remain process- or filesystem-local. The current product and supplied deployment validate one backend replica only; do not add replicas based on the database and event bus alone.

SQLite backups

Open Settings > System > Backups.

1. Click Create snapshot. Kandev runs SQLite VACUUM INTO, including committed WAL frames, writes a temporary sidecar, then atomically renames it to manual-<nanoseconds>.db.
2. Wait for the manual row to appear. The browser waits up to 15 seconds; on a large database the backend job can continue after that UI timeout, so reload before retrying.
3. Download the snapshot and copy it off the host.
4. Back up <home>/data/master.key with owner-only access if you need encrypted secrets to remain usable.
5. Separately preserve unpushed Git work, executor/provider state, service configuration, and required CLI login files.
6. Restore into an isolated instance and verify tasks, workflows, secrets, and repository references before calling the backup tested.

Manual snapshots are never automatically pruned. When the recorded Kandev application version changes, or when a legacy database has user tables but no stored application-version metadata, Kandev takes a pre-migration kandev-<stored-version-or-pre-meta>-<timestamp>.db before repository schema initialization. Snapshot failure aborts SQLite startup, so keep the backup directory writable and leave enough free space. Kandev then attempts to retain the two newest kandev-*.db files, but pruning is best-effort and a failed delete does not abort startup. That two-file retention applies to automatic files, including older kandev-pre-reset-* snapshots; it does not apply to manual-* files. Monitor and delete obsolete manual files yourself.

For a cold copy of the complete default Kandev home on a user-service installation:

kandev service stop
tar -C "$HOME" -czf "$HOME/kandev-state-$(date -u +%Y%m%dT%H%M%SZ).tar.gz" .kandev
kandev service start

Adapt the source for a custom --home-dir. This archive still does not include external PostgreSQL, remote executors, provider objects, or CLI credentials stored elsewhere in the operating-system home.

Restore and recovery

Restore a System snapshot

The supported UI flow applies to the default SQLite path:

1. Stop or finish active agent sessions and preserve unpushed work.
2. Open Settings > System > Backups, choose Restore, type RESTORE, and confirm.
3. Kandev copies the selected snapshot to data/kandev.db.new and atomically renames it over data/kandev.db.
4. Quit and relaunch Kandev immediately. The running backend retains connections to the old database inode and can otherwise serve or write stale state.
5. Check /health, System > Status, database schema version, secrets, and representative tasks.

Restore does not roll back worktrees or remote/provider state. A database may therefore refer to files, containers, pull requests, or credentials from a different point in time. Reconcile them before restarting automation.

Restore PostgreSQL

Stop every Kandev backend using the database, then follow your database provider's point-in-time recovery process or restore a verified dump. With the standard PostgreSQL environment variables configured, a destructive replacement pattern is:

pg_restore --clean --if-exists --no-owner \
  --host "$PGHOST" --port "${PGPORT:-5432}" \
  --username "${PGUSER:-kandev}" --dbname "${PGDATABASE:-kandev}" \
  kandev-YYYYMMDDTHHMMSSZ.dump

Restart one backend, allow schema initialization to complete, then validate it as a single-replica deployment. Match the restored data with a compatible Kandev version; Kandev has no automatic database downgrade or validated multi-replica operating path.

Factory reset

In Settings > System > Database, click Factory reset, type RESET, and confirm. This is SQLite-only. The job:

1. stops the orchestrator;
2. creates data/backups/kandev-pre-reset-<unix>.db;
3. drops every SQLite user table while retaining kandev_meta;
4. removes managed worktrees/, repos/, sessions/, tasks/, and quick-chat/ trees;
5. requires a manual quit and relaunch.

It does not erase the entire Kandev home: backups, master.key, logs, service metadata, installed tools, and external provider state can remain. Pre-reset files cannot be deleted through the Backups delete action, but older automatic snapshots can later age out under the two-file automatic retention policy. Download a recovery copy before further upgrades.

