Skip to content

arctl version errors noisily when daemon is not running #443

@tjorourke

Description

@tjorourke

Summary

Running arctl version when the daemon is not running produces a confusing error that looks like a failure, even though the user just wants to check the CLI version.

Steps to reproduce

# With daemon not running
arctl version

Current output

arctl version v0.3.3
Git commit: 89dc215
Build date: 2026-04-02
Error getting server version: Get "http://localhost:12121/v0/version": dial tcp [::1]:12121: connect: connection refused

Expected behaviour

One of:

  1. version should only show the CLI version — server version is a separate concern. A arctl daemon status or arctl version --server flag could optionally fetch it.
  2. Or auto-start the daemon — if arctl always requires the daemon, start it transparently on any command (similar to how Docker Desktop handles the daemon).
  3. Or show a clear hint — if the daemon check fails, print Daemon not running — start it with: arctl daemon start instead of a raw connection error.

Why this matters

Users hitting this for the first time (e.g. from install scripts) see connection refused and assume something is broken. The CLI version check is a natural first step after install — it should always succeed cleanly.

Environment

  • arctl v0.3.3
  • macOS Darwin 25.3.0

Metadata

Metadata

Assignees

No one assigned

    Labels

    No labels
    No labels

    Type

    No type
    No fields configured for issues without a type.

    Projects

    Status

    Backlog

    Milestone

    No milestone

    Relationships

    None yet

    Development

    No branches or pull requests

    Issue actions