feat(release): ship a Linux .deb that updates itself

[t3dotgg]

Debian and Ubuntu users only get an AppImage. It has no app menu entry or t3code command, and on current releases it needs extra setup before it starts. The most requested fix, going back to #298, is a .deb.

The Linux release build now also makes a .deb in the same electron-builder run as the AppImage, and the release publishes it. electron-builder adds the .deb to latest-linux.yml and marks the package with resources/package-type. As a result, the app updates a .deb install the same way as on macOS and Windows: electron-updater downloads the new .deb and installs it with dpkg, asking for the user's password. The only app change lets that path run, where before it required the AppImage.

There is no new service and no setup. The download page, README, install guide, and release docs list the .deb.

Build time and file size

.deb compression (local benchmark)	24 CPUs	4 CPUs	Size
gzip	41 s	42 s	141 MB
xz, default single thread	117 s	not run	112 MB
xz, threaded (XZ_DEFAULTS=-T0)	12 s	44 s	113 MB

fpm compresses the .deb with the system xz through tar, so the build script sets XZ_DEFAULTS=-T0 for Linux builds and xz uses every core. The Linux arm64 job is on the release critical path (Linux arm64, then Windows arm64, then npm, then the release), so it moves from GitHub's 4-vCPU ubuntu-24.04-arm to blacksmith-16vcpu-ubuntu-2404-arm. x64 already runs on blacksmith-32vcpu-ubuntu-2404.

Tradeoffs

• Each update asks for the admin password. On a desktop with no polkit password dialog, the in-app update fails, and the user installs the new .deb by hand. The install guide says so.
• There is no .rpm in this PR. Adding it later is one more target, but it also needs rpmbuild on both runners.

Verification

I dumped the real Linux config from createBuildConfig and built the 0.0.42 app with electron-builder 26.15.6 (--prepackaged). Tests ran in clean containers:

• Build: the .deb is named T3-Code-<version>-amd64.deb, so the download page's existing asset matching finds it. latest-linux.yml lists the AppImage and the .deb. The .deb has package-type set to deb. The AppImage has none, so its updater does not change: electron-builder builds package targets one at a time, after the AppImage.

• Install: on Debian 13, Ubuntu 24.04, and Ubuntu 22.04, the package installs its dependencies. /usr/bin/t3code and the desktop entry with the t3code:// handler are in place. The app starts as a normal user, and apt remove cleans up.

• In-app update: 0.0.42 found 0.0.43 on a local feed, downloaded the .deb (not the AppImage), ran sudo dpkg -i, and relaunched on 0.0.43. The 0.0.42 build predates this PR's updater change, so I set APPIMAGE to get past the old check. The unit test covers the new check.

• build-desktop-artifact tests, desktop update tests, desktop typecheck, lint, and the marketing build all pass.

• Release runners: a temporary PR-only workflow, removed before merge, ran the release job's Linux steps with the real build script (dist:desktop:artifact --target AppImage) on both release runners. It covered the apt mirror action, Rust, node-pty, and the CLI archive build and smoke test (run). x64 made a 118 MB .deb and arm64 a 112 MB .deb, both with data.tar.xz and the deb marker, and each latest-linux*.yml lists its .deb. The .deb step alone took 7 s on 32 vCPU and 24 s on 16 vCPU (run).

Not verified: a full release run (the next nightly after merge is the first; its arm64 Rust caches start cold on the new runner), the polkit password dialog, and the AppArmor profile that electron-builder installs for Ubuntu 24.04's user namespace restriction.

Thanks

This is the community's design. I mostly checked it and wired in updates.

• #4071 by @chukfinley: build the .deb in the same run as the AppImage, the maintainer and homepage fields it needs, and both release upload lists.
• #5139 by @bigpod98: the dependency list, including the Debian 13 and Ubuntu 24.04 package renames. bigpod98 also kept unofficial packages running in the meantime.
• #4900 by @benthecarman: the download page card.
• #4887 by @NaveDanan: the focus on keeping the AppImage update feed working, which I checked above.
• Earlier attempts: #544 by @IsraelAraujo70, #1655 by @YougLin-dev, #1827 by @InSelfControll, and #2474 by @Abhishek-Gawade-programmer. Also @raulferrodrigues for pulling the effort together.

The commit carries co-author trailers for @chukfinley, @bigpod98, @benthecarman, and @NaveDanan. Their emails come from their own commits.

Related

• Replaces #13177. That PR added an apt/dnf repository service, and in-app updates make it unnecessary.
• #7765 by @Bombatomica64 fixes the AppImage on systems without libfuse2. It is still worth merging for AppImage users.

Closes #298. Closes #543.

Created with Claude Opus 5.5 in Claude Code.

🤖 Generated with Claude Code

[github-actions]

Thread transfer impact

✅ Thread transfer remains within every enforced ceiling.

Provider	Metric	Main baseline	This PR	Impact	PR ceiling
Codex	Total thread wire	13.5 KiB	13.5 KiB	+29 B (+0.2%)	15.1 KiB	✅
Codex	Thread snapshot wire	7.1 KiB	7.1 KiB	+5 B (+0.1%)	7.3 KiB	✅
Codex	Live turn WebSocket wire	6.4 KiB	6.5 KiB	+24 B (+0.4%)	7.8 KiB	✅
Codex	Live turn WebSocket decoded	56.2 KiB	56.3 KiB	+44 B (+0.1%)	66.4 KiB	✅
Codex	Live turn messages	9	10	+1 (+11.1%)	21	✅
Claude	Total thread wire	13.5 KiB	13.5 KiB	+13 B (+0.1%)	15.1 KiB	✅
Claude	Thread snapshot wire	7.1 KiB	7.1 KiB	−3 B (−0.0%)	7.3 KiB	✅
Claude	Live turn WebSocket wire	6.4 KiB	6.5 KiB	+16 B (+0.2%)	7.8 KiB	✅
Claude	Live turn WebSocket decoded	57.0 KiB	57.0 KiB	0 B (0.0%)	66.4 KiB	✅
Claude	Live turn messages	9	9	0 (0.0%)	21	✅

Baseline: 20f0ff1 · PR result: 1e4c6dc · Source CI: success

Scenario and decoded snapshot size

10 historical turns, 5 command tools per turn, 878.9 KiB retained MCP result per historical turn, and a 1.05 MiB retained result in the measured turn.

