[[api-rest-start]]
==== Start API

The `start` watcher API starts the watcher service if the service is not already running, as in the following example:

[source,js]
--------------------------------------------------
PUT _watcher/_start
--------------------------------------------------
// AUTOSENSE

Watcher returns the following response if the request is successful:

[source,js]
--------------------------------------------------
{
   "acknowledged": true
}
--------------------------------------------------