How to Build Your First Daemon

A 15-minute guide to creating a self-healing Python daemon.

What Is a Daemon?

A daemon is a background process that runs continuously, performs work, and exposes a health endpoint so other systems know it's alive.

The Minimal Daemon

#!/usr/bin/env python3
import time
import signal
import sys
from http.server import HTTPServer, BaseHTTPRequestHandler

def log(msg):
    print(f"[{time.strftime('%H:%M:%S')}] {msg}")

class HealthHandler(BaseHTTPRequestHandler):
    def log_message(self, *args): pass
    def do_GET(self):
        self.send_response(200)
        self.end_headers()
        self.wfile.write(b'OK')

def main():
    signal.signal(signal.SIGTERM, lambda s,f: sys.exit(0))
    server = HTTPServer(("0.0.0.0", 9999), HealthHandler)
    log("Daemon started on port 9999")
    while True:
        log("Working...")
        time.sleep(60)

if __name__ == "__main__":
    main()

Run It

chmod +x my_daemon.py
nohup python3 my_daemon.py >> daemon.log 2>&1 &

Check Health

curl http://localhost:9999
# Should return: OK

Auto-Restart

Add to crontab:

*/5 * * * * curl -sf http://localhost:9999 || nohup python3 /path/to/my_daemon.py >> daemon.log 2>&1 &

What Next?

This is one module of the Sovereign AI Mesh Architecture — 26 services, self-healing, revenue-generating infrastructure.

Built by Drake Enterprise. Distributed via the sovereign mesh.