Tauri Updater

Overview

Add self-update to a Tauri 2 desktop app using tauri-plugin-updater. Covers macOS DMG, Windows NSIS (auto-install), and Windows portable (manual download link). Uses a GitHub Releases-hosted latest.json manifest with signed artifacts.

When to Use

• User asks to add "auto-update", "software update", "check for updates" to a Tauri app
• User asks about tauri-plugin-updater integration
• User wants to distinguish installer vs portable builds for update behavior
• User needs to generate update manifests for CI

Don't use for:

• Tauri 1.x apps (different updater API)
• Mobile apps (different update mechanisms)
• Apps distributed only via app stores (use store update mechanisms)

Architecture

Installer vs Portable

Tauri updater only works with installers (NSIS, MSI, DMG). Portable builds need a different path.

Detecting portable at runtime: Use a Cargo feature flag:

# Cargo.toml
[features]
portable = []

// Rust command
#[tauri::command]
pub fn is_portable_build() -> bool {
    cfg!(feature = "portable")
}

Normal build: cargo build --release Portable build: cargo build --release --features portable

In lib.rs, conditionally register the updater plugin and skip it when the portable feature is active:

#[cfg(all(desktop, not(feature = "portable")))]
app.handle()
    .plugin(tauri_plugin_updater::Builder::new().build())
    .expect("Failed to register updater plugin");

When is_portable_build() returns true, the frontend shows a GitHub Releases link instead of the auto-update flow.

Implementation Steps

1. Generate Signing Key (one-time)

bun tauri signer generate -w ~/.tauri/<app-name>.key

Hit enter twice for empty password. Produces:

• ~/.tauri/<app-name>.key is the private key → store as GitHub Secret TAURI_SIGNING_PRIVATE_KEY
• ~/.tauri/<app-name>.key.pub is the public key → paste into tauri.conf.json

Empty password is fine because the key lives in encrypted GitHub Secrets. Adding a password means also managing TAURI_SIGNING_PRIVATE_KEY_PASSWORD in CI.

2. Rust Backend

src-tauri/Cargo.toml:

[features]
portable = []

[dependencies]
tauri-plugin-updater = "2"
tauri-plugin-process = "2"

src-tauri/src/lib.rs:

// Always register process plugin (needed for relaunch after update)
.plugin(tauri_plugin_process::init())
.setup(|app| {
    // Skip updater for portable builds
    #[cfg(all(desktop, not(feature = "portable")))]
    app.handle()
        .plugin(tauri_plugin_updater::Builder::new().build())
        .expect("Failed to register updater plugin");

    Ok(())
})

Register is_portable_build as a Tauri command in the invoke handler.

Command file (e.g. commands/settings.rs):

#[tauri::command]
pub fn is_portable_build() -> bool {
    cfg!(feature = "portable")
}

3. Tauri Configuration

src-tauri/tauri.conf.json:

{
  "bundle": {
    "createUpdaterArtifacts": true
  },
  "plugins": {
    "updater": {
      "pubkey": "<PUBLIC KEY FROM .pub FILE>",
      "endpoints": [
        "https://github.com/<owner>/<repo>/releases/latest/download/latest.json"
      ]
    }
  }
}

The releases/latest/download/ URL pattern uses GitHub's redirect to always serve the latest release's asset.

Update CSP connect-src to allow GitHub release asset domains:

connect-src 'self' ipc: http://ipc.localhost https://api.github.com https://github.com https://objects.githubusercontent.com https://github-releases.githubusercontent.com

src-tauri/capabilities/default.json. Add these permissions:

{
  "permissions": [
    "updater:default",
    "process:default",
    "process:allow-restart"
  ]
}

4. Frontend

Install:

bun add @tauri-apps/plugin-updater@^2 @tauri-apps/plugin-process@^2

State machine:

idle → checking → up-to-date
                → downloading → ready-to-restart
                → available (download retry) → downloading → ready-to-restart
                → error → idle (retry)

Portable: always shows "GitHub Releases" link button

Key API details:

• check() returns null when up-to-date (not an error)
• check() throws on network failure or 404 (manifest doesn't exist yet), so show a friendly message, not the raw error
• downloadAndInstall() progress callback: use event.data.chunkLength (not position/length). Track cumulative bytes with a state updater.
• Store the Update object in a useRef to avoid stale closure in the progress callback.

