Install

Requirements

OS	macOS, or Linux with systemd (POSIX). Windows: run it inside WSL (best-effort)
Python	>= 3.9
fswatch	emcrisostomo/fswatch

brew install fswatch      # macOS
sudo pacman -S fswatch    # Arch / Omarchy
sudo apt install fswatch  # Debian / Ubuntu
sudo dnf install fswatch  # Fedora

safekeep doctor prints the right command if fswatch is missing.

safekeep itself has no runtime dependencies: pure Python standard library.

pipx (recommended)

pipx install safekeep

pip

pip install safekeep

Agent (launchd / systemd)

The agent that runs the daemon at boot is installed from a checkout of the repository — not from the wheel — because the rendered plist / systemd unit points at a concrete checkout:

git clone https://github.com/foxhound87/safekeep.git
cd safekeep
bash install.sh

install.sh is idempotent: it creates ~/.safekeep from the example (if missing), renders ~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.safekeep.agent.plist on macOS or ~/.config/systemd/user/safekeep.service on Linux, and runs preflight checks. It does not start the job — see Agent.

On Linux without systemd (WSL1, WSL2 with systemd off, containers) it installs no unit and exits 0 with manual-start instructions — see Windows: WSL.

Verify

safekeep --help
safekeep doctor

Run doctor after granting Full Disk Access on macOS (see Troubleshooting); on Linux the same command checks the inotify watch limit and the systemd unit.