service is a Go library that enables programs to run as a service or daemon across major operating systems.
The library solves the problem of cross-platform service management by providing a unified API that abstracts away the substantial differences between Windows, Linux, and macOS service architectures. On Windows, services require non-trivial callback setup; on Linux, the tool supports systemd, Upstart, and SysV init systems; on macOS, it uses Launchd. Beyond installation and uninstallation, the library handles starting and stopping services and can detect whether a program is running interactively or under a service manager.
Developers building Go applications that need to run as background services on multiple platforms should consider this tool. It is particularly suited for applications that must work across Windows, Linux, and macOS without duplicating platform-specific service management code. The library's main value lies in normalizing the API surface across these fundamentally different service models rather than requiring separate implementations for each platform.
The project shows sparse recent activity with infrequent commits and minimal engagement on issues and pull requests. Documentation is present but limited, and the README acknowledges known limitations including that the Dependencies field is not implemented for Linux systems and Launchd, and that OS X user service interactive detection is not accurate.
