Auto-Update with GitHub Releases

The boilerplate uses electron-updater for auto-updates. Out of the box it's wired for GitHub Releases (free, no infra) and any S3-compatible bucket (R2, B2, MinIO — flip one env var).

How it works

1. The app boots and silently asks the update server: "is there a newer version?"
2. If yes, it downloads the delta in the background.
3. On next launch (or after a prompt), the new version installs.

The user does nothing. You publish once; every running install upgrades.

Path A: GitHub Releases (free, recommended to start)

1. Set your repo

Make sure package.json → repository.url and electron-builder.yml → publish.owner/repo point at the repo you set with npm run rebrand.

2. Create a GitHub Personal Access Token

Generate one with repo scope at github.com/settings/tokens. Add it to your shell env (or a local .env.publish, gitignored):

export GH_TOKEN=ghp_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

3. Bump the version and publish

npm version patch          # or minor / major — updates package.json
npm run publish            # builds, signs, uploads to GitHub Releases

That's it. Every user running an older version will pick up the new release within hours.

Path B: S3-compatible host (Cloudflare R2, Backblaze B2, MinIO)

When you don't want every release public on GitHub:

1. Make a bucket on R2 / B2 / MinIO with public read on the release prefix.
2. In electron-builder.yml, change publish.provider from github to generic and set url to your bucket URL.
3. Set AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID and AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY in your env.
4. npm run publish — same command, different destination.

What's next

• Sign before you ship → Code-signing for Windows + macOS