Logs and diagnostics

Open Settings > System > Logs for recent structured backend events. Kandev maintains an in-memory ring of exactly 2,000 events that passed the configured log level; the page requests the newest 1,000. This buffer disappears on restart.

Default interactive launcher output is warning level. kandev --verbose selects info level and shows backend output; kandev --debug selects debug level and also enables ACP message dumps. An explicit KANDEV_LOG_LEVEL overrides the flag-selected level. Those dumps can contain full prompts, file contents, and tool calls. Use debug mode only on a trusted machine, collect the minimum needed, then disable and remove the files.

Logging configuration defaults are outputPath: stdout, 100 MB rotation size, five rotated files, 30-day rotated-file age, and gzip compression. Rotation applies only when logging.outputPath is a file, and active files are created owner-readable. The Logs page can list/download the exact active filename and timestamped rotations when that filename has an extension; for an extensionless output path it does not enumerate rotated siblings. With stdout logging, use the in-memory tail plus the process manager:

• Linux service: kandev service logs -f reads the systemd journal.
• macOS service: the same command tails <home>/logs/service.out and service.err.
• Docker: docker logs -f kandev.
• Kubernetes: kubectl logs -f deployment/kandev.

When reporting an incident, record timestamp/timezone, Kandev version and commit from System > About, task ID, session ID, executor type, repository/branch, and relevant provider request IDs. System > Licenses is a generated inventory of shipped npm and Go dependencies, not a runtime health check.

Disk use and environment cleanup

Settings > System > Status walks data, worktrees, repositories, sessions, tasks, quick chat, and backups. Results are cached for two hours; Refresh forces a new single-flight walk. Permission failures appear as warnings. The displayed total intentionally counts data/backups both inside the data row and again as the separate backups row, so use filesystem or volume metrics for quota enforcement.

Archiving or deleting a task stops active sessions and starts durable asynchronous cleanup. Depending on executor, cleanup can delete a managed worktree and its local branch, remove a container, destroy a Sprite, reap a host-local agent's process tree, or attempt to stop the remote SSH controller and remove only its per-session runtime directory. Failed cleanup remains retryable across a backend restart. Kandev does not sweep arbitrary files from the shared temporary directory during archive or delete. SSH process/session cleanup is best-effort when the connection is failing, and the task directory always remains for deliberate, audited cleanup; there is no automatic sweeper for it today. The task can disappear from the UI before cleanup finishes.

Reset Environment uses a separate teardown path. For Sprites, the current reset request can lose the profile credential context and report success while leaving the provider sandbox behind. After a Sprites reset, inspect Settings > Executors > Sprites.dev and explicitly destroy the old sandbox there if it remains. See Executors for the executor-specific lifecycle.

Before archive, delete, reset, or manual cleanup:

1. inspect tracked, untracked, and ignored files in every attached repository;
2. commit and push work that must survive, and record its remote branch or pull request;
3. stop active sessions;
4. use the Kandev action so database and runtime inventory stay coordinated;
5. check logs and the remote provider afterward, because timeout, network, or permission failures can leave a container, directory, or sandbox behind.

Never delete a managed task directory merely because its database row looks terminal. A borrowed environment or pending asynchronous cleanup can still own it.

Updates

The backend contacts the public GitHub Releases API once at startup and every six hours, with a 30-second HTTP timeout, and persists the last successful result. Check now performs a synchronous request and permits one manual check per process every 30 seconds. Offline or rate-limited installations continue to show cached state.

Configure update alerts in Settings > General > Notifications > Notification Events. Select Kandev update available for each notification provider that should receive it: Local delivers the in-app update indication and can use an already-granted browser or native desktop notification; System and Apprise use their configured provider transports. There is no separate update-only channel selector. New Local and System providers include this event by default; existing Local and System providers receive it once on upgrade, while existing Apprise providers remain unchanged. Disabling the event for a provider stops that provider's delivery without disabling release checks. Each provider receives a release version at most once; a later version is a new occurrence.

