Configuring System Service

This guide explains how to configure Sink as a system service so it starts automatically on login.

• Linux: systemd user service
• macOS: launchctl user agent

Install the Service

sink service install

On Linux, you will be prompted whether to enable loginctl linger (allows the service to run without an active login session).

After installation, the service file locations are:

• Linux: ~/.config/systemd/user/sink.service
• macOS: ~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.sink.server.plist

Enable and Start

Linux:

# Equivalent to systemctl --user enable --now sink.service
sink service enable --now

macOS: service install already loads and starts the service automatically via launchctl bootstrap. The --now flag has no effect on macOS. Run the following command to verify the status:

sink service status

Routine Operations

sink service status    # Check status
sink service stop      # Stop
sink service start     # Start
sink service restart   # Restart
sink service disable   # Disable autostart (keeps service files)
sink service uninstall # Uninstall (stops, disables, and removes service files)

On Linux, you can also use systemctl directly:

systemctl --user status  sink
systemctl --user restart sink

Troubleshooting

Gateway port is in use

lsof -i :5000    # Check which process is using port 5000

Modify the port in ~/.sink/gateway.json, or specify it at startup:

sink gateway start --port 8080