Skip to main content

Running CronAI as a systemd Service

This document explains how to set up CronAI to run as a systemd service on Linux systems.

Setup Steps​

1. Build and install the CronAI binary​

cd /path/to/cronai
go build -o cronai ./cmd/cronai
sudo cp cronai /usr/local/bin/cronai

2. Create your configuration and prompt files​

mkdir -p /etc/cronai/cron_prompts
cp cronai.config.example /etc/cronai/cronai.config
cp -r cron_prompts/* /etc/cronai/cron_prompts/

3. Set up your environment file​

cp .env.example /etc/cronai/.env
# Edit the .env file with your API keys and settings
sudo nano /etc/cronai/.env

4. Create the systemd service file​

Copy the example service file and modify it for your system:

sudo cp cronai.service /etc/systemd/system/cronai.service
sudo nano /etc/systemd/system/cronai.service

Update the following fields in the service file:

  • User: The user account that will run the service
  • WorkingDirectory: The directory where your configuration is located (e.g., /etc/cronai)
  • ExecStart: The path to the CronAI binary (e.g., /usr/local/bin/cronai start --config /etc/cronai/cronai.config)
    • Since v0.0.2: You can also specify the operation mode with --mode cron (default)
    • Future modes (bot, queue) will be available in upcoming releases
  • EnvironmentFile: The path to your .env file (e.g., /etc/cronai/.env)

5. Enable and start the service​

sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl enable cronai
sudo systemctl start cronai

6. Check the service status​

sudo systemctl status cronai

7. View the logs​

sudo journalctl -u cronai -f

Managing the Service​

Restart the service​

sudo systemctl restart cronai

Stop the service​

sudo systemctl stop cronai

Disable the service (prevents it from starting at boot)​

sudo systemctl disable cronai