Updates and privacy

SpaceKnife has no telemetry and no account. The only things it fetches from the internet are the list of its own releases on GitHub and the new version’s file with its checksums.

The update check

With Settings › About & updates › Updates › Check for updates automatically on (the default), SpaceKnife reads the release list of its GitHub repository:

about a minute after it starts, when the last successful check is more than 24 hours old;
then once every 24 hours while it runs;
6 hours after a check that failed (no connection, GitHub busy), instead of 24.

Each check sends the tag (ETag) of the list it already has, so an unchanged list costs almost nothing. Turning the setting on, or changing which versions to offer, checks right away. What the checks remember (the last check, the recent releases with their notes, the versions whose card you closed, the series you skipped) is kept in update.json in the data folder.

Check for updates in the command palette or on the About & updates page checks at any time, also with the automatic check off. Its status shows your current version, or the newer one it found.

Which versions are offered

Settings › About & updates › Updates › Versions to offer:

Choice	Offers
Include previews (default)	The newest release, previews included
Releases only	Only releases that are not previews

A preview is a release marked as a pre-release on GitHub, or one whose version has a pre-release part, such as 0.4.0-beta.1. Draft releases are never offered. With Releases only, nothing is offered until there is a newer release that isn’t a preview.

How a new version is shown

How loudly SpaceKnife tells you depends on how far behind you are. Versions are compared part by part as whole numbers, so 0.3.10 is newer than 0.3.9.

The new version differs in	Example	What you see
The last part, or only the preview part	0.3.1 → 0.3.2, 0.4.0-beta.1 → 0.4.0	Only the badge in the title bar
The middle part (a minor release)	0.3.2 → 0.4.0	The badge, and the update card at the top left
The first part (a major release)	0.4.0 → 1.0.0	The badge, and the update card as a dialog in the window

The badge sits at the right of the title bar and reads “Update 0.4.0”. While the new version downloads, it fills up and shows the percentage; once the file is ready, it reads Update ready. Hover for “SpaceKnife 0.4.0 is available (you have 0.3.2)”, or, once the file is ready, “SpaceKnife 0.4.0 is downloaded and checked. Open this to choose how to update.”; click it to open the update card under it. A click elsewhere or Esc closes the card.
The update card shows the version, its release date, the version you have, a Preview tag for previews, the start of the release notes with Full release notes, the file for your kind of install and its size, and Later, Release page and Download (or the download’s progress, or the two install buttons once the file is ready: see Install). On the card of a minor or major release, Skip 0.4.x (Skip 1.x for a major one) sits next to Later: see Skipping a series.
The dialog of a major release holds the same card, marked Major update. While it is open, the keyboard shortcuts behind it don’t work.

Closing the card or the dialog (the close button, Later or Esc) means that version won’t open by itself again, also after a restart; the badge stays. Click the badge, or run Show update in the command palette, to open the card again.

Skipping a series

To stop hearing about a whole series, click Skip 0.4.x or Skip 1.x in the update card. The button is next to Later on the card at the top left, in the dialog of a major release and on the card under the badge. A patch release only ever shows the badge, so it has no such button.

The update is	Button	The series it skips
A minor release (0.3.2 → 0.4.0)	Skip 0.4.x	Every 0.4.x: 0.4.0, 0.4.1, 0.4.2…
A major release (0.4.0 → 1.0.0)	Skip 1.x	Every 1.x: 1.0.0, 1.1.0, 1.2.3…

From then on, a release of that series opens no card and no dialog, shows no badge, and downloads nothing by itself. Hover the button for “No more cards, dialogs or badge for 0.4.x, and no automatic download. Turn them back on in About & updates.”; once you click it, SpaceKnife says “No more prompts for 0.4.x. Turn them back on in About & updates.”

A release of another series speaks up as usual: 0.5.0 after you skipped 0.4.x, 2.0.0 after you skipped 1.x.
The About & updates page still shows the release, and turns its prompts back on: its status reads “Version 0.4.2 is available (prompts for 0.4.x are off)”, and the card there has a line “Prompts for 0.4.x are off: no card, no badge, no automatic download.” with Turn prompts back on. After that the series is offered as usual, and with Download updates automatically on, the download starts.
When Check for updates finds a skipped release, it only says “Found version 0.4.2 (prompts for 0.4.x are off: see About & updates)” and opens no card. Show update in the command palette opens the About & updates page.
The skipped series are kept in update.json, also across restarts, up to 20 of them. Once SpaceKnife itself runs a version of that series or a newer one, the series is dropped the next time you skip or turn back on a series.

