> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.orinadus.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# urchin serve

> Start the HTTP intake server and background collector loop.

## Synopsis

```bash theme={null}
urchin serve
```

No flags. Configuration comes from `~/.config/urchin/config.toml` and environment variables.

## What it starts

1. **HTTP intake server** — `127.0.0.1:<intake_port>` (default `18799`). Accepts `POST /ingest` and `GET /health`.
2. **Collector tick loop** — periodically runs all available collectors (shell, git, claude, copilot, gemini, codex, opencode, local-model) and appends new events to the journal.

The server runs in the foreground and blocks until killed.

## Port

Default: `18799`. Override via `intake_port` in config or `URCHIN_INTAKE_PORT` env var.

The server binds `127.0.0.1` only — never `0.0.0.0`. It is loopback-only by design.

## Running as a background daemon

`urchin serve` does not daemonise itself. Use your OS process supervisor:

<CodeGroup>
  ```bash systemd (Linux) theme={null}
  # ~/.config/systemd/user/urchin.service
  [Unit]
  Description=Urchin memory substrate

  [Service]
  ExecStart=%h/.cargo/bin/urchin serve
  Restart=on-failure
  RestartSec=5

  [Install]
  WantedBy=default.target
  ```

  ```bash launchd (macOS) theme={null}
  # ~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.orinadus.urchin.plist
  <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
  <!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
  <plist version="1.0">
  <dict>
    <key>Label</key>          <string>com.orinadus.urchin</string>
    <key>ProgramArguments</key>
    <array>
      <string>/Users/you/.cargo/bin/urchin</string>
      <string>serve</string>
    </array>
    <key>RunAtLoad</key>      <true/>
    <key>KeepAlive</key>      <true/>
  </dict>
  </plist>
  ```

  ```bash Shell background theme={null}
  urchin serve &
  # Or with nohup:
  nohup urchin serve > ~/.local/share/urchin/serve.log 2>&1 &
  ```
</CodeGroup>

## Verify

```bash theme={null}
curl http://127.0.0.1:18799/health
```

```json theme={null}
{"status":"ok","events":42,"ephemeral":false}
```

## Notes

* The MCP server (`urchin mcp`) does not require `urchin serve`. The two are independent.
* The collector loop runs each collector once on startup, then on a periodic tick. The tick interval is not user-configurable in v0.3.4.
* Collector errors are logged at `WARN` level but do not stop the server.
* Set `URCHIN_LOG=urchin=debug` to see verbose output.