feat: add manual update fallback and error handling for code-signed installation failures

Author: grantiguess

electron/main.cjs

@@ -28,6 +28,14 @@ autoUpdater.on('update-downloaded', (info) => {
   }
 });
 
+// Forward updater errors to renderer (e.g. code signature validation failures)
+autoUpdater.on('error', (err) => {
+  console.error('[Electron] Auto-updater error:', err.message);
+  if (mainWindow && !mainWindow.isDestroyed()) {
+    mainWindow.webContents.send('updater:error', err.message);
+  }
+});
+
 const DIST = path.join(__dirname, '../dist');
 const VITE_DEV_SERVER_URL = process.env['VITE_DEV_SERVER_URL'];
 
@@ -676,17 +684,29 @@ ipcMain.handle('agent:restart', async () => {
 });
 
 // Auto-updater: quit and install the downloaded update
-ipcMain.handle('updater:install', () => {
-  console.log('[Electron] updater:install called — quitting and installing update');
+// Use ipcMain.on (fire-and-forget) instead of .handle (promise-based) —
+// quitAndInstall kills the process, which breaks the promise chain in .handle
+ipcMain.on('updater:install', () => {
+  console.log('[Electron] updater:install — attempting quit and install');
   stopAgentServer();
-  // autoUpdater.quitAndInstall is unreliable on macOS — do it manually
-  autoUpdater.autoInstallOnAppQuit = true;
-  app.relaunch();
-  app.exit(0);
+  autoUpdater.quitAndInstall(false, true);
+  // If still alive after 3s, quitAndInstall failed silently (e.g. unsigned local build)
+  setTimeout(() => {
+    console.warn('[Electron] quitAndInstall did not exit — sending error to renderer');
+    if (mainWindow && !mainWindow.isDestroyed()) {
+      mainWindow.webContents.send('updater:error',
+        'Update install failed — the app may not be code-signed');
+    }
+  }, 3000);
 });
 
 // Let renderer check if an update was already downloaded (survives page refresh)
 ipcMain.handle('updater:check-pending', () => {
   return pendingUpdateInfo;
 });
 
+// Fallback: open GitHub releases page for manual download
+ipcMain.handle('updater:open-releases', () => {
+  shell.openExternal('https://github.com/theredstring/redstring/releases/latest');
+});
+

electron/preload.cjs

@@ -56,8 +56,12 @@ contextBridge.exposeInMainWorld('electron', {
     onUpdateReady: (callback) => {
       ipcRenderer.on('updater:update-ready', (_event, info) => callback(info));
     },
+    onError: (callback) => {
+      ipcRenderer.on('updater:error', (_event, msg) => callback(msg));
+    },
     checkPending: () => ipcRenderer.invoke('updater:check-pending'),
-    installUpdate: () => ipcRenderer.invoke('updater:install'),
+    installUpdate: () => ipcRenderer.send('updater:install'),
+    openReleases: () => ipcRenderer.invoke('updater:open-releases'),
   }
 });
 

package.json

@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 {
   "name": "redstring",
   "private": true,
-  "version": "0.0.1",
+  "version": "0.3.3",
   "author": "Grant Eubanks <grant.w.eubanks@gmail.com>",
   "description": "Redstring - A semantic knowledge graph application with visual node-based interface, RDF integration, and AI-powered knowledge discovery",
   "license": "MIT",

src/components/UpdateToast.jsx

@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 import React, { useState, useEffect } from 'react';
-import { RotateCcw, X } from 'lucide-react';
+import { RotateCcw, ExternalLink, X } from 'lucide-react';
 import PanelIconButton from './shared/PanelIconButton.jsx';
 import './UpdateToast.css';
 
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ export default function UpdateToast() {
   const [dismissed, setDismissed] = useState(false);
   const [visible, setVisible] = useState(false);
   const [dismissing, setDismissing] = useState(false);
+  const [installFailed, setInstallFailed] = useState(false);
 
   useEffect(() => {
     if (!window.electron?.updater) return;
@@ -22,6 +23,11 @@ export default function UpdateToast() {
       requestAnimationFrame(() => setVisible(true));
     });
 
+    // Listen for updater errors (e.g. code signature validation failure on unsigned builds)
+    window.electron.updater.onError?.(() => {
+      setInstallFailed(true);
+    });
+
     // Check if an update was already downloaded before this mount (e.g. after page refresh)
     window.electron.updater.checkPending?.().then((info) => {
       if (info) {
@@ -34,7 +40,11 @@ export default function UpdateToast() {
   if (!updateInfo || dismissed) return null;
 
   const handleRestart = () => {
-    window.electron?.updater?.installUpdate();
+    if (installFailed) {
+      window.electron?.updater?.openReleases?.();
+    } else {
+      window.electron?.updater?.installUpdate();
+    }
   };
 
   const handleDismiss = () => {
@@ -56,15 +66,15 @@ export default function UpdateToast() {
           Version {updateInfo.version || 'update'} released
         </div>
         <div className="update-toast-subtitle">
-          Restart to update
+          {installFailed ? 'Download from GitHub' : 'Restart to update'}
         </div>
       </div>
       <div className="update-toast-actions">
         <PanelIconButton
-          icon={RotateCcw}
+          icon={installFailed ? ExternalLink : RotateCcw}
           size={15}
           onClick={handleRestart}
-          title="Restart and install update"
+          title={installFailed ? 'Download update' : 'Restart and install update'}
           variant="outline"
         />
         <PanelIconButton