Closing a card and skipping a series are different things: closing the card (the close button, Later, Esc) only keeps that one version’s card closed, the badge stays and the next version speaks up as usual; skipping covers the whole series, badge included.

Download and verify

With Settings › About & updates › Updates › Download updates automatically on (the default), a check that finds a newer version downloads its file right away, in the background: the badge and the card show the progress, and nothing opens for it. With the setting off, click Download in the card. Only a version the check offers is downloaded (see Which versions are offered), and only when the release has a file for your kind of install. A skipped series isn’t downloaded by itself; to get one of its releases anyway, click Download in its card on the About & updates page.

The file goes into the updates folder in the data folder, not into your Downloads folder:

Your copy	File it downloads
Windows installer	`SpaceKnife-<version>-Setup-x64.exe`
Windows portable	`SpaceKnife-<version>-win-x64-portable.zip`
macOS	`SpaceKnife-<version>-mac-arm64.dmg` or `…-mac-x64.dmg`, for your Mac
deb	`spaceknife_<version>_amd64.deb`
rpm	`spaceknife-<version>.x86_64.rpm`
AppImage	`SpaceKnife-<version>-x86_64.AppImage`
Linux portable	`SpaceKnife-<version>-linux-x64-portable.tar.gz`

Then SpaceKnife checks the file:

It compares the file’s SHA-256 with the checksum published in the same release (SHA256SUMS*.txt). On a match the card says SHA-256 checksum verified.
A file that doesn’t match is deleted at once: “The downloaded file doesn’t match the published SHA-256 checksum and was deleted”.
If the release publishes checksum files but they can’t be read, nothing is downloaded.
If the release publishes no checksum for that file, the file is kept, marked “This release publishes no checksums: the file was not verified”.
A file already in the updates folder with the right checksum is used as it is, without downloading it again.

An automatic download that failed (no connection, for example) is tried again after the next check, or when you click Retry. For a copy SpaceKnife can’t match to a release file (for example one run from the source code), Download is disabled and the card says “For this kind of install, download it from the release page”.

Nothing left behind

Each start removes from the updates folder what is no longer needed: partial downloads, and everything of the version you run or an older one (the file that installed it and, for a portable copy, the old program files it replaced and the plan and log of the swap). A newer version you haven’t installed yet stays.
Uninstalling the Windows installer removes the updates folder; see Uninstalling.

Install

Once the file is downloaded and checked, the card says “Pick a way to install: nothing starts until you click, and your scans and settings stay.” Under it are two big buttons:

Seamless update: SpaceKnife puts the new version in place itself and opens again.
The classic way: the installer, the disk image or the package takes over and SpaceKnife quits; for a portable copy or an AppImage, the downloaded file is shown so that you replace it yourself.

A line under each button says what it does. Where your kind of install has no seamless way, the classic one is the only button.

Your copy	Seamless update	The classic way
Windows installer	SpaceKnife closes, the installer runs silently in the background without showing its pages and replaces the old version, and SpaceKnife opens again. For an installation for all users, Windows asks once for administrator permission.	Run the installer: SpaceKnife quits and opens the installer’s wizard; go through its steps to install the new version. It upgrades the old version in place.
Portable (Windows zip, Linux tar.gz)	SpaceKnife closes, puts the new program files in place itself (see below) and opens again. The `data` folder stays as it is.	Replace it yourself: shows the downloaded archive in its folder, and SpaceKnife keeps running. Quit SpaceKnife, then unpack the archive over the old files, keeping the `data` folder.
AppImage	SpaceKnife closes, the new AppImage (already made executable) takes the place of the old file, and it opens again.	Replace it yourself: shows the new AppImage in its folder, and SpaceKnife keeps running. Quit SpaceKnife, then replace the old file with it.
macOS	None	Open the disk image: SpaceKnife quits and opens the disk image. Drag SpaceKnife into Applications to replace the old one, then allow it once more.
deb, rpm	None	Open the package: SpaceKnife quits and opens the package in the system’s software installer.

Whichever way you choose, scan data and settings are kept. After a Seamless update, the window says “Updated to SpaceKnife 0.4.0” (the version it now runs) once.

