diff --git a/cmd/config_job_control.go b/cmd/config_job_control.go
index dc8a1e4..3baf715 100644
--- a/cmd/config_job_control.go
+++ b/cmd/config_job_control.go
@@ -31,6 +31,8 @@ func (j *ControlJob) JobName() string {
 	return j.Name
 }
 
+func (j *ControlJob) JobType() JobType { return JobTypeControl }
+
 func (j *ControlJob) JobStatus(ctx context.Context) (*JobStatus, error) {
 	return &JobStatus{Tasks: nil}, nil
 }
diff --git a/cmd/config_job_local.go b/cmd/config_job_local.go
index 2d56530..7bbe517 100644
--- a/cmd/config_job_local.go
+++ b/cmd/config_job_local.go
@@ -84,6 +84,8 @@ func (j *LocalJob) JobName() string {
 	return j.Name
 }
 
+func (j *LocalJob) JobType() JobType { return JobTypeLocal }
+
 func (j *LocalJob) JobStart(ctx context.Context) {
 
 	rootLog := ctx.Value(contextKeyLog).(Logger)
diff --git a/cmd/config_job_pull.go b/cmd/config_job_pull.go
index e3201f0..c3e2413 100644
--- a/cmd/config_job_pull.go
+++ b/cmd/config_job_pull.go
@@ -94,6 +94,8 @@ func (j *PullJob) JobName() string {
 	return j.Name
 }
 
+func (j *PullJob) JobType() JobType { return JobTypePull }
+
 func (j *PullJob) JobStart(ctx context.Context) {
 
 	log := ctx.Value(contextKeyLog).(Logger)
diff --git a/cmd/config_job_source.go b/cmd/config_job_source.go
index ba43186..79b8559 100644
--- a/cmd/config_job_source.go
+++ b/cmd/config_job_source.go
@@ -76,6 +76,8 @@ func (j *SourceJob) JobName() string {
 	return j.Name
 }
 
+func (j *SourceJob) JobType() JobType { return JobTypeSource }
+
 func (j *SourceJob) JobStart(ctx context.Context) {
 
 	log := ctx.Value(contextKeyLog).(Logger)
diff --git a/cmd/config_parse.go b/cmd/config_parse.go
index 2c70224..d39f405 100644
--- a/cmd/config_parse.go
+++ b/cmd/config_parse.go
@@ -162,20 +162,25 @@ func parseJob(c JobParsingContext, i map[string]interface{}) (j Job, err error)
 		}
 	}
 
-	jobtype, err := extractStringField(i, "type", true)
+	jobtypeStr, err := extractStringField(i, "type", true)
+	if err != nil {
+		return
+	}
+
+	jobtype, err := ParseUserJobType(jobtypeStr)
 	if err != nil {
 		return
 	}
 
 	switch jobtype {
-	case "pull":
+	case JobTypePull:
 		return parsePullJob(c, name, i)
-	case "source":
+	case JobTypeSource:
 		return parseSourceJob(c, name, i)
-	case "local":
+	case JobTypeLocal:
 		return parseLocalJob(c, name, i)
 	default:
-		return nil, errors.Errorf("unknown job type '%s'", jobtype)
+		panic(fmt.Sprintf("implementation error: unknown job type %s", jobtype))
 	}
 
 }
diff --git a/cmd/daemon.go b/cmd/daemon.go
index c4dfb69..139d472 100644
--- a/cmd/daemon.go
+++ b/cmd/daemon.go
@@ -28,10 +28,36 @@ func init() {
 
 type Job interface {
 	JobName() string
+	JobType() JobType
 	JobStart(ctxt context.Context)
 	JobStatus(ctxt context.Context) (*JobStatus, error)
 }
 
+type JobType string
+
+const (
+	JobTypePull       JobType = "pull"
+	JobTypeSource     JobType = "source"
+	JobTypeLocal      JobType = "local"
+	JobTypeControl    JobType = "control"
+)
+
+func ParseUserJobType(s string) (JobType, error) {
+	switch s {
+	case "pull":
+		return JobTypePull, nil
+	case "source":
+		return JobTypeSource, nil
+	case "local":
+		return JobTypeLocal, nil
+	}
+	return "", fmt.Errorf("unknown job type '%s'", s)
+}
+
+func (j JobType) String() string {
+	return string(j)
+}
+
 func doDaemon(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) {
 
 	conf, err := ParseConfig(rootArgs.configFile)