fix(daemon): send log_message to stderr to avoid polluting command substitution - #19
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calculate_sleep_duration() emits a "Time remaining: N minutes" log via
log_message and returns the sleep interval on stdout. The caller captures
that stdout with $(calculate_sleep_duration), so before this change the
captured value was the multi-line string:
[2026-04-19 01:00:53] Time remaining: 59 minutes
600
Then `$((sleep_duration / 60))` crashed with:
line 471: [2026-04-19 ...] Time remaining: 59 minutes
600: syntax error: operand expected (error token is "...")
which killed the daemon every loop iteration. Under systemd with
Restart=always, the daemon crash-looped ~500+ times overnight and renewal
checks never ran.
The bug was dormant previously because the only log_message call inside
calculate_sleep_duration sits on the ccusage branch; when ccusage
returned nothing, the fallback branch (no log_message) was taken.
Fix: redirect log_message's echo|tee to stderr. journal/terminal output
is unchanged (systemd captures both streams), and stdout capture by
callers is no longer polluted. Verified that no callsite captures
log_message output via command substitution, so this is safe globally.
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Summary
log_messagewrites to stdout viatee. Insidecalculate_sleep_duration()it logsTime remaining: N minutes, but the caller captures that function's stdout withsleep_duration=$(calculate_sleep_duration). Sosleep_durationbecomes a two-line string (log text + number), and$((sleep_duration / 60))crashes with a bash syntax error every loop iteration.Under
systemdwithRestart=always, the daemon crash-loops and renewals never fire. My instance restarted 500+ times overnight.Repro
Observed in journal:
The bug was latent until
ccusagestarted returning a value — the "ccusage returned nothing" fallback branch does not calllog_message, so earlier installs worked by accident.Fix
Redirect
log_messageoutput to stderr (tee -a "$LOG_FILE" >&2). systemd/journal capture both streams, so user-visible log output is unchanged. Verified no callsite uses$(log_message ...), so this is safe globally.Test plan
systemctl --user; observed 7+ successful 10-minute check cycles with no restarts, no syntax errors, andTime remainingcorrectly decreasing asccusagedata ticks down.