Before any update, finish or stop active sessions, create and export a database backup plus its master key, preserve unpushed Git work, and read release notes.

• Desktop: use Settings > System > Updates when signed updater assets are available; otherwise install the new desktop package.
• Managed service: the current native CLI installer neither writes service/install.json nor supplies the service/install metadata required by the guarded one-click updater, so its Apply update action is unavailable. Run brew upgrade kandev or npm install -g kandev@latest, rerun kandev service install with the same install flags, then kandev service restart. Backend support for metadata-bearing legacy services is implementation detail, not the current native installation path.
• Unmanaged CLI: run brew upgrade kandev or npm install -g kandev@latest, then restart the process.
• Transient npx: start the desired release with npx -y kandev@latest; this does not update a persistent package.
• Docker/Kubernetes: replace the image and recreate the workload. Do not treat an in-container package install as a durable update.

After restart, verify /health, System > About, System > Status, the database page, and one non-destructive agent session. Kandev does not perform automatic binary or database rollback. If rollback is necessary, restore a compatible pre-upgrade database and matching application release together.

Resource metrics

Configure sampling at Settings > General > Appearance > Resource Metrics. Defaults are CPU, memory, and disk percentage every five seconds, backend disk path /, and execution-environment collection off. Valid intervals are 1–300 seconds; at least one of CPU, memory, disk, CPU temperature, or 1-minute system load remains selected. System load is the average number of tasks running or waiting for CPU during the last minute; compare it with the host's CPU core count. Enable Simplified metrics to show only each metric icon and value in the status bar or phone Status drawer, without the Host marker or percentage progress bars.

Collection starts only while at least one connected client displays metrics in the global status bar. Phone clients subscribe only while their Status drawer is open. The built-in status surface renders the Kandev host source only. Enabling execution metrics also adds active Docker, SSH, and Sprites agentctl sources to the metrics stream for separately owned consumers such as plugins; execution disk sampling uses /. A provider hook also exists for remote Docker, but creating that runtime currently returns a not-implemented error. Missing platform APIs, container permissions, an invalid disk path, a disconnected executor, macOS/Windows temperature support, or Windows load-average support produce unavailable samples rather than quotas.

These metrics are lightweight UI observability. Set alerts, retention, CPU/memory limits, and disk quotas in the host, container platform, or external monitoring stack.

Feature toggles

Settings > System > Feature Toggles currently exposes:

• Office mode — experimental, medium risk, and off in the production profile by default.
• App status bar — stable, low risk, and off in the production profile by default. Enabling it adds the desktop/tablet bar and phone Status entry after restart; disabling it again does not stop connections, metrics collection requested by other clients, or plugins.
• Debug mode — high risk; enables diagnostic endpoints and agent-message logging that can contain sensitive content.

Each requires restart. A value supplied explicitly by its environment variable locks the UI control; the debug toggle is also locked by explicit legacy/debug-message environment variables. Otherwise the UI stores an override in the database. The page can request restart only when the native local supervisor is available. A normal Unix kandev terminal launch is supervised; Desktop, a service, a container, a directly started backend, a deploy preview, or Windows requires a manual application restart.

Status-bar layout is a separate per-user preference. Hold Cmd on macOS or Ctrl elsewhere while mouse-dragging an item to move it across the desktop/tablet bar. The backend preserves the layout across reloads and restarts; the phone Status drawer mirrors it as the saved left sequence followed by the saved right sequence.

Troubleshooting

Related pages

• Configuration — paths, database, logging, NATS, Docker, and security-sensitive environment variables
• Executors — runtime lifecycle, credentials, cleanup, and isolation boundaries
• Git operations — branches, worktrees, push, and pull-request behavior
• Automation and MCP — external MCP routes and their current unauthenticated trust boundary
• Windows support — Windows-native limitations and supported alternatives