Keeping HELIX up to date

HELIX checks for new releases of the official repository (Accel-Toolkit/HELIX) a few seconds after launch, and on demand via Help → Check for Updates…. The launch check is silent unless a newer release actually exists: no network, a rate-limited API, or an offline machine never produce any message. Disable it with Help → Check for Updates at Startup.

When a newer release is found you get a status-bar notice (⭱ HELIX v1.5 available — click to update) and the Help entry is emphasised. Nothing updates until you ask.

What "update" does

It depends on how your copy of HELIX was installed:

• Clean git clone of the official repository (on main) — HELIX offers to update itself: a fast-forward git pull with a progress window (the fetch is cancellable; applying the fast-forward is not, but it can never create merge conflicts on a clean clone). On success you can restart HELIX in place.
• Clone with local modifications, a different branch, or a zip download — HELIX opens the release page in your browser instead. It will never overwrite local changes or guess at your setup.
• Developer checkouts are detected and left alone entirely.

What it never does

• It never installs Python packages. If a release changes dependencies, the release notes say so — compare with pyproject.toml if a launch after updating fails.
• It never updates without an explicit confirmation, and never restarts the app mid-session without asking.

Restarting after an update

Choosing Restart Now closes HELIX and relaunches run_gui.sh for you. On Windows, close HELIX and start run_gui.bat again manually.