1 Click Auto Updater Guide

1-Click In-App Auto-Updater Guide

Deploy instant updates to your distributed desktop applications using a lightweight JSON manifest hosted on GitHub Releases, Cloudflare R2, AWS S3, or any static web host.

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Remote Manifest Format (version.json)

Host a simple version.json file accessible via HTTPS:

{
  "latestVersion": "1.1.4",
  "releaseDate": "2026-09-15",
  "mandatory": false,
  "changelog": [
    "Donationware UI Binary Sealing",
    "In-memory virtual resource streaming",
    "Added direct issue and feature request reporting"
  ],
  "updateZipUrl": "https://github.com/djacidfx/webtoapp-releases/releases/download/v1.1.4/WebToApp-Studio-v1.1.4.zip",
  "infoUrl": "https://github.com/djacidfx/webtoapp-releases/releases",
  "sha256": "f6fb232eef6e9142b8e5544fa259bd81ab87aee5c91f74e47e57bfd6a7f635fd"
}

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Cryptographic SHA-256 Checksum Verification

• The update engine downloads the release .zip into a temporary staging area and computes its cryptographic SHA-256 hash.
• If the hash does not match the manifest sha256, the update is aborted immediately with InvalidDataException, protecting users from corrupted downloads or tampered packages.

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Automated PowerShell Release Publisher

The included publish_release.ps1 script handles the entire build-to-deployment pipeline:

.\publish_release.ps1 -Version "1.1.4" -Notes @("Feature 1", "Feature 2")

• Automatically compiles in Release mode and packages standalone + lightweight editions.
• Computes package SHA-256 cryptographic checksums.
• Creates GitHub Release tag and uploads all platform distribution packages via HTTP/1.1.
• Pre-Publication Verification Gateway: Verifies that 100% of release files are in state: uploaded before modifying any public manifests.
• Publishes Manifest (version.json): ONLY commits version.json and syncs public documentation after all binaries are verified live, preventing users from receiving premature update notifications before files are downloadable.