What is a daemon in simple terms?

A daemon is a program that runs in the background on your computer. You don't interact with it directly. It just sits there, doing its job, waiting for something to ask it to do work. Your computer is already running dozens of them right now.

Why is it called a daemon?

The name comes from Greek mythology. A daemon was a helpful spirit that worked behind the scenes. In computing, it means the same thing: a background helper. It's not related to the word 'demon'.

What does Pane's daemon do?

Pane's daemon handles your sessions, terminals, and agent processes on the machine where your code lives. When you use Remote Pane to connect from another device, the daemon is what keeps everything running on the host while you control it from your laptop, phone, or tablet.

Do I need to manage Pane's daemon myself?

No. For local use, Pane handles everything automatically. For Remote Pane, the setup command configures the daemon for you. You only need to know the word 'daemon' exists so the docs make sense.

Is a daemon the same as a server?

Similar, but not exactly. A server usually listens for network requests from other machines. A daemon is any background process, even one that only talks to programs on the same machine. Pane's daemon can work both ways: locally, or as a remote server when you set up Remote Pane.

Is the daemon always running?

For local Pane use, the daemon runs while Pane is open. For Remote Pane, you can set it up as a background service that stays running even when you close the app, so your remote sessions stay available.

glossary

what is a daemon?

TL;DR

A daemon is a program that runs quietly in the background and wakes up when something needs it, like the service that keeps your Wi-Fi connected. Pane uses one for Remote Pane: the daemon runs on your host machine and keeps your terminals and agents going while a laptop or phone connects to it. On a single computer you don't need to think about it, because the app handles everything while it's open.

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A daemon is a program that runs in the background on your machine. You don't see it, you don't interact with it directly. It just sits there, doing its job quietly, and wakes up when something needs it.

the simple version

A daemon is a background helper you never see but always rely on.

Think of a daemon like a night security guard at an office. You don't see them, but they're always there, handling things. If someone buzzes the door, the guard opens it. If an alarm goes off, the guard responds. A daemon works the same way for your computer.

Your computer is already running plenty of daemons right now. The thing that keeps your Wi-Fi connected? That's a daemon. The thing that syncs your files to Dropbox? Daemon. The thing that checks for software updates in the background? Also a daemon.

why pane uses a daemon

Pane's daemon keeps agents running on the host while another device controls them.

When you use Pane locally, you don't need to think about this at all. Pane handles everything when the app is open.

The daemon matters when you use Remote Pane. Say you have a powerful desktop at home and you want to control your agents from your laptop at a coffee shop, or from your phone. The daemon is what keeps your sessions running on the desktop while you control them from wherever you are.

Without a daemon, closing the app would kill all your running agents. With one, everything keeps going in the background.

daemons in other agent tools

Most agent tools use one, so long-running agents outlive the window.

Daemons are common across agent tools, because agents run for a long time and you don't want them to stop when a window closes. Paseo runs a background daemon that its desktop, phone, web and terminal clients all talk to. Orca keeps its terminals in a separate helper process that exits when nothing is running. Ghostex sessions survived a restart of its daemon in our test, and Herdr keeps agents running on a server after you disconnect.

daemon vs server vs service

Every server is a daemon; a service is a daemon the OS looks after.

term	what it means
daemon	Any program that runs in the background. The broadest term.
server	A program that listens for requests from other programs or machines. All servers are daemons, but not all daemons are servers.
service	A daemon that the operating system manages for you. It starts automatically on boot and restarts if it crashes.

→ Remote VM Setup - set up Pane's daemon on a remote machine
→ Remote Pane over SSH - connect to the daemon through SSH
→ Security & permissions - how the daemon stays secure

Sources

Corrections

If anything here is wrong or out of date, tell us and we'll fix it and update the date at the top. Open an issue on GitHub

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frequently asked questions