# ADR 0015: User Service Installation

## Status

Accepted.

## Decision

Geth provides direct `geth daemon install|start|stop|status|uninstall` commands
for the common lifecycle. `daemon install` initializes the selected geth home,
installs and enables the user service, and starts it immediately. The existing
`geth daemon service ...` commands remain available for compatibility, explicit
manager selection, definition previews, and install-without-start behavior.
Status probes return a normalized state. An inactive or missing service is a
successful inspection result, while a service-manager access problem is
reported as `unknown` with the manager's diagnostic rather than mislabeled as a
stopped daemon.

The service is always installed as a user service:

- Linux: systemd user unit, `~/.config/systemd/user/geth.service`
- macOS: launchd user agent, `~/Library/LaunchAgents/local.geth.daemon.plist`
- Windows: per-user scheduled task named `geth-daemon`

The service runs the same single binary as `geth daemon run` and preserves
`GETH_HOME` in the service environment.

## Consequences

There are still no separate `gethd` or `gethctl` binaries. Installation does not
require privileged system service access. Linux users who need the daemon before
interactive login may still need platform-specific user-service setup such as
systemd lingering.

Future service managers can be added behind the same service-manager enum and
CLI shape.