mihomo-party-org/clash-party · warning

Core process watchdog exited unexpectedly, code: ${code}, si

Error message

Core process watchdog exited unexpectedly, code: ${code}, signal: ${signal}

What it means

The app spawns a helper watchdog process that monitors the core (mihomo) child process. This log line is emitted when the watchdog itself exits without being told to — an unexpected exit with a non-null exit code or signal. It means core crash auto-restart protection is degraded until the watchdog is restarted (typically on next core start).

Source

Thrown at src/main/core/manager.ts:215

  const watchdogStdin = watchdogProcess.stdin as typeof watchdogProcess.stdin & {
    unref?: () => void
  }
  watchdogStdin.unref?.()
  watchdogProcess.unref()

  watchdogProcess.once('error', (error) => {
    if (coreProcessWatchdog?.process === watchdogProcess) {
      coreProcessWatchdog = null
    }
    watchdogProcess.stdin.destroy()
    managerLogger.warn('Failed to start core process watchdog', error)
  })
  watchdogProcess.once('exit', (code, signal) => {
    if (coreProcessWatchdog?.process !== watchdogProcess) return

    coreProcessWatchdog = null
    managerLogger.warn(
      `Core process watchdog exited unexpectedly, code: ${code}, signal: ${signal}`
    )
  })
}

function shellQuote(value: string): string {
  return `'${value.replace(/'/g, "'\\''")}'`
}

function hookTouchCommand(file: string): string {
  return process.platform === 'win32' ? `type nul > ${file}` : `: > ${shellQuote(file)}`
}

function coreHookDir(): string {
  if (process.platform === 'win32' && process.env.ProgramData) {
    return path.join(process.env.ProgramData, 'mihomo-party', 'core-hooks')
  }

View on GitHub (pinned to 911e090537)

Solutions

1. Check preceding manager logs for why the watchdog exited (code/signal) and fix the root cause (reinstall the app to restore binaries).
2. Verify the watchdog executable exists, is executable, and is not blocked by antivirus — whitelist the app directory.
3. Confirm the platform/arch matches a shipped binary; reinstall or update the app if the sidecar is missing.
4. Restart the core (or the app) so startCoreProcessWatchdog spawns the watchdog again.

Example fix

// before
watchdogProcess.once('exit', (code, signal) => {
  managerLogger.warn(`Core process watchdog exited unexpectedly, code: ${code}, signal: ${signal}`)
})
// after
watchdogProcess.once('exit', (code, signal) => {
  managerLogger.warn(`Core process watchdog exited unexpectedly, code: ${code}, signal: ${signal}`)
  scheduleWatchdogRestart() // re-spawn watchdog to restore crash protection
})

// Before relying on the watchdog, verify the binary is present and executable:
import { accessSync, constants } from 'node:fs'
try {
  accessSync(watchdogPath, constants.F_OK | constants.X_OK)
} catch {
  console.error(`Watchdog binary missing or not executable at ${watchdogPath} — reinstall the app`)
}

watchdogProcess.once('exit', (code, signal) => {
  if (coreProcessWatchdog?.process !== watchdogProcess) return
  coreProcessWatchdog = null
  managerLogger.warn(`Core process watchdog exited unexpectedly, code: ${code}, signal: ${signal}`)
  // retry: respawn with backoff
  setTimeout(() => startCoreProcessWatchdog().catch(err => managerLogger.error('Watchdog respawn failed', err)), 5000)
})

When it happens

Trigger: Watchdog binary crashes (bug, missing/broken executable, incompatible platform binary); the OS kills it (OOM killer, resource limits); a dependent library the watchdog needs fails to load; the system shuts down the process group.

Common situations: Corrupted or quarantined sidecar binary after an update or antivirus scan; running on an OS/arch lacking a matching watchdog binary; memory pressure causing OOM kills; permission errors preventing execution.

Related errors

• Core PID ${proc.pid ?? 'unknown'} did not exit after SIGINT;
• Core is not running, restarting core before config patch

AI-assisted analysis of mihomo-party-org/clash-party@911e090537 (2026-08-30). Data as JSON: /api/errors/6c6c1108daf231b2. Report an issue: GitHub.