Fix update checker 406 error and add menu feedback dialogs

The GitHub /releases/latest endpoint returns 406 when electron-updater
requests it with Accept: application/json. Setting allowPrerelease=true
bypasses this by parsing the version from the atom feed directly.

The "Check for Updates" menu item now shows native dialogs so users get
feedback without needing to open Settings.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 <noreply@anthropic.com>

src/main/index.ts

@@ -14,7 +14,13 @@ import { registerShellHandlers } from './ipc/shell'
 import { registerSessionHandlers } from './ipc/session'
 import { registerUIHandlers } from './ipc/ui'
 import { warmSystemFontFamilies } from './system-fonts'
-import { setupAutoUpdater, checkForUpdates, getUpdateStatus, quitAndInstall } from './updater'
+import {
+  setupAutoUpdater,
+  checkForUpdates,
+  checkForUpdatesFromMenu,
+  getUpdateStatus,
+  quitAndInstall
+} from './updater'
 
 let mainWindow: BrowserWindow | null = null
 let store: Store | null = null
@@ -113,7 +119,7 @@ app.whenReady().then(() => {
         { role: 'about' },
         {
           label: 'Check for Updates...',
-          click: () => checkForUpdates()
+          click: () => checkForUpdatesFromMenu()
         },
         {
           label: 'Settings',

src/main/updater.ts

@@ -26,6 +26,54 @@ export function checkForUpdates(): void {
   })
 }
 
+/** Menu-triggered check that shows native dialogs for feedback */
+export function checkForUpdatesFromMenu(): void {
+  if (!app.isPackaged || is.dev) {
+    dialog.showMessageBox({ type: 'info', message: 'You\u2019re on the latest version.' })
+    return
+  }
+
+  sendStatus({ state: 'checking' })
+
+  const onAvailable = (): void => {
+    cleanup()
+  }
+  const onNotAvailable = (): void => {
+    cleanup()
+    dialog.showMessageBox({ type: 'info', message: 'You\u2019re on the latest version.' })
+  }
+  const onError = (err: Error): void => {
+    cleanup()
+    dialog.showMessageBox({
+      type: 'error',
+      title: 'Update Error',
+      message: 'Could not check for updates.',
+      detail: err?.message
+    })
+  }
+
+  function cleanup(): void {
+    autoUpdater.off('update-available', onAvailable)
+    autoUpdater.off('update-not-available', onNotAvailable)
+    autoUpdater.off('error', onError)
+  }
+
+  autoUpdater.once('update-available', onAvailable)
+  autoUpdater.once('update-not-available', onNotAvailable)
+  autoUpdater.once('error', onError)
+
+  autoUpdater.checkForUpdates().catch((err) => {
+    sendStatus({ state: 'error', message: String(err?.message ?? err) })
+    cleanup()
+    dialog.showMessageBox({
+      type: 'error',
+      title: 'Update Error',
+      message: 'Could not check for updates.',
+      detail: String(err?.message ?? err)
+    })
+  })
+}
+
 export function quitAndInstall(): void {
   autoUpdater.quitAndInstall()
 }
@@ -38,6 +86,10 @@ export function setupAutoUpdater(mainWindow: BrowserWindow): void {
 
   autoUpdater.autoDownload = true
   autoUpdater.autoInstallOnAppQuit = true
+  // Use allowPrerelease to bypass broken /releases/latest endpoint (returns 406)
+  // and instead parse the version directly from the atom feed which works reliably.
+  // This is safe since we don't publish prerelease versions.
+  autoUpdater.allowPrerelease = true
 
   autoUpdater.on('checking-for-update', () => {
     sendStatus({ state: 'checking' })