fix(updater): ship signed NSIS installer so Windows auto-update installs (#96) - #97
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amirlehmam merged 1 commit intoJul 16, 2026
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The Windows release shipped a .zip, which electron-updater's NsisUpdater can download and checksum-verify but has no way to install — quitAndInstall() no-ops and the app relaunches on the same version (issue amirlehmam#96). - electron-builder: switch win.target from `dir` to `nsis` (the nsis block was already configured); add a space-free artifactName. - release.yml: build the installer, retarget SignPath signing + latest.yml at the installer, drop the manual zip, and generate latest.yml LAST from the signed installer so its sha512 matches the shipped file. - Only publish latest.yml when signing succeeds: with win.publisherName pinned to "SignPath Foundation", electron-updater Authenticode-verifies the downloaded installer, so an unsigned NSIS installer would fail the update. Unsigned releases still ship the installer for manual download but don't advertise an auto-update (graceful no-op instead of a broken one). - Add a regression test asserting the Windows target is nsis, not dir/zip. Per amirlehmam#32 this is gated on active code-signing (unsigned NSIS also trips SmartScreen harder than a zip); it activates automatically once the SignPath OSS quota is restored (amirlehmam#71), with no further changes. Closes amirlehmam#96 Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
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….26.0 PR #97 switched the release artifact to an NSIS installer so auto-update can actually install (#96), but dropped the portable zip that the docs and wmux.org point users at. Restore it as an additional release asset; latest.yml keeps pointing at the installer only. Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com> Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01MQkPd2DNXsM2AaKqiLdZFh
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Merged and shipped in v0.26.0 — thank you, the analysis in this PR (and #96) was spot-on, including the reasoning for gating Two follow-up commits on master after the merge:
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Closes #96.
The problem
On Windows the app detects and downloads updates, but can never install them. The release ships a
.zip(wmux-<ver>-win-x64.zip) as the update artifact. electron-updater on Windows usesNsisUpdater, which installs by running an NSIS.exe— it has no path to apply a zip. So the download and checksum both succeed (it looks like it's working), butquitAndInstall()no-ops and the app relaunches on the same version. The updater's own comment already flags the zip as the acknowledged follow-up (#71).The fix
Ship a real NSIS installer whose hashes match
latest.yml:electron-builder.json— switchwin.targetfromdirtonsis(thensisblock was already configured) and add a space-freeartifactName(wmux-${version}-setup.exe).release.yml— build the installer (drop--dir), retarget the SignPath signing steps at the installer, remove the manualCompress-Archivezip, and generatelatest.ymllast, from the signed installer, so itssha512matches the exact file that ships. The redundantrceditstep is removed — electron-builder already embedswin.icon, the version, andFileDescription(taskbar-pinning name) into the packaged exe.nsis, notdir/zip, so this can't silently regress.Respecting the signing sequencing (#32)
Per #32, an NSIS installer isn't worth shipping until code-signing is live, since (a) unsigned NSIS trips SmartScreen harder than a zip, and (b) with
win.publisherNamepinned toSignPath Foundation, electron-updater now Authenticode-verifies the downloaded installer — an unsigned NSIS installer would fail that check and the update would throw.So this PR is designed to degrade gracefully and is gated behind active signing:
latest.ymlis only published when the SignPath submission succeeds (the verify step is already fatal). Unsigned releases still ship the installer for manual download, but don't advertise an auto-update — a no-op, not a broken update. (updater.tsalready treats a missinglatest.ymlas "update check skipped", [Bug] v0.15.0 release missing latest.yml — auto-updater throws 404 on every launch #68.)Net: merge-safe now (auto-update simply stays dormant while unsigned), and it starts working the moment signing is live.
Notes for review
artifactConfigurationSlug=initial, which was set up for the old unpackedwmux.exe. Submitting the installer.exemay need that artifact configuration updated on the SignPath side. It's non-fatal (continue-on-error), but worth checking when quota returns.windows-latest, clean path) — theOneDrive - Pulsaspaced-path winCodeSign issue fromCLAUDE.mddoesn't apply on the runner..blockmapis emitted, so updates are full downloads (verified by the top-levelsha512) rather than differential — correct, just not delta-optimized.Testing
npm test— full suite green (211 passed), including the new target guard.release/wmux-<ver>-setup.exe(signing submit/download/verify,latest.yml, artifact upload, release upload).