• Codex decoded thread snapshot: 114.0 KiB
• Claude decoded thread snapshot: 114.7 KiB

Updated in place by a trusted workflow. PR artifacts are strictly validated and never executed.

[macroscopeapp]

Approvability

Verdict: Not approved

Macroscope's review found this PR not approvable — This PR adds a new Linux .deb distribution and enables its in-app dpkg-based self-updates, alongside changes to packaging metadata, release publication, and download flows. The production release and system-installing update behavior are broader than a small isolated change and warrant human review.

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📝 Walkthrough

Walkthrough

Linux desktop builds now produce .deb packages alongside AppImages. Packaged Debian builds can use automatic updates. Release workflows collect .deb assets, and project documentation describes Debian and Ubuntu installation.

Changes

Debian Desktop Packaging

Layer / File(s)	Summary
Build Debian packages scripts/build-desktop-artifact.ts, scripts/build-desktop-artifact.test.ts	Linux builds targeting AppImage now also target deb. The build configuration adds Debian metadata, runtime dependencies, and gzip compression. The packaging test expects both targets.
Enable updates for Debian builds apps/desktop/src/updates/DesktopUpdates.ts, apps/desktop/src/updates/updatesTestHarness.ts, apps/desktop/src/updates/DesktopUpdates.test.ts	The updater checks the packaged Linux resources/package-type marker and allows updates when its trimmed contents equal deb. The test harness can supply a platform and marker contents. Tests cover Debian and unspecified package types.
Publish and document Debian packages .github/workflows/release-desktop.yml, .github/workflows/release.yml, apps/marketing/src/pages/download.astro, README.md, docs/operations/release.md, docs/user/install.md	Release workflows include .deb assets. The download page and installation instructions describe Debian and Ubuntu packages. Release documentation lists .deb artifacts and describes their updates and installation.

Priority: ➖ Normal

Estimated code review effort: 3 (Moderate) | ~25 minutes

Change: Feature · Severity of issue fixed: Low

Sequence Diagram(s)

sequenceDiagram
  participant DesktopBuild
  participant ReleaseWorkflows
  participant GitHubRelease
  DesktopBuild->>ReleaseWorkflows: Produce and collect .deb assets
  ReleaseWorkflows->>GitHubRelease: Include .deb assets in release

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Suggested reviewers: juliusmarminge

Merge Risk: 🔵 Low · up to 55ff2

Users without a desktop password dialog may need to install updates manually, but the guide does not tell them how. Clarify that fallback; the remaining issue is bounded and does not prevent merging.

🚥 Pre-merge checks | ✅ 4 | ❌ 1

❌ Failed checks (1 warning)

Check name	Status	Explanation	Resolution
Docstring Coverage	⚠️ Warning	Docstring coverage is 0.00% which is insufficient. The required threshold is 80.00%. Docstring coverage is scoped to functions touched by this diff. Analyzed 2 functions across 5 files. (6 skipped: 6 …	Write docstrings for the functions missing them to satisfy the coverage threshold.

✅ Passed checks (4 passed)

Check name	Status	Explanation
Linked Issues check	✅ Passed	No active, directly linked issues remain. Issues [#298] and [#543] are closed and provide historical context only. No linked-issue coding requirements apply.
Out of Scope Changes check	✅ Passed	The changes remain within the stated pull request scope. They add .deb build metadata, release asset publication, updater support, tests, and related installation and release documentation. The chan…
Title check	✅ Passed	The title clearly and concisely describes the main change: shipping a self-updating Linux .deb package.
Description check	✅ Passed	The description thoroughly explains what changed, why it changed, implementation details, tradeoffs, verification results, and known limitations. It does not reproduce the template headings or checkli…

Full details: Docstring Coverage

Explanation

Docstring coverage is 0.00% which is insufficient. The required threshold is 80.00%. Docstring coverage is scoped to functions touched by this diff. Analyzed 2 functions across 5 files. (6 skipped: 6 unsupported.)

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Actionable comments posted: 1

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• 🪄 Fix CodeRabbit comments on this PR

🤖 Prompt to fix review comments

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Inline comments:
In `@docs/user/install.md`:
- Around line 69-70: Update the `.deb` update description to make the in-app
password prompt conditional on desktop password-dialog support, and tell users
without that support to download and install the updated package manually.

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📥 Commits

Reviewing files that changed from the base of the PR and between df9826f and 55ff225.

📒 Files selected for processing (11)

• .github/workflows/release-desktop.yml
• .github/workflows/release.yml
• README.md
• apps/desktop/src/updates/DesktopUpdates.test.ts
• apps/desktop/src/updates/DesktopUpdates.ts
• apps/desktop/src/updates/updatesTestHarness.ts
• apps/marketing/src/pages/download.astro
• docs/operations/release.md
• docs/user/install.md
• scripts/build-desktop-artifact.test.ts
• scripts/build-desktop-artifact.ts

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