Updates

Complete EmptyOS updates and local file reconciliation.

EmptyOS updates run only when you or your approved agent asks for one.

Home, Settings, and empty status show the complete EmptyOS release your computer is based on, such as EmptyOS 0.1.0. This number is separate from the desktop CLI version shown by empty --version. A short release hash identifies the exact package; there are no separate build numbers. Older installations may show an unnumbered release or an unavailable version.

Home checks the official release catalog when you open it. If a newer version is available, Update with your agent reveals instructions you can copy to your desktop agent. The instructions name this computer and the advertised release. Your agent selects the matching computer profile, checks the signed package, and resumes that exact checked transaction. If the catalog has changed, it asks you before selecting a different release. Opening Home or copying instructions does not start an update.

The catalog check is advisory, not signature verification. Successful checks are cached for five minutes and failed checks for a minute. Home rechecks while visible and when you return to the tab, normally discovering a new release within about five minutes. Clicking the version in Home's footer also checks within those cache limits. An unavailable check does not stop you using Home. Computers without a known complete version need inspection before Home can compare releases.

empty computer update updates the software in your home directory—Home, Gateway, the resident CLI, and agent guidance—together with protected login, Recovery, and system-service files. You do not need a second update to finish Recovery. Until both parts finish, your computer keeps its last completed version. Your local customizations remain yours: the version describes the official software baseline, not every edit you have made. The command does not upgrade the underlying Linux distribution.

$ empty computer update --check --json
$ empty computer update --resume stage.A1b2C3

Use the actual resume command returned by your check; the stage above is an example. --check inspects the selected computer and retains the exact signed release and transaction plan. It does not activate software or restart services, but it does write staging and may show a conflict notice. Resume installs that exact target, even if a newer release becomes available later. Running empty computer update without --check instead selects and applies the current release in one operation.

Releases come from release.emptyos.com, with immutable artifacts addressed by their digest. The computer verifies the complete package against its pinned signing key before installation. A connection interruption does not erase the transaction: use the continuation or recovery instructions returned by the command. The updater can restore the previous state before its commit point or finish the approved release after it.

Because your computer's software is editable, an update can overlap your own changes. needs-reconciliation means the updater has retained a separate candidate and identified the conflicting paths. Ask your agent to resolve those paths in the candidate and run the printed resume command. The updater checks the result, then completes both the editable software and Recovery. Home's conflict notice supplies instructions for continuing that retained transaction on the named computer, without selecting a new release.

Home refreshes local status while visible. Update unfinished means the transaction has not been recorded as complete; it does not prove the update process is still running. Your agent's command output has detailed progress and errors. During a connection interruption, Home keeps the last reported state and offers Settings and recovery. Settings can show recovery instructions even when Gateway is down. Home reports the computer ready only after it sees completed status, whether the update finished or recovered the previous release. There is no privileged browser Install action.

Older computers may need one operator update before this command can use their protected installation metadata. If the command reports that requirement, the operator must complete that one-time setup; publishing a release does not do it automatically. Normal updates refuse an older version or the same version attached to different software. An operator publishes a newer corrective release when a completed update needs to be reversed.