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Updates and versions

Echidna keeps itself current. The app offers new versions in one click, and the browser engine updates itself in the background. Everything is checked against Echidna's signed release list before it runs.

App updates

Echidna checks for a new version when it starts and every 6 hours after that. When one is available, a banner appears at the top of the window: “Echidna version is available. Your profiles and settings are kept when you update.”

Press Install & restart. Echidna downloads the installer and checks its size and SHA-256 against the signed release list.
Echidna stops its engine, which closes every running profile (their cookies are saved), and installs the update.
The app restarts on the new version and shows “Echidna was updated to version”, with a What's new link.

Finish or pause work in open profiles before you press Install & restart. You can dismiss the banner and update later.

Package	What happens
Windows installer	The installer runs with a progress window and starts Echidna again when it's done.
macOS	The app is replaced and relaunched. If the new version fails to start, the previous one is put back and started.
Linux AppImage	The file is replaced in place and relaunched, with the same automatic fallback as macOS.
Linux .deb	Your system's package installer opens with the new package. Install it there, then restart Echidna.

If an update can't be installed, you'll see “The update could not be installed” with the reason, and the current version keeps running. A Download page button takes you to get.renotsnkrs.com to install it by hand.

An update won't start while an AI agent's engine is in use: close the agent first.

Check by hand

Go to Settings → About → Updates and press Check for updates. If a version is available, Download verified installer downloads and verifies it for you.

Release channels

Choose a channel in Settings → About → Update channel. The choice is kept on this computer.

Channel	Gets
Stable (default)	Tested releases only. Recommended for accounts you care about.
Preview	New features a little earlier. They may still change, and you also get every stable release.

The channel applies to the app. The browser engine always follows the stable releases.

Browser engine updates

Echidna's hardened Chromium updates itself, with nothing for you to do:

A few minutes after Echidna starts, and every 6 hours after that, it looks for a newer engine and downloads it in the background.
Each download is checked against Echidna's signed release list: size, SHA-256 and every file in it. An engine that doesn't match exactly is never used.
A new engine is used the next time a profile opens. Profiles that are already running are not touched.
The previous engine is kept, and a damaged or unusable new engine never replaces a working one.
A profile is never opened by an older engine than the newest one that has already opened it, so its stored data stays compatible.

To keep a profile on a particular Chrome version, set its Engine version on the profile's General tab. “Latest engine (auto)” always uses the newest verified engine.

Check or repair the engine

Settings → About → Browser engine shows the installed Chromium version, when it was updated and the last check. Repair checks the engine and fixes or re-downloads it if needed.
Settings → Engines lists every installed engine. Verify & repair checks each one.

If an engine update didn't finish, the card says “The last engine update did not finish”. Browsers keep using the verified engines already installed, and Echidna retries every few hours.

See your versions

Where	Shows
Settings → About, row Echidna	The desktop app version, Echidna's engine version and its API version.
Settings → About, rows Platform and Build	Your system, and the build type and commit.
Settings → About → Browser engine	The Chromium version in use.
Settings → Engines	Every installed Chromium build.
Settings → About → What's new	Release notes.

The Releases page lists published versions.