JBrowser Source Docs
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Automatic updates

Code: services/updater.py (the logic), ui/dialogs/update.py (the dialog) and UpdateChip in ui/titlebar.py (the ribbon button).

The flow#

  1. Check. 15 seconds after start-up, and then every hour, UpdateService checks whether a day has passed since the last check (updates.last_check). If so it asks the GitHub API: text GET https://api.github.com/repos/The-JBrowser-Team/JBrowser/releases/latest The repository is GITHUB_REPO in jbrowser/__init__.py. The request carries no personal data, only a User-Agent of JBrowser/<version>. Anonymous API calls are limited to 60 an hour per IP address, far more than a daily check needs.
  2. Compare. parse_version() reads the tag (v1.5.0 → (1, 5, 0)) and is_newer() compares it with __version__. If it is newer, and the user hasn't chosen Skip this version for it (updates.skipped), the ribbon shows an Update button and a notice.
  3. Download. Install and restart first fetches JBrowser-Setup-<version>.exe.sha256, then streams the installer to %TEMP%\JBrowser-Update\ while hashing it. A file whose SHA-256 doesn't match, or that grows past MAX_INSTALLER_BYTES (1 GB), is deleted and never run. Downloads come only from the release's own asset URLs, and redirects may not downgrade from HTTPS.
  4. Install. JBrowser starts a hidden PowerShell helper and closes itself. The helper waits for JBrowser and its QtWebEngineProcess.exe children to exit, then runs the installer with /SILENT /SUPPRESSMSGBOXES /NORESTART /SP- /RELAUNCH. Inno Setup replaces the program files and /RELAUNCH starts the new version. User data in %APPDATA%\JBrowser is never touched.

All network I/O is asynchronous (QNetworkAccessManager); nothing blocks the UI.

States#

idle → checking → uptodate | available | error
                   available → downloading → ready (or error)

UpdateService.stateChanged(state) announces every change; the chip, the dialog and Settings → About follow it.

Which copies update themselves#

Copy Behaviour
installed with JBrowser-Setup.exe (unins000.exe next to JBrowser.exe) downloads, verifies and installs
a plain dist\JBrowser build, or running from source reports new versions and offers Open the download page

Settings#

Key Default Meaning
updates.auto_check true check automatically once a day (Settings → About)
updates.last_check 0 Unix time of the last successful check
updates.skipped "" a version the user chose to skip (a manual check still shows it)

Testing#

  • Against the live repository: run from source with __version__ set lower, or install an older release, then use Settings → About → Check now.
  • Without network calls: set JBROWSER_SKIP_UPDATES=1.
  • Unit level: parse_version, is_newer and UpdateService._parse_release(<release JSON>) are pure functions; feed them a saved response from the API.

Changing the repository#

Edit GITHUB_REPO in jbrowser/__init__.py. Installed copies keep checking the old repository until they update to a build with the new value, so publish one last release in the old repository that points to the new one.