update Command

Use aw update when you want Arashi to check whether a newer CLI release is available.

Usage

aw update [--check] [--dry-run] [--yes]

Options

• --check checks whether an update is available without changing files.
• -n, --dry-run shows the planned update command or installer invocation without changing files.
• -y, --yes applies a supported update non-interactively.
• -j, --json output machine-readable update check, plan, or result data.

Behavior

Arashi first detects how the current CLI is installed.

For supported npm-managed and direct-installer installations, an update refreshes both arashi and aw; both names continue to use the same release.

• npm-managed installs can update the package and then refresh the matching platform binary when the package manager can be confidently detected.
• Package-manager detection supports npm, pnpm, Yarn, Bun, and Vite+ managed globals.
• Vite+ installs update with vp update -g arashi.
• official direct-installer installs can rerun the platform installer against the current binary directory when you pass --yes: the POSIX curl installer on macOS/Linux and a deferred PowerShell installer on Windows after the current Arashi process exits.
• manual release-asset installs use the same installer-based plan when possible; use --dry-run first if you need to inspect the target directory.
• ambiguous npm-managed installs do not mutate files. Arashi prints manual update commands instead.
• --check conflicts with --dry-run and -n. The npm wrapper and direct binary both reject that combination before release lookup, installer planning, or mutation rather than choosing one mode by flag order.
• Human mode returns an actionable usage error. JSON mode returns exactly one structured error envelope with both options identified and no human text mixed into stdout.
• Bare --json is inspection-only: it reports the available update and selected plan in one envelope, never prompts or applies an update, and behaves identically in the npm wrapper and direct binary.
• --json --yes returns JSON_UNSUPPORTED_FOR_MODE for installer-apply before update mutation.

Examples

# only check whether an update exists
aw update --check

# show the command or release guidance without changing files
aw update --dry-run

# inspect the Vite+ managed-global update plan
aw update --dry-run
# Selected update command: vp update -g arashi

# run a supported npm-managed update without prompting
aw update --yes

# check for updates and emit JSON
aw update --check --json

Notes

• If release or package metadata cannot be fetched, the command exits non-zero and leaves the existing binary in place.
• If the package update succeeds but binary refresh fails, run aw install to retry the binary installation or download the release asset manually.
• JSON mode is supported for inspection. Use --check --json, --dry-run --json, or bare --json; applying an update requires human output or --yes without JSON.