self-update

The self-update command checks GitHub releases for a newer version of kasl and, if one exists, downloads it and replaces the running binary in place - keeping the previous one alongside it as kasl.bak.

Renamed in 1.2

This command used to be called update. The old name still works and does the same thing, printing a notice that points here; it will be removed in 2.0.

Usage

kasl self-update

The command takes no arguments.

How It Works

1. Version check: reads the latest release tag from the releases/latest redirect - not the api.github.com endpoint, which is rate-limited to 60 anonymous requests per hour per IP and starves any machine behind a shared NAT.
2. Platform detection: picks the release asset matching the current OS/architecture.
3. Download and extraction: retrieves the archive and unpacks the binaries from it. Nothing else in the archive is written next to the executable.
4. Replacement: the current executable is renamed to kasl.bak and the new one takes its place.
5. Alias refresh: the short ka alias is updated too, where it is installed.

If the watcher is running, it is stopped before the swap and restarted afterward.

Supported platforms

• x86_64-pc-windows-msvc - Windows 64-bit
• x86_64-apple-darwin - macOS Intel
• aarch64-apple-darwin - macOS Apple Silicon
• x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu - Linux 64-bit

The .bak backup

There is exactly one backup, kasl.bak, sitting next to the binary. Each update overwrites it, so it always holds the version you were running immediately before the most recent update - never anything older. Restoring it is a manual copy over the current binary; nothing reverts automatically.

The ka alias

Where the short alias is installed, self-update replaces it along with the main binary, so ka never answers to an older version than kasl. An update never adds the alias to an installation that does not have it - skipping it at install time (KASL_NO_ALIAS=1) stays skipped.

On macOS and Linux the installer makes ka a symlink to kasl, so it follows every update for free.

Sample Output

The download and binary swap print nothing; only the result line does:

ℹ️ No update required. You are using the latest version!

or, when a newer release was installed:

✅ The kasl application has been successfully updated to version X.Y.Z!

X.Y.Z is the version that was just installed - the message always names the actual new version, not a fixed number.

If the watcher was running, two extra lines bracket the result:

ℹ️ Stopping watcher for update...
ℹ️ Restarting watcher after update...

Other commands print a similar notice when they notice a newer release is available:

A new version of kasl is available: vX.Y.Z
Upgrade now by running: kasl self-update

Related commands

• autostart - autostart settings are preserved during updates
• setup - configuration is maintained during updates
• watch - monitoring continues after a successful update