Add v1 beta download links to README

[rabanspiegel]

Summary

• point README download buttons at emdash.sh/download
• add v1 beta callout with launch post link
• rename release overview CTA to the v1 beta download

Tests

• pnpm exec prettier --check README.md
• git diff --check -- README.md

---

Note

Low Risk
Documentation-only change that adds external links; no product code or runtime behavior is affected.

Overview
Updates README.md to add a prominent v1 beta download call-to-action linking to emdash.sh/download, along with a secondary link to the public launch blog post.

^{Reviewed by Cursor Bugbot for commit fd55df4. Bugbot is set up for automated code reviews on this repo. Configure here.}

[greptile-apps]

Greptile Summary

This PR updates the README download buttons to point to emdash.sh/download instead of GitHub Releases, adds a v1 beta callout with a blog link, and renames the Release Overview CTA accordingly. The installation section's direct per-architecture GitHub release links remain unchanged, which appears intentional.

Confidence Score: 5/5

Safe to merge — documentation-only change with no functional impact.

All findings are P2 style/quality suggestions (blog link targets index instead of a specific post; downloads badge will undercount). No logic bugs, no broken links to fix before merging.

No files require special attention.

Important Files Changed

Filename	Overview
README.md	Download button hrefs updated from GitHub releases to emdash.sh/download; v1 beta callout and blog link added; Release Overview CTA renamed — no code changes.

Flowchart

%%{init: {'theme': 'neutral'}}%%
flowchart TD
    A[User visits README] --> B{Download CTA}
    B -- Before PR --> C[github.com/generalaction/emdash/releases]
    B -- After PR --> D[www.emdash.sh/download]
    D --> E[Download the beta]
    D --> F[Read the launch post → emdash.sh/blog]
    A --> G[Installation section]
    G --> H[Direct GitHub release artifact links\ne.g. emdash-arm64.dmg, emdash-x64.msi]

Loading

Comments Outside Diff (1)

1. README.md, line 9 (link)

   Downloads badge won't count emdash.sh downloads

   The Downloads badge still tracks https://github.com/generalaction/emdash/releases download counts. Now that the primary download buttons point to emdash.sh/download, downloads sourced from the website won't be reflected in this badge, causing it to increasingly undercount actual downloads over time.

   Prompt To Fix With AI

   This is a comment left during a code review.
   Path: README.md
   Line: 9
   
   Comment:
   **Downloads badge won't count emdash.sh downloads**
   
   The Downloads badge still tracks `https://github.com/generalaction/emdash/releases` download counts. Now that the primary download buttons point to `emdash.sh/download`, downloads sourced from the website won't be reflected in this badge, causing it to increasingly undercount actual downloads over time.
   
   How can I resolve this? If you propose a fix, please make it concise.

Prompt To Fix All With AI

This is a comment left during a code review.
Path: README.md
Line: 34

Comment:
**Launch post link resolves to blog index**

The "Read the launch post" link points to `https://www.emdash.sh/blog` (the blog listing page) rather than to a specific launch post URL. Users clicking this will land on the blog index and need to hunt for the right post. If the v1 beta launch post has a dedicated URL, linking directly to it (`/blog/v1-beta` or similar) will give a better experience.

How can I resolve this? If you propose a fix, please make it concise.

---

This is a comment left during a code review.
Path: README.md
Line: 9

Comment:
**Downloads badge won't count emdash.sh downloads**

The Downloads badge still tracks `https://github.com/generalaction/emdash/releases` download counts. Now that the primary download buttons point to `emdash.sh/download`, downloads sourced from the website won't be reflected in this badge, causing it to increasingly undercount actual downloads over time.

How can I resolve this? If you propose a fix, please make it concise.

_{Reviews (1): Last reviewed commit: "Add v1 beta download links to README" | Re-trigger Greptile}

[greptile-apps]

Launch post link resolves to blog index

The "Read the launch post" link points to https://www.emdash.sh/blog (the blog listing page) rather than to a specific launch post URL. Users clicking this will land on the blog index and need to hunt for the right post. If the v1 beta launch post has a dedicated URL, linking directly to it (/blog/v1-beta or similar) will give a better experience.

Prompt To Fix With AI

This is a comment left during a code review.
Path: README.md
Line: 34

Comment:
**Launch post link resolves to blog index**

The "Read the launch post" link points to `https://www.emdash.sh/blog` (the blog listing page) rather than to a specific launch post URL. Users clicking this will land on the blog index and need to hunt for the right post. If the v1 beta launch post has a dedicated URL, linking directly to it (`/blog/v1-beta` or similar) will give a better experience.

How can I resolve this? If you propose a fix, please make it concise.