Starting background server... Error: Background service failed to start #57032

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1. opencode-agent commented on Oct 19, 2026

   

   opencode-agentBot

   on Oct 19, 2026 – with OpenCode Agent

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   Thanks for the report! The second error, Background service failed to start, is a generic message. It means the background service started but then reported that its own startup failed, and the real cause isn't in this output. Could you share:

   1. The service log: the most recent entries from ~/.local/share/opencode/log/opencode.log, from around the failed launch. Please remove anything sensitive first.
   2. The output of running the service in the foreground, which usually shows the underlying error directly:

      opencode service stop
      opencode serve --service --print-logs --log-level debug

   3. What opencode service get prints, and whether you set port 13420 yourself. If you didn't, port 13420 isn't the usual default (49374), which suggests your build uses a non-standard release channel.
   4. How you installed OpenCode on NixOS: nixpkgs, a flake or an overlay, and which package or version.
   5. If it happens again, what is holding the port before you run pkill, e.g. ss -ltnp | grep 13420.

   You can reply here with the details, or edit the issue. If you edit it, please also leave a comment saying you've updated it, so we know you're done.

   These existing issues look related, ordered from most to least likely to match. Please check whether one of them already covers your problem:

   • service: relaunch fails with "Managed service port already in use" when previous background service has not exited #54267: relaunch fails with "Managed service port already in use" because a previous background service is still holding the port
   • Updates #55107: the same "Background service failed to start" message, which there came from a service whose startup failed and that kept holding the port
   • service: "Managed service port ... already in use" when a healthy service is registered under a different XDG_STATE_HOME #56708: the same port error when the running service was registered under a different XDG_STATE_HOME
   • opencode2 became stuck starting its managed background server #41696: port conflicts hidden behind generic background-service startup errors
2. opencode-agent

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   on Oct 19, 2026
3. chrissound commented on Oct 19, 2026

   

   chrissound

   on Oct 19, 2026

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   [chris@worksoul:/extra/git-repos-checked-out/temp/chriscopy/acp-http-proxy]$ opencode service stop

   [chris@worksoul:/extra/git-repos-checked-out/temp/chriscopy/acp-http-proxy]$ opencode serve --service --print-logs --log-level debug
   timestamp=2026-10-19T09:25:32.559Z level=ERROR run=578faff3 message="background service boot failed" cause="Cause([Die(Error: EPERM: operation not permitted, chmod '/home/chris/.local/share/opencode/opencode.db')])" role=server
4. opencode-agent

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5. opencode-agent commented on Oct 19, 2026

   

   opencode-agentBot

   on Oct 19, 2026 – with OpenCode Agent

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   Thanks for the log, that showed exactly where it fails. I reproduced it on 2.0.27, and it still happens on the latest dev (ba06ff9).

   Since 2.0.27 (from #52150), the background service tightens opencode.db to mode 0600 with chmod before opening it. If the database file belongs to a different user than the one running opencode, chmod fails with EPERM even when you can still read and write the file. A common cause is an earlier sudo opencode run. The service then stops during startup, and the CLI only shows Background service failed to start. The failed service process also stays running and holds the service port, which is probably why you first saw "port 13420 is already in use".

   What I did (the script below automates it):

   1. As a normal user, start opencode serve --service once, so it creates ~/.local/share/opencode/opencode.db.
   2. chown root:root the database and give it mode 666. You can still read and write it, but you no longer own it.
   3. opencode serve --service --print-logs now fails with EPERM: operation not permitted, chmod '.../opencode.db', and plain opencode prints Error: Background service failed to start.

   Until this is fixed, this should get you running again:

   ls -ln ~/.local/share/opencode/opencode.db*        # check the owner
   pkill -f 'opencode serve --service'                  # stop the stuck service
   sudo chown "$USER": ~/.local/share/opencode/opencode.db*

   If the files are on a filesystem that doesn't allow chmod at all, changing the owner won't help. In that case, please say so here.

   Reproduction script (repro.sh)

   #!/usr/bin/env bash
   # Repro for anomalyco/opencode#57032: the v2 background service fails to boot with
   # EPERM from chmod when opencode.db is writable by the user but owned by another user.
   # Run as root on Linux. Needs OPENCODE_BIN (e.g. the `opencode` binary of @opencode/[email protected])
   # copied somewhere the test user can execute.
   set -u
   BIN=${OPENCODE_BIN:-/usr/local/bin/oc227}
   id tester >/dev/null 2>&1 || useradd -m tester
   D=/home/tester/.local/share/opencode
   mkdir -p /tmp/repro-proj && chmod 777 /tmp/repro-proj && cd /tmp/repro-proj
   
   # 1. Normal first start as the user creates opencode.db (works)
   runuser -u tester -- env HOME=/home/tester timeout 15 "$BIN" serve --service --print-logs 2>&1 | grep -E "listening|ERROR"
   pkill -u tester; sleep 1
   
   # 2. Database still readable/writable by the user, but owned by root (e.g. after a `sudo opencode` run)
   rm -f "$D"/opencode.db-wal "$D"/opencode.db-shm
   chown root:root "$D/opencode.db"; chmod 666 "$D/opencode.db"; ls -ln "$D/opencode.db"
   
   # 3. Service now fails at boot:
   #    background service boot failed ... EPERM: operation not permitted, chmod '.../opencode.db'
   runuser -u tester -- env HOME=/home/tester timeout 15 "$BIN" serve --service --print-logs 2>&1 | grep -E "listening|ERROR"
   pkill -u tester; sleep 1
   
   # 4. Plain `opencode` only prints "Error: Background service failed to start",
   #    and the failed `serve --service` process stays alive holding the port.
   runuser -u tester -- env HOME=/home/tester timeout 40 script -qc "$BIN" /dev/null 2>&1 | head -3
   pgrep -u tester -a
   pkill -u tester

   Run it: bash repro.sh
6. opencode-agent

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7. Veld101

   added a commit that references this issue on Oct 19, 2026

   fix(core): start with a database the owner cannot tighten

   ...

   09d9a49