LAUNCHD FIELD NOTES

Why isn’t StartCalendarInterval running my script?

Check the calendar dictionary, loaded state, executable permissions, and logs. launchd jobs do not inherit your interactive shell environment.

Start in Terminal

These examples use a placeholder label. Substitute the exact Label from your own plist, not its filename.

plutil -p "$HOME/Library/LaunchAgents/local.backup.plist"
launchctl print "gui/$(id -u)/local.backup"

What to check next

Use integer Hour and Minute fields and absolute executable paths. Set WorkingDirectory when the script needs it. ProgramArguments is an argument array: shell operators such as redirection are not interpreted unless you explicitly invoke a shell. Check the job’s logs after a manual kickstart.

Why it happens

A calendar entry defines a trigger, not a complete shell session. Missing environment variables and working-directory assumptions often explain why a command works in Terminal but fails under launchd.

User agents usually run in gui/<your uid>; system daemons run in system. The same label in different domains refers to different service registrations.

See it in LaunchMon

LaunchMon brings the plist, triggers, runtime state, and configured log paths together.

Download LaunchMon free trial

Related guides

• Homebrew says “started,” but the service is not running
• Why does my launchd job keep restarting?

References: Apple: creating launchd jobs. For commands on your macOS version, run man launchctl and man launchd.plist.