updater — macOS App Update Manager

Run a health + update discovery pass:

!updater doctor --json 2>&1 || echo "updater not installed — brew install --cask lu-zhengda/tap/updater"

If updater is installed, use this default flow:

updater scan --json
updater check --json
updater update --all --dry-run --json
Ask for confirmation before any non-dry-run update command.

Summarize what is outdated (current vs latest), call out major updates, pinned apps, and errors, then propose specific next actions.

Commands

| Command | Purpose | Example | |---------|---------|---------| | updater scan --json | Discover installed apps and update sources | updater scan --json | | updater check --json | Check available updates | updater check --json | | updater check --json -v | Check with release notes | updater check --json -v | | updater outdated --json | List only outdated apps | updater outdated --json | | updater update <app> | Update specific app | updater update Firefox | | updater update --all | Update all apps | updater update --all | | updater update --auto | Unattended update (skip major, pinned, manual) | updater update --auto | | updater update --all --dry-run --json | Plan updates without changes | updater update --all --dry-run --json | | updater install <name> | Install app via Homebrew Cask | updater install visual-studio-code | | updater upgrade --json | Self-update updater | updater upgrade --json | | updater pin <app> | Pin app to prevent updates | updater pin Photoshop | | updater unpin <app> | Unpin app | updater unpin Photoshop | | updater rollback <app> | Restore previous version from backup | updater rollback Firefox | | updater rollback --all --json | Roll back all restorable apps | updater rollback --all --json | | updater cleanup --json | Find unused apps | updater cleanup --days 90 --json | | updater cleanup --delete --json | Move unused apps to Trash | updater cleanup --days 90 --delete --json | | updater history --json | Show update history | updater history --json | | updater schedule --json | Schedule periodic checks | updater schedule --interval 24 --json | | updater schedule --remove --json | Remove scheduled checks | updater schedule --remove --json | | updater menubar --json | Install/remove menu bar agent | updater menubar --remove --json | | updater config export --json | Export config as JSON | updater config export --json | | updater config import <file> --json | Import config and return status | updater config import config.yaml --json | | updater ui --json | Machine-readable UI command response | updater ui --json |

JSON + Agent Mode

All updater commands accept --json.
In Codex or Claude Code environments, updater auto-enables JSON output.
Override auto-detection with:
- UPDATER_AGENT_MODE=1 to force JSON mode
- UPDATER_AGENT_MODE=0 to force human-readable mode
updater update --json is for dry-run planning and requires --dry-run.

Output Handling Notes

check --json status values: ok, update_available, major_update, pinned, error.
install --json can return installed, no_match, or multiple_matches.
ui --json returns a structured unsupported response instead of launching TUI.

Safety Guidelines

Plan before apply: Use update --dry-run --json before applying updates.
Confirm destructive actions: Require confirmation before cleanup --delete and broad update/rollback operations.
Pin critical apps: Use pin/policy manual for version-sensitive software.
Rollback available: rollback restores from pre-update backups when present.

TUI Mode

Launch updater (or updater ui) without JSON mode for interactive TUI management.