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Update & Channels

Ante ships as a single binary and updates itself in place — the same install.sh script that performs the first install is re-run by ante update against the channel this binary tracks.

Update​

Check for a newer Ante release on your current channel and install it if one is available:

ante update

If a newer version exists, Ante runs the installer for the same channel and prints the new version once it is in place. Restart Ante to start using it.

If you are already on the latest version, Ante prints a confirmation and exits without touching the binary.

Update from the TUI​

When a newer release is available, the running TUI adds an in-chat notice with a preview of its release notes. It never blocks startup with a modal.

  • /update schedules that release to install when you exit Ante
  • /update cancel keeps the offer but cancels a scheduled exit install
  • /update skip dismisses that version permanently; a later version can still be offered

The install choice is scoped to the running session. Ante applies an accepted update after restoring the terminal on exit, then the next launch uses the new binary.

Pin or roll back​

Install an exact release with --version:

ante update --version v0.preview.93
ante update --version 0.preview.93

This bypasses the channel's "newer than current" check, so it can upgrade, reinstall the current version, or roll back to an older published release. When rolling back, Ante remembers the version you left so the next background update notice does not immediately offer to reinstall it.

Channels​

A release channel is a named track of builds. Ante publishes two:

ChannelDescription
stableRecommended for daily use. Tagged releases published from the release workflow.
nightlyBuilt from the development branch. New features and bugs land here first.

The default channel is stable. The channel a binary tracks is stored in the selected settings file under the channel field. ante update reads ~/.ante/settings.json unless you select an existing named profile with the process-wide --profile flag; the TUI uses the same selected profile for its in-app update notices.

{
  "channel": "nightly"
}

Setting channel to an empty string or omitting it falls back to stable.

latest is a retired channel name. Existing settings or commands that still use latest are treated as stable.

Switching channels​

Pass a channel as a positional argument or as --channel:

# Positional form
ante update nightly

# Flag form
ante update --channel nightly

# Use the channel from ~/.ante/work.settings.json
ante --profile work update

Both forms fetch the manifest for the requested channel and run the installer against it. The override applies to that single update — to make the switch persistent, set "channel": "nightly" in the settings file that future runs will use (~/.ante/settings.json by default, or the selected profile file).

Channel names may only contain ASCII letters, numbers, ., _, or -.

Initial install​

The installer accepts the same channel names. To install a non-default channel from a fresh machine:

curl -fsSL https://ante.run/install.sh | bash -s -- nightly

Without an argument, the installer uses stable.

By default the installer writes the binary to ~/.ante/bin. Set ANTE_INSTALL_DIR to install into a directory that is already on your PATH:

curl -fsSL https://ante.run/install.sh | ANTE_INSTALL_DIR=/usr/local/bin bash

How update checks work​

On launch and during long-running sessions, Ante consults the update cache in the background. Network checks against the channel manifest are shared across running Ante processes and happen at most once per hour; the result and release notes are cached in ~/.ante/versions.json. When a newer version is available, the TUI adds the in-chat notice described above. ante update ignores the cache and always fetches the manifest fresh.