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Helper service

Windows TUN mode uses a privileged CheezyHelperService that starts Mihomo with the rights needed for the virtual adapter.

  • NSIS installer — registers and starts the service automatically.
  • Portable / dev — click Install helper on Home (UAC prompt).

Service name: CheezyHelperService. Default HTTP control: 127.0.0.1 (app verifies identity before use).

Home footer shows VPN helper: running / installed / not installed and Setup: ready / needs setup.

The helper only runs Mihomo binaries whose SHA256 matches allowed_core.sha256 beside the helper. The app syncs this on connect and when using Ensure helper.

Build / reinstall fails with “Access denied”

Section titled “Build / reinstall fails with “Access denied””

Windows locks the service .exe while the service is Running. The service binPath points at the installed helper binary (often under Program Files or a previous release/win-unpacked path if you ran an unpacked build).

Before rebuilding or overwriting helper files:

Terminal window
sc stop CheezyHelperService

Then rebuild or reinstall. Start again after install:

Terminal window
sc start CheezyHelperService

The NSIS installer stops, deletes, and recreates the service so the binary path and allowlist stay in sync.