/start

description: Start the Claude Nights Watch daemon to begin autonomous task execution monitoring
usage: /nights-watch start [--at TIME]
examples:
  - /nights-watch start
  - /nights-watch start --at "09:00"
  - /nights-watch start --at "2025-10-12 14:30"

Start Nights Watch Daemon

Starts the Claude Nights Watch daemon to monitor your Claude usage windows and execute tasks from `task.md` automatically.

Usage

/nights-watch start [OPTIONS]

Options

• `--at TIME` - Schedule daemon to start monitoring at a specific time
• Format: `HH:MM` (today) or `YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM` (specific date/time)
• Daemon will wait until scheduled time before beginning task execution

What It Does

1. Checks for required files (`task.md` in current directory) 2. Starts background daemon process 3. Begins monitoring Claude usage windows 4. Executes tasks when approaching the 5-hour limit 5. Logs all activity to `logs/claude-nights-watch-daemon.log`

Prerequisites

• `task.md` file must exist in current directory (create one if not present)
• `rules.md` file is recommended for safety constraints (optional)
• Claude CLI must be installed and configured

Examples

**Start immediately:**

/nights-watch start

**Start at 9 AM today:**

/nights-watch start --at "09:00"

**Start at specific date and time:**

/nights-watch start --at "2025-10-12 14:30"

Implementation

${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/claude-nights-watch-manager.sh start "$@"

Safety Notice

⚠️ The daemon uses `--dangerously-skip-permissions` for autonomous execution. Always:

• Test tasks manually first
• Use comprehensive `rules.md` for safety constraints
• Monitor logs regularly
• Start with simple, non-destructive tasks

See Also

• `/nights-watch stop` - Stop the daemon
• `/nights-watch status` - Check daemon status
• `/nights-watch task` - View/edit current task
• `/nights-watch logs` - View execution logs