Core Commands

validate

fp-appimage-updater validate [app-name]

Parses all recipe files (or a single named one) and reports which files are valid and which contain errors. Run this after editing a recipe to catch YAML mistakes before they affect check or update.

# Validate all recipes
fp-appimage-updater validate

# Validate a single recipe
fp-appimage-updater validate whatpulse

check

fp-appimage-updater check [app-name]

Contacts each app’s configured update source and compares it to the locally recorded version. No files are downloaded or changed. Output includes:

Whether a new version is available
The version, ETag, or Last-Modified metadata used for comparison
Support hints such as HTTP range support for segmented downloads

Examples

# Check all configured apps
fp-appimage-updater check

# Check a single app
fp-appimage-updater check whatpulse

# Check all apps and format output with jq
fp-appimage-updater --json check | jq

update

fp-appimage-updater update [app-name]

Downloads and installs updates for all configured apps, or for a single named app. By default, the output only lists apps that were actually updated, rate-limited, or failed. Pass --show-all or set show_all: true in config.yml to restore the older verbose listing that includes already up-to-date apps. Each successful update reports the elapsed time so you can see how long each app took. If a rate-limit was hit on a previous run, the affected app is skipped until its retry window expires — unless respect_rate_limits is disabled globally or for that app.

Examples

# Update all apps
fp-appimage-updater update

# Update a single app
fp-appimage-updater update hydra-launcher

# Update all apps and then update the updater itself
fp-appimage-updater update --self-update

# Update an app and check if it was actually updated
fp-appimage-updater --json update whatpulse | jq '.[0].is_updated'

Flags

--self-update

boolean

Also update the fp-appimage-updater binary itself after finishing the app updates.

--debug-download-url <URL>

string

Debug only: Force a specific download URL for the update, bypassing the resolver. Requires app-name.

--debug-version <VER>

string

Debug only: Force a specific version string for the update, bypassing the resolver. Requires app-name.

--show-all

boolean

Show every app in the update results, including apps that were already up to date.

Both check and update run multiple apps concurrently. A provider-aware cap limits how many requests go to the same host at once, so a large batch stays fast without overloading any single server.

doctor

fp-appimage-updater doctor

Runs a local health check without contacting any remote servers. It verifies:

The config directory exists and is readable
The apps directory is present
The global config.yml can be parsed
The state directory is accessible
The process lock is missing, active, or stale
Recipe files can be parsed successfully
Whether local update prerequisites look sane

Use doctor when check or update behaves unexpectedly to rule out local configuration problems.

Getting Started

Core Configuration

Command Line Interface

Advanced Usage

Help & Troubleshooting

validate

check

Examples

update

Examples

Flags

doctor

​validate

​check

​Examples

​update

​Examples

​Flags

​doctor

validate

check

Examples

update

Examples

Flags

doctor