# How to Auto-Restart a Crashed Application Without Restarting io.Connect Desktop

**URL:** <https://community.interop.io/t/how-to-auto-restart-a-crashed-application-without-restarting-io-connect-desktop/599>\
**Category:** io.Connect Desktop\
**Created:** [June 9, 2026, 10:00am UTC](https://community.interop.io/t/how-to-auto-restart-a-crashed-application-without-restarting-io-connect-desktop/599 "2026-06-09T10:00:04Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![toni.petrov](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex028/user_avatar/community.interop.io/toni.petrov/32/17_2.png) [@toni.petrov](https://community.interop.io/u/toni.petrov)\
**Post date:** [June 9, 2026, 10:00am UTC](https://community.interop.io/t/how-to-auto-restart-a-crashed-application-without-restarting-io-connect-desktop/599/1 "2026-06-09T10:00:04Z")

</div>

## Question

A background application running within io.Connect Desktop stopped unexpectedly - how to auto-restart without restarting the platform?

## Answer

### io.Connect 9.x stream

Use the `onInstanceStopped` method on the application object to detect when an instance stops, then call `start()` to restart it. The code below:

1. Retrieves the application object by name from the App Manager.
2. Subscribes to the `onInstanceStopped` event for that specific application.
3. When the instance stops (for any reason), waits 10 seconds and then starts a new instance.

```javascript
const myApp = io.appManager.application("my-app");

if (!myApp) {
    console.error("App is not available in the App Manager");
    return;
}

myApp.onInstanceStopped((instance) => {
    console.error("App instance stopped", instance.id);

    setTimeout(() => {
        console.warn("Restarting app instance");
        myApp.start();
    }, 10_000);
});

```

### io.Connect Desktop 10.0+

io.Connect Desktop 10.0 introduced the new Apps API (`io.apps`). The new API provides an `onStopped` method with an `InstanceStoppedEvent` object that includes a `reason` property:

```javascript
const handler = async ({ instance, reason }) => {
    console.warn(`App instance ${instance.id} stopped. Reason: ${reason}`);

    setTimeout(async () => {
        console.warn("Restarting app instance");
        await io.apps.instances.start({ name: "my-app" });
    }, 10_000);
};

const unsubscribe = io.apps.instances.onStopped(handler);

```

The `reason` property provides information about why the instance stopped, which you may be able to use to decide whether a restart is appropriate.

> **Note:** The new Apps API is marked as experimental and is disabled by default. To enable it, set the `apps` property to `true` in the configuration object when initializing the `@interopio/desktop` library.

## Related Documentation

- [App Management - JavaScript (Legacy) - Events](https://docs.interop.io/desktop/capabilities/app-management/javascript-legacy/index.html#events-instance)
- [App Management - JavaScript - App Instances - Events](https://docs.interop.io/desktop/capabilities/app-management/javascript/index.html#app_instances-events-instance_stopped)