diff --git a/neetbox/cli/parse.py b/neetbox/cli/parse.py
index ebbaa18f..7a1a8733 100644
--- a/neetbox/cli/parse.py
+++ b/neetbox/cli/parse.py
@@ -72,8 +72,8 @@ def version_command():
 @click.option(
     "--port", "-p", help="specify which port to launch", metavar="port", required=False, default=0
 )
-@click.option("--debug", "-d", is_flag=True, help="Run with debug mode", default=False)
-def serve(port, debug):
+@click.option("--detach", "-d", is_flag=True, help="Run in detached mode", default=False)
+def serve(port, detach):
     """serve neetbox server in attached mode"""
     _try_load_workspace_if_applicable()
     _daemon_config = get_client_config()
@@ -81,9 +81,12 @@ def serve(port, debug):
         if port:
             _daemon_config["port"] = port
         logger.log(f"Launching server using config: {_daemon_config}")
-        from neetbox.server.server_process import server_process
+        import neetbox.server._daemon_server_launch_script as server_launcher
 
-        server_process(cfg=_daemon_config, debug=debug)
+        if detach:
+            server_launcher.start(_daemon_config)
+        else:
+            server_launcher.run(_daemon_config)
     except Exception as e:
         logger.err(f"Failed to launch a neetbox server: {e}", reraise=True)
 
diff --git a/neetbox/client/_client.py b/neetbox/client/_client.py
index 5e0d357b..c3b90229 100644
--- a/neetbox/client/_client.py
+++ b/neetbox/client/_client.py
@@ -189,14 +189,7 @@ def _connect_blocking(self, config=None):
             )
             import neetbox.server._daemon_server_launch_script as server_launcher
 
-            popen = DaemonableProcess(  # server daemon
-                target=server_launcher,
-                args=["--config", json.dumps(config)],
-                mode=config["mode"],
-                redirect_stdout=subprocess.DEVNULL if config["mute"] else None,
-                env_append={"NEETBOX_DAEMON_PROCESS": "1"},
-            ).start()
-            time.sleep(1)
+            popen = server_launcher.start(config)
             _retry_timeout = 10
             _time_begin = time.perf_counter()
             logger.debug("Created daemon process, trying to connect to daemon...")
diff --git a/neetbox/server/_daemon_server_launch_script.py b/neetbox/server/_daemon_server_launch_script.py
index 6090066e..8a424f65 100644
--- a/neetbox/server/_daemon_server_launch_script.py
+++ b/neetbox/server/_daemon_server_launch_script.py
@@ -1,26 +1,52 @@
 import argparse
 import json
 import sys
+import subprocess
+import time
+from typing import Optional
 
 
-def run(argv):
-    if len(argv) <= 1:
-        print("_daemon_: Warning: empty daemon_config")
-        daemon_config = None
+def run(config):
+    from .server_process import server_process
+
+    server_process(config)
+
+
+def start(config) -> Optional[int]:
+    """start a server as background daemon
+
+    Args:
+        config (dict): server launch config
+
+    Returns:
+        DaemonableProcess: the daemon process
+    """
+    from neetbox.utils import DaemonableProcess
+    import neetbox.server._daemon_server_launch_script as myself
+
+    popen = DaemonableProcess(  # server daemon
+        target=myself,
+        args=["--config", json.dumps(config)],
+        mode=config["mode"],
+        redirect_stdout=subprocess.DEVNULL if config["mute"] else None,
+        env_append={"NEETBOX_DAEMON_PROCESS": "1"},
+    ).start()
+    time.sleep(1)
+    return popen
+
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    print("server starting.\n name:\t", __name__, "\nargs:\t", sys.argv)
+    if len(sys.argv) <= 1:
+        print("Warning: empty server config")
+        config = None
     else:
         ap = argparse.ArgumentParser()
         ap.add_argument("--config")
         args = ap.parse_args()
         print(type(args.config))
         print(args.config)
-        daemon_config = json.loads(args.config)
-        print("Daemon started with config:", daemon_config)
-    from .server_process import server_process
-
-    server_process(daemon_config)
-
-
-if __name__ == "__main__":
-    print("daemon server starting.\n name:\t", __name__, "\nargs:\t", sys.argv)
-    run(sys.argv)
-    print("daemon server exiting.")
+        config = json.loads(args.config)
+        print("Daemon started with config:", config)
+    run(config)
+    print("server closed.")
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index 4e8dc252..c7faa87f 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 [tool.poetry]
 name = "neetbox"
-version = "0.4.10"
+version = "0.4.11"
 description = "Logging/Debugging/Tracing/Managing/Facilitating long running python projects, especially a replacement of tensorboard for deep learning projects"
 license = "MIT"
 authors = ["VisualDust <gavin@gong.host>", "Lideming <me@yuuza.net>"]
diff --git a/tests/client/neetbox.toml b/tests/client/neetbox.toml
index dbc2d3a8..d631b513 100644
--- a/tests/client/neetbox.toml
+++ b/tests/client/neetbox.toml
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 name = "client"
-version = "0.4.10"
+version = "0.4.11"
 projectId = "b3219f58-2cb0-482c-b064-85153b4cf86e"
 
 [logging]