morfUpdate

Read in another language: English (this document) · Français.

Shared C++ library for update checking in desktop applications (ComponentHub, SiteWatch, and future tools).

It compares the installed version against the latest published version and notifies the user — without ever installing anything silently.

Two separate layers

Layer	CMake target	Dependencies	Role
Core	morfUpdate::morfUpdate	Qt Core + Network	compare versions, query the source
UI (optional)	morfUpdate::Widgets	+ Qt Widgets	notification dialog

The core does not depend on Widgets: usable in a headless service, or with your own UI. The Widgets layer provides a ready-made dialog.

Pluggable source

UpdateChecker queries an IUpdateSource. Provided by default:

• GitHubReleaseSource — GitHub Releases API (/releases/latest, or the list when pre-releases are included). Optional token for private repos / rate limit.

You can plug in your own source (self-hosted JSON manifest, test stub…) by implementing IUpdateSource — see the StubSource example in examples/minimal/main.cpp.

Version comparison

Version handles major.minor.patch, tolerates a v prefix (v1.4.2) and treats a pre-release as earlier than the stable of the same number (1.5.0-beta < 1.5.0).

Usage

Simplest — check and notify (UI)

#include <morfupdate/UpdateDialog.h>

morfupdate::morfUpdateConfig cfg;
cfg.owner = "morfredus";
cfg.repo  = "SiteWatch";
cfg.currentVersion = SITEWATCH_VERSION;   // macro already defined by CMake

// At startup: silent if up to date. On a "Check for updates" menu item:
// pass false to also show "up to date" / errors.
morfupdate::checkAndNotify(this, "SiteWatch", cfg, /*silentIfUpToDate=*/true);

Without UI — drive it yourself (core only)

#include <morfupdate/UpdateChecker.h>

auto* checker = new morfupdate::UpdateChecker(cfg, this);
connect(checker, &morfupdate::UpdateChecker::updateAvailable, this,
        [](const morfupdate::ReleaseInfo& info) {
            qInfo() << "New version:" << info.version.toString();
        });
connect(checker, &morfupdate::UpdateChecker::upToDate, this, [] { /* ... */ });
connect(checker, &morfupdate::UpdateChecker::checkFailed, this,
        [](const QString& e) { qWarning() << e; });
checker->checkForUpdates();   // asynchronous, non-blocking

Detailed integration guide (CMake + where to call it): docs/fr/INTEGRATION.md (FR).

Building

cmake --preset mingw      # or linux / linux-arm64
cmake --build --preset mingw

In a standalone build, morfupdate_demo (console) and morfupdate_widget_demo (dialog preview) are compiled.

Try it

# Deterministic offline check (stub source)
./build-mingw/examples/minimal/morfupdate_demo

# Real GitHub check
./build-mingw/examples/minimal/morfupdate_demo github morfredus SiteWatch 0.0.1

# Dialog preview
./build-mingw/examples/widget/morfupdate_widget_demo

Design choice: no auto-update

The dialog opens the release page / the binary in the browser; downloading and installing stay in the user's hands. An automatic installer only makes sense with signature verification; the door is left open (assets are exposed in ReleaseInfo) to add it properly later.

Documentation

The in-depth guides are in French under docs/fr/; an English index is at docs/en/.

Document	Contents
docs/fr/ARCHITECTURE.md (FR)	The classes (Version, IUpdateSource, GitHubReleaseSource, UpdateChecker, UpdateDialog)
docs/fr/INTEGRATION.md (FR)	Integrating morfUpdate into an application
CHANGELOG.md	Version history
ROADMAP.md	Planned work
CONTRIBUTING.md	Contribution guide

License

Distributed under the GPL-3.0-only license. © 2026 morfredus.