pito-renew
pito-renew is self-update for a Rust app, in one small crate, renew, part of
PITO MD. It takes three calls:
checkfetches a signed release manifest and says whether a newer release is out;installdownloads this platform’s binary and swaps it in place of the running executable;restartrelaunches it.
Nothing runs or stays on disk unless the manifest’s minisign signature verifies against the key the app carries and the binary’s size and sha256 match what was signed.
| Check for an update | 0.47 ms on loopback, signature verified |
| Download, verify and swap 64 MiB | 193 ms on loopback, 1.2× faster than curl then sha256sum |
| Library code | 378 lines of Rust, no unsafe |
| Dependencies | 7 direct, 44 in all, no system TLS library |
| Added to a stripped release binary | 1.86 MiB, HTTPS included |
Measure speed and size shows how each number was taken. Works on Linux and macOS (Windows through WSL), CI-tested on both.
Where to go
Section titled “Where to go”- Install: add the crate and run the demo.
- Add self-update to an app: the three calls in an app.
- Sign and publish a release: the key, the manifest, its signature.
- What it refuses: forged manifests, tampered binaries, plain http.
- Ship a new major version: how updates cross majors.
- Measure speed and size: the numbers above, and how to take them again.
- Formats: the manifest, its signature and the files renew leaves beside the app.
- API reference: every public item, from
cargo doc. - Changelog.
The code is MIT licensed, © Catalin Ilinca. The PITO MD name and its logos are © Catalin Ilinca, all rights reserved, and are not covered by the MIT grant.