tauri-plugin-sparkle-updater

A Tauri plugin that integrates the Sparkle update framework for macOS applications.

Features

• Native macOS update UI via Sparkle framework
• EdDSA (Ed25519) signature verification
• Automatic and background update checks
• Full event system for custom UI integration
• Channel-based updates, custom HTTP headers, phased rollout
• TypeScript/JavaScript API with full type definitions

Requirements

• macOS 11.0+
• Tauri 2.x
• Sparkle framework 2.8.1

Quick Start

1. Install dependencies

# src-tauri/Cargo.toml
[target.'cfg(target_os = "macos")'.dependencies]
tauri-plugin-sparkle-updater = "0.2"

npm install tauri-plugin-sparkle-updater-api

2. Download Sparkle & generate keys

# Download Sparkle framework
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ahonn/tauri-plugin-sparkle-updater/refs/heads/master/scripts/download-sparkle.sh | bash

# Generate signing keys (saved to Keychain)
./sparkle-bin/generate_keys

3. Configure Info.plist

Create src-tauri/Info.plist:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
<plist version="1.0">
<dict>
    <key>SUFeedURL</key>
    <string>https://example.com/appcast.xml</string>
    <key>SUPublicEDKey</key>
    <string>YOUR_BASE64_PUBLIC_KEY</string>
</dict>
</plist>

4. Bundle configuration

{
  "bundle": {
    "macOS": {
      "frameworks": ["path/to/Sparkle.framework"]
    }
  }
}

5. Register plugin

fn main() {
    tauri::Builder::default()
        .plugin(tauri_plugin_sparkle_updater::init())
        .run(tauri::generate_context!())
        .expect("error while running tauri application");
}

Basic Usage

Rust

use tauri_plugin_sparkle_updater::SparkleUpdaterExt;

fn check_updates(app: &tauri::AppHandle) {
    if let Some(updater) = app.sparkle_updater() {
        updater.check_for_updates().unwrap();
    }
}

Note: sparkle_updater() returns None during tauri dev (requires .app bundle).

TypeScript

import {
  checkForUpdates,
  checkForUpdatesInBackground,
  onDidFindValidUpdate,
  onDidAbortWithError,
} from 'tauri-plugin-sparkle-updater-api';

// Check with native UI
await checkForUpdates();

// Background check
await checkForUpdatesInBackground();

// Listen for events
await onDidFindValidUpdate((info) => {
  console.log(`Update ${info.version} available!`);
});

Documentation

• API Reference (docs.rs) - Rust API documentation
• Publishing - Signing and CI/CD workflow
• Sparkle Documentation - Appcast format, configuration keys, sandboxing

Cross-Platform

For Windows/Linux, use the official tauri-plugin-updater:

#[cfg(target_os = "macos")]
builder = builder.plugin(tauri_plugin_sparkle_updater::init());

#[cfg(not(target_os = "macos"))]
builder = builder.plugin(tauri_plugin_updater::Builder::new().build());

License

MIT