---
id: python-daemon
version: "3.1.2"
license: Copying this work ################# ‘python-daemon’ is under Copyright © 2008–2024 Ben Finney and others. This work, ‘python-daemon’, is free software: you may copy, modify, and/or distribute this… (full text in the JSON record)
license_treatment: permissive
maintenance: dormant
---

# python-daemon — Library to implement a well-behaved Unix daemon process.

License: permissive · Maintenance: dormant · Downloads: 21.1M/mo

## What it is and what it does

python-daemon is a library that implements the PEP 3143 standard for well-behaved Unix daemon processes. Creating a daemon—a process that runs in the background detached from the terminal—requires several tricky steps: forking, closing file descriptors, handling signals, and setting up the process environment correctly. This library encapsulates all of that complexity into a simple context manager interface, so you can wrap your main program logic and let DaemonContext handle the daemon setup automatically.

You configure the daemon by setting options on a DaemonContext instance (signal handlers, working directory, file descriptors to preserve, etc.) and then use it as a context manager. The library depends only on lockfile for file-based locking during the daemonization process. It requires Python 3.7 or later and runs only on POSIX systems.

Use it for:

- Long-running background services (log aggregators, monitoring agents, scheduled job runners) that need to detach from the terminal.
- System utilities that must fork and run as true Unix daemons with proper signal handling and file descriptor management.
- Applications that need to customize daemon behavior (e.g., preserve specific file descriptors, set working directory, manage pidfiles).

## Worth the install?

AI-flagged interpretation of the facts above — verify before relying.

Implements PEP 3143 well-behaved Unix daemon processes, handling the complex steps of forking and process environment setup so your program can run reliably in the background.

Yes, if you are building a Unix daemon in Python and want to follow PEP 3143 correctly without reimplementing the forking and setup logic yourself. The dormant maintenance status is not a blocker—the package is feature-complete and stable—but verify that it meets your Python version and OS requirements. Not suitable for Windows.

## Install

pip install python-daemon
uv add python-daemon
poetry add python-daemon

## Installing python-daemon

Before you install: Low install friction with a single lightweight dependency (lockfile). Maintenance is dormant—last release was 619 days ago—but the package is marked Production/Stable and has been actively maintained since 2009, suggesting it is feature-complete and unlikely to require frequent updates.

License in practice: Dual-licensed under Apache License 2.0 (daemon library) and GNU General Public License version 3+ (packaging and tests). Permissive treatment means you can use, modify, and distribute freely, but be aware of the GPL v3 component if you redistribute the package itself.

Quickstart:

pip install python-daemon

import daemon

with daemon.DaemonContext():
    # Your background process code here
    pass

Unix/POSIX systems only; not supported on Windows.

Verify before relying:

- Whether dormant maintenance status (last release 619 days ago) poses a risk for future Python or OS compatibility.
- Specific behavior differences or limitations when used with modern async frameworks or process managers.

## Package facts

- License: Copying this work ################# ‘python-daemon’ is under Copyright © 2008–2024 Ben Finney and others. This work, ‘python-daemon’, is free software: you may copy, modify, and/or distribute this… (full text in the JSON record) (permissive)
- Python support: supports_current
- Install friction: low
- Maintenance: dormant
- Downloads: 21.1M/month (top 5,000 on PyPI)
- Known vulnerabilities: none known

## Tags

unix daemon process library, background process management, PEP 3143 daemon, fork and daemonize, well-behaved daemon, python daemon context manager, unix-daemon, background-process, posix-only

[View on SkillFed](https://skillfed.io/packages/python-daemon) · [View on PyPI](https://pypi.org/project/python-daemon/)