LaunchControl

LaunchControl is an application for macOS that provides a graphical interface for managing launchd system services. It allows you to create, configure, monitor, and debug agents and daemons (LaunchAgents and LaunchDaemons) that run automatically on your computer.

★★★★★

4.2(5 ratings)

• Comprehensive visual management. LaunchControl displays all system launchd services, categorized as user agents, global agents, global daemons, and system daemons. It presents a list with the current status of each job, including those with incorrect configurations which are highlighted for review. Activating or deactivating a service is done with a single click.
• Specialized property editor. The application functions as an advanced plist file editor for launchd, offering a specific interface for each documented configuration key. It shows only the relevant options for the selected job type, avoiding direct manual XML editing.
• Configuration key palette. It incorporates a panel with over 36 documented launchd keys, organized by category. Each key includes a descriptive annotation. To add a property to a service, you drag the item from the palette to the configuration section.
• Proactive validation and debugging. The software checks syntax and configuration validity while editing. It notifies potential issues, such as incorrect file paths or malformed keys, before the job is loaded into the system, preventing runtime errors.
• Filtering and searching. Long service lists can be filtered by name or status. The search function also applies to the key palette, allowing you to locate properties by name or description.
• Manual execution control. It offers the ability to manually start, stop, or restart any managed launchd job with a button, without needing terminal commands. This facilitates configuration testing.
• Activation conditions (Triggers). Allows you to configure complex conditions for automatic program execution. These include activation at a specific date and time, when mounting a volume, when modifying a file in a directory, or when the network state changes.
• Monitoring and retry. Configures continuous process monitoring. If a managed process terminates unexpectedly, launchd can automatically restart it. LaunchControl allows you to adjust the parameters of this monitoring, such as retry intervals.
• Entitlement management (Sandboxing). Facilitates the configuration of process sandboxes, defining access permissions to system resources such as the network, file system, or ports. The interface presents sandbox options in a structured way.
• Application service detection. Helps identify and review agents or daemons installed by third-party applications. This allows you to audit and, if necessary, remove unwanted services running in the background.
• Expert mode for direct editing. For advanced users, it includes a source code view showing the underlying XML plist. Changes made in the graphical interface are immediately reflected in the code and vice versa.
• Support for all launchd domains. The application manages jobs in all domains: current user agents (~/Library/LaunchAgents), global agents/daemons (/Library/LaunchAgents, /Library/LaunchDaemons), and system agents/daemons (/System/Library/LaunchAgents, /System/Library/LaunchDaemons). It requires authentication to modify services outside the user domain.

Development of LaunchControl began around 2012 by Dirk Theisen, a developer at Soma Zone. The program is written primarily in Objective-C, using Apple's Cocoa frameworks, which ensures native integration with macOS. The application was created to offer a graphical alternative to the launchctl command-line utilities and to make launchd's advanced features accessible to system administrators and technical users.

Alternatives to LaunchControl: