🤖 fix: surface update errors with phase-aware feedback by ibetitsmike · Pull Request #2358 · coder/mux

ibetitsmike · 2026-02-11T12:42:42Z

Summary

Adds user-facing feedback when update operations fail, plus a DEBUG_UPDATER_FAIL flag to test error states locally.

Background

Follow-up to #2335 (moved update controls into About dialog). Several failure modes were identified:

downloadUpdate() / installUpdate() could throw without emitting an UpdateStatus.error
TitleBar had no icon for the error state — failures were invisible unless the About dialog was open
Transient errors during manual "Check for Updates" silently reverted to idle, identical to background auto-checks — users couldn't tell if the check actually ran
No easy way to test error UI locally in dev mode

Implementation

Schema: phase-aware errors

Extended UpdateStatusSchema error variant with phase: "check" | "download" | "install" so the UI can tailor messaging and retry CTAs.

Backend: source-aware checks + error emission

update.check now accepts { source?: "auto" | "manual" }:
- Auto checks (background polling): transient errors still silently back off to idle (no spam)
- Manual checks (user clicks): transient errors surface as { type: "error", phase: "check" } so the user gets feedback
Wrapped downloadUpdate() and installUpdate() in try/catch to emit proper error statuses with the relevant phase instead of silently throwing
All error paths throughout the updater now include the phase field

UI: discoverable errors

About dialog open behavior: Opening About now uses existing streamed update state and does not force a manual check; update checks occur only when the user clicks Check for Updates.
TitleBar: Added AlertTriangle badge icon when updateStatus.type === "error" — failures are now visible even with the About dialog closed
About dialog: Phase-aware error section with tailored copy and retry CTAs:
- Check errors → "Update check failed" + "Try again"
- Download errors → "Download failed" + "Retry download" + "Check again"
- Install errors → "Install failed" + "Try install again" + "Check again"

`DEBUG_UPDATER_FAIL` — dev-mode failure simulation

New env var to exercise error UI locally:

DEBUG_UPDATER=1.0.0 DEBUG_UPDATER_FAIL=check    make dev  # check fails
DEBUG_UPDATER=1.0.0 DEBUG_UPDATER_FAIL=download  make dev  # download fails at ~40%
DEBUG_UPDATER=1.0.0 DEBUG_UPDATER_FAIL=install   make dev  # install fails

Only takes effect when DEBUG_UPDATER is set with a fake version string. Extended parseDebugUpdater() to parse the fail phase and gated simulation in each fake path.

Validation

make static-check — all checks pass
bun test src/desktop/updater.test.ts — 25 tests pass (includes new source/phase + fail simulation tests)
bun test ./tests/ui/aboutDialog.integration.test.ts — 7 tests pass (includes 3 new error phase tests)

Risks

Low. Changes are additive — the phase field is new, and source input is optional (existing call sites passing undefined remain valid). DEBUG_UPDATER_FAIL is dev-only and gated behind DEBUG_UPDATER.

Generated with mux • Model: anthropic:claude-opus-4-6 • Thinking: xhigh • Cost: $4.77

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src/desktop/updater.ts

ibetitsmike · 2026-02-11T14:08:13Z

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src/desktop/updater.ts

Upgrade in-flight checking source to manual when a skipped manual request arrives, and map downloaded-state updater errors to install phase. Added regression tests for both cases in updater.test.ts.

ibetitsmike · 2026-02-11T14:47:03Z

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src/desktop/updater.ts

ibetitsmike · 2026-02-11T14:58:46Z

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chatgpt-codex-connector · 2026-02-11T15:06:57Z

Codex Review: Didn't find any major issues. You're on a roll.

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ibetitsmike · 2026-02-11T16:08:13Z

@codex review

ibetitsmike · 2026-02-11T16:09:15Z

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chatgpt-codex-connector · 2026-02-11T16:16:23Z

Codex Review: Didn't find any major issues. Already looking forward to the next diff.

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ibetitsmike · 2026-02-11T16:24:25Z

@codex review

chatgpt-codex-connector · 2026-02-11T16:30:10Z

Codex Review: Didn't find any major issues. Nice work!

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ibetitsmike · 2026-02-11T19:54:00Z

@codex review

chatgpt-codex-connector · 2026-02-11T19:59:54Z

Codex Review: Didn't find any major issues. 🚀

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ibetitsmike added 3 commits February 11, 2026 12:33

fix: add phase/source-aware updater error status handling

68f8616

feat: surface update errors in title bar and about dialog

6adb313

tests: add phase-aware about dialog update error coverage

c7b6b21

chatgpt-codex-connector bot reviewed Feb 11, 2026

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ibetitsmike added 2 commits February 11, 2026 12:55

feat: add debug updater failure phase simulation

890c65c

fix updater retry guards after phase errors

c455bdd

chatgpt-codex-connector bot reviewed Feb 11, 2026

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src/desktop/updater.ts Outdated Show resolved Hide resolved

🤖 fix: preserve manual check source and install-phase error mapping

c02478e

Upgrade in-flight checking source to manual when a skipped manual request arrives, and map downloaded-state updater errors to install phase. Added regression tests for both cases in updater.test.ts.

chatgpt-codex-connector bot reviewed Feb 11, 2026

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src/desktop/updater.ts Outdated Show resolved Hide resolved

ibetitsmike added 2 commits February 11, 2026 14:55

🤖 fix: satisfy static-check lint for updater debug fail tests

76544aa

🤖 fix: preserve updater phase on follow-up error events

ebcb974

🤖 fix: stop About dialog from auto-checking updates

21d9492

🤖 fix: make simulated install retries visibly update status

9dfa810

ibetitsmike added this pull request to the merge queue Feb 11, 2026

github-merge-queue bot removed this pull request from the merge queue due to failed status checks Feb 11, 2026

🤖 test: wait for install retry button before clicking

45c1853

ibetitsmike added this pull request to the merge queue Feb 11, 2026

Merged via the queue into main with commit 8193c67 Feb 11, 2026
23 checks passed

ibetitsmike deleted the mike/update-error-feedback branch February 11, 2026 22:06

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ibetitsmike commented Feb 11, 2026 • edited Loading Uh oh! There was an error while loading. Please reload this page.

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Summary

Background

Implementation

Schema: phase-aware errors

Backend: source-aware checks + error emission

UI: discoverable errors

DEBUG_UPDATER_FAIL — dev-mode failure simulation

Validation

Risks

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ibetitsmike commented Feb 11, 2026 •

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`DEBUG_UPDATER_FAIL` — dev-mode failure simulation