16 updater

16 — Updater

Update checking, the Updater.exe flow, restart/reinstall. Related: 04 — Architecture · 15 — Development

Update check (CheckForUpdatesService)

SimpleLauncher\Services\UpdateChecker\ (+ CheckForUpdatesService)

• Silent check at startup: hits https://api.github.com/repos/{owner}/{repo}/releases/latest (CheckForUpdatesService.cs:89-143) with a timeout so it can never hang the UI.
• Manual check: About window "Check for Updates" (AboutViewModel → ManualCheckForUpdatesAsync).
• Version comparison against the current 5.6.0; new version → prompts to download.

Update assets

• release_{version}_{rid}.zip — the new app payload (rid = win-x64 / win-arm64).
• updater_{rid}.zip — the standalone Updater.exe used when it is not already present.

Update install flow

sequenceDiagram
    participant A as App
    participant U as Updater.exe
    A->>A: ShutdownForUpdateAsync (QuitSimpleLauncher)
    A->>U: download fresh Updater.exe from GitHub (if needed) + launch with current PID
    A->>A: app exits
    U->>U: download release zip, extract over app folder
    U->>A: relaunch SimpleLauncher.exe -whatsnew
    A->>A: shows UpdateHistoryWindow (release notes)

Loading

• QuitSimpleLauncher (Services\QuitOrReinstall\QuitSimpleLauncher.cs):
  • RestartApplicationAsync (:33) — spawns itself with --restarting, then shuts down; failed restart → "FailedToRestart" box, app stays alive.
  • SimpleQuitApplication (:70).
  • ShutdownForUpdateAsync (:78) — downloads fresh Updater.exe from GitHub, launches it with the current PID, kills the app.
• ReinstallSimpleLauncher (Services\QuitOrReinstall\ReinstallSimpleLauncher.cs):
  • StartUpdaterAndShutdownAsync (:33, async-void) — launches local Updater.exe or downloads it from GitHub, then hard-exits; access-denied (error 5) → correct message box.
• --restarting skips single-instance enforcement during startup (App.xaml.cs:528); -whatsnew shows the release-notes window (App.xaml.cs:634-651).

SimpleLauncher.Updater project

Standalone console app (Updater.exe) shipped with each release (version.txt = release5.6.0). Responsibilities: download the release zip for the current RID, extract over the application folder, relaunch the app.

Related docs

• 04 — Architecture (startup/shutdown lifecycle)
• 15 — Development (release packaging)
• 17 — Release Notes