Self-Update

autospec includes built-in version checking and self-update functionality to help you stay up-to-date with the latest releases.

Checking for Updates

Use autospec check (or the short alias autospec ck) to check for newer versions:

autospec check
autospec ck       # Short alias

Output example (when update is available):

Current version: v0.6.0
Latest version:  v0.7.0

→ A new version is available! Run 'autospec update' to upgrade.

Plain Output

For scripts, use --plain to get machine-readable output:

autospec ck --plain

Updating autospec

To update autospec to the latest version:

autospec update

The update command:

Checks for updates - Verifies if a newer version is available
Downloads the binary - Fetches the appropriate binary for your platform
Verifies checksum - Validates the download using SHA256 checksums
Creates backup - Backs up your current binary as .bak
Installs update - Replaces the current binary with the new version
Syncs configuration - Adds new config options and removes deprecated ones

Configuration Sync

After a successful update, your user configuration (~/.config/autospec/config.yml) is automatically synchronized:

New options are added with their default values
Deprecated options are removed
Your existing settings are always preserved

You can also manually sync your config at any time:

autospec config sync --dry-run    # Preview changes
autospec config sync              # Apply changes

Example Output

→ Checking for updates...
→ New version available: v0.6.0 → v0.7.0
→ Downloading autospec_0.7.0_Linux_x86_64.tar.gz...
  [██████████████████████████████] 100.0% (5.2 MB/5.2 MB)
→ Verifying checksum...
✓ Checksum verified
→ Extracting binary...
→ Installing update...
✓ Successfully updated to v0.7.0
→ Syncing configuration...
✓ Config synced: 2 new options added, 1 deprecated removed
  Run 'autospec version' to verify the update.

Supported Platforms

The self-update feature supports:

Linux (x86_64, arm64)
macOS (x86_64, arm64)

Windows users should use WSL.

Checksum Verification

Every update is verified using SHA256 checksums:

Checksums are fetched from the checksums.txt file in each release
If checksum verification fails, the update is aborted
Your existing binary remains intact if verification fails

Backup and Rollback

During update:

Your current binary is renamed to autospec.bak
If installation fails, the backup is automatically restored
After successful update, the backup is cleaned up

To manually restore from backup (if needed):

mv ~/.local/bin/autospec.bak ~/.local/bin/autospec

Troubleshooting

“cannot update dev builds”

Development builds cannot be updated automatically. If you’re running a dev build:

# Check if running dev build
autospec version --plain | head -1
# Output: autospec dev

# To update, either:
# 1. Install a release version from GitHub releases
# 2. Build from source with proper version tags

Permission denied

If you get a permission error:

# Check where autospec is installed
which autospec

# Ensure you have write access to that directory
# You may need to use sudo or change the installation location

Network errors

Update checks require network access to GitHub:

Ensure you can reach api.github.com
Check your firewall/proxy settings

Checksum mismatch

If checksum verification fails:

Try running the update again (temporary network issue)
Check the GitHub releases page for the correct binary
Download and verify the binary manually

API Rate Limiting

autospec uses the GitHub API to check for updates:

Unauthenticated requests: 60 per hour per IP
If rate limited, the check command will report an error