Hotch 2.4.0

Hotch is a companion for a glance at AI plan usage, active Claude Code and Codex work, and how your computer is doing. 2.4.0 teaches the Mac app to update itself, tells Linux users when a new version is out, and puts the GNOME top-bar button back.

On 2.2.0 or 2.3.0? Download this version once. Those versions cannot update themselves. From 2.4.0, new versions arrive in the app.

Download for Mac: Hotch-2.4.0.dmg below (universal: Apple silicon and Intel, macOS 14 or later). Open it, drag Hotch into Applications, then open Hotch from your Applications folder.

Signing: signed with Developer ID (Hojae Jung, team WCJ787853P) and notarised by Apple, with the ticket stapled to the app and the disk image.

SHA-256: 1e95dbc6ee66820eb828e25d1971a006ae0c1793c2ba78f08dce759c36f42855

New on Mac: updates inside the app

• Once a day Hotch checks for a new version and shows what changed, with Install, Remind Me Later and Skip This Version. Check for Updates… is in Settings → App updates and the Hotch menu.
• It never interrupts: no update window over the welcome or during a Focus run. A line in the card says an update is ready and brings the window back.
• Download and install updates automatically is opt-in in Settings. It waits until the card is closed and no Focus timer or Backpack session is running. A restart that would end a Backpack session asks first, and a running Focus timer carries on in the new version.
• Privacy: the check is one plain request a day to hotch.hotherside.com (served by GitHub Pages) that names only the Hotch and Sparkle versions. No system profile is sent, and you can turn the check off in Settings → App updates. Every update is signed with Hotch's own key and notarised by Apple.
• Hotch-2.4.0-update.zip is the file the app downloads when it updates itself. You don't need to download it.

Linux (experimental)

• The GNOME top-bar button is back. 2.3.0 left it out of the panel, so the default top-bar home showed nothing. Fixed by Simon (@sire6), who tested it on Ubuntu 26.04 and GNOME Shell 50. Thank you, Simon.
• Update notice: at most once a day, and on demand with hotch update-check or Check now in Settings, Hotch asks GitHub whether a newer Linux release exists. A quiet line in the card footer and a tray menu item link to the release page, with Skip this version. Hotch never downloads or installs anything. Turn it off in Settings or with hotch settings set updateChecks false.
• On 2.3.0, install this version once. From 2.4.0, Hotch tells you when there is a newer one.

Downloads (attached automatically a few minutes after this release is published):

• hotch_2.4.0-1_amd64.deb or hotch_2.4.0-1_arm64.deb
• hotch-gnome-2.4.0.zip: the GNOME extension on its own; it still needs the hotch binary
• SHA256SUMS-linux.txt

sudo apt install ./hotch_2.4.0-1_amd64.deb
# Log out and back in so GNOME loads the updated extension.

See the Linux guide for building from source, the feature matrix and the tray on other desktops.

Known limits

• Linux is experimental. The packages are built and tested in CI on Ubuntu 24.04 (amd64 and arm64). Simon has run the top-bar fix on a real desktop, but the maintainer has not yet validated Linux on one. Reports and pull requests are very welcome.
• Ubuntu 24.04 ships GNOME 46, which the extension does not support; use the tray there.
• Linux packages are not signed. Check them against SHA256SUMS-linux.txt.
• Grok, Kimi and DeepSeek, Backpack mode, session handoff, in-app installs and hardware sensor readings are macOS only.
• Provider data depends on each vendor's accounts and interfaces, which can change.
• Hotch is independent and not affiliated with Apple, Anthropic, OpenAI, xAI, Moonshot AI or DeepSeek.

See CHANGELOG.md for the full list.

Found a problem? Open an issue. Security reports go to hello@hotherside.com (see SECURITY.md).