Error handling pattern. Never expose raw errors:

try {
  const result = await check();
  if (result) { /* downloadAndInstall() immediately */ }
  else { /* up-to-date */ }
} catch {
  // Network error, 404, rate limit, etc.
  setStatus("error");  // shows friendly t("updater.error") message
}

5. CI Pipeline

Build job. Pass the signing key:

- name: Tauri build
  uses: tauri-apps/tauri-action@v0
  env:
    TAURI_SIGNING_PRIVATE_KEY: ${{ secrets.TAURI_SIGNING_PRIVATE_KEY }}
  with:
    args: --target ${{ matrix.target }}

Rename updater artifacts (after build, before upload):

- name: Rename updater artifacts
  shell: bash
  run: |
    case "${{ matrix.target }}" in
      universal-apple-darwin)
        TAR=$(find "$BUNDLE/macos" -name "*.app.tar.gz" | head -1)
        [ -n "$TAR" ] && mv "$TAR" "$BUNDLE/<App>-${VERSION}-macOS.app.tar.gz"
        [ -f "${TAR}.sig" ] && mv "${TAR}.sig" "$BUNDLE/<App>-${VERSION}-macOS.app.tar.gz.sig"
        ;;
      x86_64-pc-windows-msvc)
        EXE_SIG=$(find "$BUNDLE/nsis" -name "*.exe.sig" | head -1)
        [ -f "$EXE_SIG" ] && mv "$EXE_SIG" "$BUNDLE/<App>-${VERSION}-Windows.exe.sig"
        ;;
    esac

Windows portable rebuild:

- name: Create portable zip (Windows)
  if: matrix.target == 'x86_64-pc-windows-msvc'
  shell: pwsh
  run: |
    cargo build --release --manifest-path src-tauri/Cargo.toml --target ${{ matrix.target }} --features portable
    # ... package the portable binary as before

The --features portable flag compiles a binary where is_portable_build() returns true and the updater plugin is not registered.

Generate latest.json (in release job, after all artifacts are available):

- name: Generate updater manifest
  run: |
    MACOS_SIG=$(cat artifacts/macos/*.app.tar.gz.sig 2>/dev/null || echo "")
    WINDOWS_SIG=$(cat artifacts/windows/*.exe.sig 2>/dev/null || echo "")

    jq -n \
      --arg version "$VERSION" \
      --arg pub_date "$(date -u +"%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%SZ")" \
      --arg macos_sig "$MACOS_SIG" \
      --arg macos_url "https://github.com/<owner>/<repo>/releases/download/${VERSION}/<App>-${VERSION}-macOS.app.tar.gz" \
      --arg windows_sig "$WINDOWS_SIG" \
      --arg windows_url "https://github.com/<owner>/<repo>/releases/download/${VERSION}/<App>-${VERSION}-Windows.exe" \
      '{
        version: $version,
        notes: "",
        pub_date: $pub_date,
        platforms: {
          "darwin-x86_64": { signature: $macos_sig, url: $macos_url },
          "darwin-aarch64": { signature: $macos_sig, url: $macos_url },
          "windows-x86_64": { signature: $windows_sig, url: $windows_url }
        }
      }' > latest.json

- name: Upload manifest
  run: gh release upload "$TAG_NAME" latest.json

macOS universal binary: Both darwin-x86_64 and darwin-aarch64 point to the same .app.tar.gz with the same signature.

Platform Artifacts Summary

Common Mistakes

Post-Release Notes

• First release: Existing users won't have the updater code, so they must download this release manually. After that, updates are automatic.
• Homebrew: The .app.tar.gz and .sig are separate from the DMG. Homebrew cask formulas are unaffected.
• Signature errors: If the updater reports signature verification failure, the pubkey in tauri.conf.json likely doesn't match the private key used in CI. Regenerate and redeploy.
• Testing: Build a newer version to test the full download-and-install flow end-to-end.