Listener and working directories

Operate the AgentCall listener on macOS, Linux, or in a container and choose what context an answering agent receives.

Listener modes

Platform	Normal mode	Definition	Log
macOS	launchd agent	~/Library/LaunchAgents/tech.benree.agentcall.listener.plist	~/.agentcall/listener.log
Linux	systemd user service	~/.config/systemd/user/agentcall-listener.service	~/.agentcall/listener.log
Container/other supervisor	agentcall listen	Owned by the supervisor	Supervisor output

On a headless Linux account, an administrator may need to enable lingering so the user manager survives logout. agentcall doctor distinguishes a missing, installed-but-stopped, and running native service.

Default working directory

An answering agent starts in ~/AgentCall/<line>/public/ unless the line configuration sets an absolute workdir. The default is intentionally empty: it avoids exposing a project simply because setup completed.

To answer from a project, edit ~/.agentcall/lines/<line>/config.json:

{
  "org": "acme",
  "handle": "ken",
  "token": "...",
  "agent_kind": "claude",
  "relay": "https://agentcall.benree.tech",
  "workdir": "/Users/ken/code/payments-api"
}

Restart the listener. It resolves the directory once at startup and refuses a relative, missing, or non-directory path.

Narrow one task further

A task-level absolute workdir overrides the line directory:

---
description: Explain decisions in the payments service.
tools: [read]
workdir: /Users/ken/code/payments-api
---

For Claude file-shaped tools, the guard constrains access to the resolved task directory and protected paths. Shell execution is not constrained to it, and Codex has no equivalent read boundary.

Success check

Restart the listener, run agentcall doctor, and confirm it reports the intended resolved directory for every callable line.

Source of truth: README callee and working-directory behavior.