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The longmem stop command gracefully shuts down the memory daemon.

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Syntax

longmem stop
This command takes no options or arguments.

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What It Does

When you run longmem stop, the CLI:
  1. Checks if daemon is running - Performs health check first
  2. Sends shutdown request - POST to /shutdown endpoint
  3. Waits for graceful shutdown - Allows daemon to clean up resources

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Output

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Successful Stop

$ longmem stop
Daemon stopped.

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Already Stopped

$ longmem stop
Daemon not running.

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Failed to Stop

$ longmem stop
Error: Failed to stop daemon.

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Graceful Shutdown Process

When the daemon receives a shutdown request, it:
  1. Stops accepting new requests - Server stops listening
  2. Destroys idle detector - Cancels any pending timers
  3. Closes database connection - Ensures all writes are flushed
  4. Removes PID file - Cleans up ~/.longmem/longmem.pid
  5. Exits process - Terminates with exit code 0
This process typically completes within 100ms.

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Under the Hood

The stop command sends an HTTP POST request to: 
POST http://127.0.0.1:5939/shutdown
The request has a 2-second timeout. If the daemon doesn’t respond within this time, the stop command reports an error.

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Signal Handling

The daemon also responds to system signals:
  • SIGTERM - Graceful shutdown (same as HTTP shutdown)
  • SIGINT - Graceful shutdown (Ctrl+C)
Both signals trigger the same cleanup process.

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Exit Codes

  • 0 - Daemon stopped successfully or was not running
  • 1 - Failed to stop daemon

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Troubleshooting

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Daemon won’t stop

If the stop command fails, you can forcefully kill the process: 
# Find the daemon PID
cat ~/.longmem/longmem.pid

# Or search for the process
ps aux | grep longmemd

# Force kill
kill -9 <PID>

# Clean up PID file
rm ~/.longmem/longmem.pid

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Port still in use after stop

Check if the port is still bound: 
lsof -ti:5939
If a process is still using it: 
kill $(lsof -ti:5939)

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Database locked after stop

If the database appears locked after stopping: 
# Check for lingering processes
ps aux | grep longmem

# Kill all longmem processes
pkill -f longmem

# If needed, remove SQLite lock files
rm ~/.longmem/*.db-shm
rm ~/.longmem/*.db-wal

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When to Stop the Daemon

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Normal Operations

  • System restart - The daemon doesn’t auto-start; stop before reboot
  • Configuration changes - Some config changes require restart
  • Troubleshooting - Stop, check logs, then start again

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You Don’t Need to Stop

  • Regular use - The daemon is designed to run continuously
  • Low memory - Daemon uses minimal resources (typically <50MB)
  • Battery - Idle daemon consumes negligible CPU

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What Happens After Stop

After stopping:
  • PID file is removed
  • HTTP server is stopped
  • Database connection is closed
  • All compression jobs are abandoned (will resume on next start)
  • MCP tools and hooks will fail until daemon is restarted

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