updates

A Rust library that checks for crate updates.

[!Note] updates-rs only checks crates that are publicly listed on crates.io.

Quick Start

Run the following command to add updates to your project's dependencies:

cargo add updates

Usage

Basic

The easiest way to use this crate is with the check() function:

fn main() {
    // Check for updates at startup
    updates::check(
        env!("CARGO_PKG_NAME"),
        env!("CARGO_PKG_VERSION"),
        false  // use cache
    );
    
    // Your application code here...
    println!("Hello, world!");
}

If an update is available, it will print to stderr:

Version 1.0.0 of my-tool is outdated. Version 1.2.0 was released 3 days ago.

Advanced

For more control over the checking process, use [UpdateChecker] directly:

use updates::UpdateChecker;

fn main() {
    let checker = UpdateChecker::new(false);
    
    match checker.check("serde", "1.0.150") {
        Some(update) => {
            println!("Update available!");
            println!("Current version: {}", update.running_version);
            println!("Latest version: {}", update.available_version);
            
            if let Some(date) = update.release_date {
                println!("Released: {}", date);
            }
        }
        None => {
            println!("You're on the latest version!");
        }
    }
}

Bypassing the Cache

If you need to always get the latest information (e.g., in a CI environment), set bypass_cache to true:

use updates::update_check;

fn main() {
    // Always query crates.io, ignore cache
    update_check("my-tool", "1.0.0", true);
}

Caching Behaviour

Update checks are cached in your system's temp directory for 1 hour:

• Cache location: {temp_dir}/updates_cache.bin
• Cache duration: 3600 seconds (1 hour)
• Cache format: Compact binary format using postcard serialisation

The cache is automatically shared across multiple runs of your application, so users won't be spammed with update checks every time they run your program.