Tear down MDK services

Overview

MDK registers graceful shutdown handlers automatically when you start services with getOrk(), startWorker(), or startAppNode(). For most deployments, SIGINT (Ctrl+C) triggers a clean teardown with no extra code. This guide covers the three situations where you need to think about teardown explicitly:

Automatic teardown
Explicit teardown
Custom signal handling

Prerequisites

Familiarity with the App Node
MDK installed and a working boot sequence

Automatic teardown with `getOrk()`

getOrk() registers SIGINT/SIGTERM handlers internally. Any Workers or App Node instances started with opts.ork are chained into the cleanup sequence automatically — no extra code needed.

const { getOrk, startWorker, startAppNode } = require('@tetherto/mdk')
const { WM_M56S } = require('@tetherto/miner-whatsminer')

const ork = await getOrk()
const { manager } = await startWorker(WM_M56S, { ork })
await startAppNode({ ork, port: 3000, noAuth: true })

// Press Ctrl+C — MDK stops App Node, Worker, then ORK automatically.

See getOrk API reference.

Explicit teardown in tests or scripted runs

Short-lived processes — integration tests, one-shot scripts — never receive SIGINT. Call shutdown(ork) directly to drain the full cleanup chain. Pass the ork object returned by getOrk(); passing a server object stops only the App Node.

const { getOrk, startAppNode, shutdown } = require('@tetherto/mdk')

const ork = await getOrk()
await startAppNode({ ork, noAuth: true })

// … run assertions or perform work …

await shutdown(ork) // stops App Node (chained), then stops ORK

See shutdown API reference.

Custom signal handling with `onShutdown`

Use onShutdown when you need to close resources outside an MDK boot object — for example, a database connection or a log buffer.

const { onShutdown } = require('@tetherto/mdk')

onShutdown(async () => {
  await db.close()
  await logger.flush()
}, { forceMs: 5000 })

See onShutdown API reference.

What just happened

Automatic chain: getOrk(), startWorker({ ork }), and startAppNode({ ork }) wire themselves into ork._cleanup so a single signal stops everything in order.
Explicit drain: shutdown(ork) gives you the same ordered teardown on demand, without a signal.
Custom hooks: onShutdown(fn) lets you attach cleanup logic outside the MDK object hierarchy.

Next steps

Full API reference — @tetherto/mdk README
Run the App Node