pi-updater

A lightweight, Codex-style auto-updater for pi with fast, cache-first startup checks.

• npm: https://www.npmjs.com/package/pi-updater
• repo: https://github.com/tonze/pi-updater

Note: Automatic installation currently supports npm-based pi installs only.

What it does

On startup: if a newer version is available, shows a prompt:

• Update now — install with npm, then auto-restart pi on the current session
• Skip — dismiss until next session
• Skip this version — don't ask again until a newer version appears

After a successful update, pi-updater asks whether to restart immediately. If confirmed, pi relaunches seamlessly on the current session. In non-interactive modes or if auto-restart fails, it falls back to a manual restart message.

In the background (once per run): performs one live npm check and can show the prompt in the same session when a new release is detected.

/update: manually check for updates (always fetches fresh from npm, unless PI_OFFLINE is set).

How version checks work

pi-updater uses a cache-first approach to keep startup fast:

1. On startup, cached version data is checked instantly.
2. One background live fetch refreshes the cache.
3. If the background fetch finds a newer version, pi-updater can prompt in the same session.
4. Automatic checks are skipped when PI_SKIP_VERSION_CHECK or PI_OFFLINE is set.

Install

pi install npm:pi-updater

Or from git:

pi install git:github.com/tonze/pi-updater

Usage

Use /update inside pi to manually check for updates and install them.

Environment flags

Disable automatic version checks:

export PI_SKIP_VERSION_CHECK=1

Or run in offline mode (also disables automatic checks):

export PI_OFFLINE=1

Updating this package

pi update

License

MIT