A portable copy’s seamless update: SpaceKnife unpacks the archive in its updates folder and quits; the files are swapped by the new version’s own backend program, not by a script. It waits for SpaceKnife to quit, moves everything in the program folder except data to updates/previous-<old version> (waiting up to 30 more seconds while files are still in use), moves the new files in and starts the new version. If a file can’t be replaced, the old files are put back and the old version opens again. If the new version is incomplete, nothing is touched: SpaceKnife stays open and says why. Each step is written to updates/update-<version>.log.

If a scan is still running when you click a button that closes SpaceKnife, the first click only warns “A scan is still running. Updating stops it (what it has read so far isn’t saved).” and the button says Click again to go on; the second click goes ahead. Replace it yourself doesn’t close SpaceKnife, so it doesn’t ask.

It never installs by itself

SpaceKnife never installs an update by itself, neither a seamless update nor an installer: every install starts with your click in the update card, and no option to install automatically will ever be added. Download updates automatically only downloads and verifies.

Once you click, it only starts a file that is directly in its updates folder and named like the release file for your kind of install.

The About & updates page

Settings › About & updates gathers everything about your version and its updates. About & updates in the command palette opens it, and so does the About row at the bottom of Settings › General, which also says when a newer version is known.

At the top: your version, how this copy was installed and which versions are offered; what the last check found, when it ran and when the next automatic check is due. Check for updates checks now; All releases opens the Releases page. When a newer version is known, its update card is shown here too, and stays.
Skipped series: a release of a skipped series is shown here too. The status reads “Version 0.4.2 is available (prompts for 0.4.x are off)”, and the card has a line “Prompts for 0.4.x are off: no card, no badge, no automatic download.” with Turn prompts back on, which makes the series speak up again. You can still download and install the release from this card.
Updates: the three update settings (check, download, versions to offer).
Components: the versions of SpaceKnife, Electron, Chromium, Node.js, the backend’s Python and the protocol, and your system. Copy version info copies them, for a bug report.
Release timeline: the last 30 releases, newest first, marked Current, New (newer than yours) and Preview. Click one to read its notes in the interface language; the newest is open. View on GitHub opens its release page. The timeline comes from the last check, so it is there offline too; before the first check it is empty.

Turning the check off

Switch off Settings › About & updates › Updates › Check for updates automatically. Automatic downloads stop with it, and SpaceKnife then makes no network request unless you ask for one with Check for updates or Download. A release found by an earlier check can still show its badge. Releases stay on the Releases page, and the install page explains each way to upgrade by hand.

To stop hearing about one series only, you don’t need to turn the check off: click Skip 0.4.x in its card (see Skipping a series), and other releases are still offered.

Privacy

No telemetry

SpaceKnife sends nothing about you, your computer or your files: no usage statistics, no crash reports, no identifiers, no account. Scans, snapshots, tags and settings stay on your computer, in the folders listed in Data locations.

The only network requests

All of them go to GitHub, and only for updates:

Request	When	What is sent
The release list, from `api.github.com/repos/DuskXi/SpaceKnife/releases`	The automatic check, or Check for updates	A plain request with `User-Agent: SpaceKnife/<version>` and the ETag of the cached list. No token, no cookies.
The checksum files and the release file, from GitHub	After a check found a newer version, with Download updates automatically on (except for a skipped series: nothing of it is downloaded by itself); or when you click Download	The same `User-Agent`

Release page, Full release notes, All releases and View on GitHub open GitHub in your web browser; SpaceKnife itself fetches nothing for them. The release timeline shows the notes the last check already fetched.
The requests go through your proxy settings: the usual proxy environment variables, and on Windows and macOS the system’s proxy settings.
The connection to GitHub is verified with HTTPS certificates.
GitHub limits requests without a token per address. When many computers share one address, a check can be refused for a while (“GitHub is limiting requests for now…”); SpaceKnife tries again later.
The command line (spaceknife-backend scan, run, snapshot) makes no network requests.

On your computer

The window talks to its scanning backend over a local connection on this computer only (the loopback address, with a new random token each start), so other computers can’t reach it.
The log file and the log panel contain the paths of files and folders, for example of folders that couldn’t be read.
Copy diagnostics (Settings › Advanced) only copies to the clipboard. What it copies includes the paths of your settings file and log folder, which usually contain your user name; check before you post it.
A snapshot file (.sks) holds the names, sizes and dates of everything that was scanned. Sharing one shares your folder structure; the same goes for exports.