Updates

Keeping Up to Date

Genie 5 has a built-in updater so you can keep three things current without hunting for downloads: the app itself, your zone maps, and your plugins. It's an in-process update system — distinct from Genie 4's separate Lamp.exe updater.

The Updates dialog

Open it from the Help menu (a badge appears there when something is available). It has three tabs:

Tab	Updates	Source
Core	The Genie 5 application.	GitHub Releases.
Maps	Community zone maps.	The community Maps repository.
Plugins	Installed plugins.	Each plugin's configured release feed.

The updater uses your system's default network settings, so OS-level proxy configuration is honored automatically.

Core (the app)

Application updates are delivered via Velopack: the updater fetches the new build from GitHub Releases and applies it in place, so the next launch is the new version. As of v5.0.0-alpha.3.1 this works on all three platforms — Windows, macOS (Apple Silicon + Intel), and Linux (AppImage).

Auto-update requires that you installed via an updater-aware package:

Platform	Auto-updates if installed via	Update by hand if you used
Windows	Genie5-win-Setup.exe	Genie5-win-Portable.zip
macOS	Genie5-osx-Setup.pkg / Genie5-osx-x64-Setup.pkg	the *-Portable.zip bundles
Linux	Genie5.AppImage	—

The plain Portable .zip builds don't register for updates — re-download from Releases to upgrade those. Once you're on an updater-aware install, new releases arrive as small delta downloads (only the bytes that changed). See Installation for which download to pick.

Signing: alpha builds are currently unsigned, so first launch shows a SmartScreen / Gatekeeper warning (details). A SignPath-backed signing pipeline is in progress (see the README's code-signing section); signed Windows builds are expected from an upcoming release.

Maps

The Maps tab (equivalently File → Update Maps from Official Repo…) pulls the latest zone XML from the community repository and merges it with your local data — upstream layout fixes come down while your stamped room ids survive. This has its own page: Updating Maps & Scripts.

Plugins

The Plugins tab checks each installed plugin against its configured release feed and offers updates. See Plugins for installing and managing them.

Under the hood

The updater is built around small, swappable pieces: a file-list source and a release source (with implementations for GitHub Contents and GitHub Releases), plus per-domain updaters for the app, maps, and plugins. That platform-neutral design is what lets the same dialog drive three very different update flows, and it's what let the macOS and Linux app-update channels slot in (in v5.0.0-alpha.3.1) without reworking the UI.

What it never does

• No silent auto-update that resumes your game. Updating is something you initiate; it doesn't run unattended while you're logged in and playing. This keeps Genie on the right side of policy and avoids surprises mid-session.

Related

• Installation — first install and platform notes.
• Releases & Changelog — what shipped in each build.
• Updating Maps & Scripts — the Maps flow in detail.
• Plugins — managing plugins.