start

Start a managed process.

Usage

runix start [flags] [-- <entrypoint-args>]

Description

Starts one or more processes defined in the configuration file, or starts a single process specified by name or inline flags. All processes respect dependency ordering and runtime detection.

From Config File

# Start all processes from runix.yaml
runix start --config runix.yaml

# Start a specific process by name
runix start api

Inline (No Config File)

# Start a Go binary
runix start --name api --runtime go -- ./cmd/api --port 8080

# Start a Python script
runix start --name worker --runtime python -- worker.py --verbose

# Start with multiple instances
runix start --name api --instances 3 -- ./cmd/api

# Start with environment variables
runix start --name api --env PORT=8080 --env LOG_LEVEL=info -- ./cmd/api

# Start with a working directory
runix start --name api --cwd /app -- ./cmd/api

# Start with watch mode
runix start --name api --watch -- ./cmd/api

Flags

Flag	Short	Type	Default	Description
--config	-c	string	runix.yaml	Config file path
--name	-n	string		Process name (required for inline mode)
--runtime		string	auto	Runtime: go, python, node, bun
--instances	-i	int	1	Number of copies to run
--env	-e	string[]		Environment variables (KEY=VALUE)
--cwd		string	current	Working directory
--watch	-w		false	Enable file watching
--dry-run			false	Print what would be started without starting
--format	-f	string	text	Output format: text, json

Multi-Instance Naming

When --instances > 1, processes are named with a numeric suffix:

api-1, api-2, api-3

Each instance gets a unique internal ID and its own log directory.

Dependency Ordering

When starting from a config file, processes are started in dependency order:

1. Processes with no dependencies start first
2. Higher priority processes start before lower priority
3. Processes with depends_on wait for their dependencies to be running

Exit Behavior

• Returns immediately after all processes are started (unless --watch is used)
• When running in direct mode (no daemon), the command blocks until all processes exit
• Use Ctrl+C to stop all processes in direct mode

Examples

# Start all with daemon
runix daemon start
runix start --config runix.yaml

# Dry run to see what would start
runix start --config runix.yaml --dry-run

# Start single process with watch mode
runix start api --watch

# Start with JSON output
runix start api --format json