---
title: Updating HeartBeatAgents
summary: How updates are checked, downloaded, and applied, on the desktop app and on a self-hosted instance, and what happens if one fails.
date: 2026-09-10
---

# Updating HeartBeatAgents

How updates are checked, downloaded, and applied, on the desktop app and on a self-hosted instance, and what happens if one fails.

## Desktop app

The desktop app checks for updates automatically; you can also trigger a check yourself from **Settings → System → Check for Updates**. When a new version is found, it downloads in the background while you keep working. Once it's ready, you'll see a banner; click **Restart now** to apply it, or keep working and restart whenever suits you; the update is already downloaded and verified, waiting.

If a downloaded update can't be verified, it isn't installed. Nothing about your current install changes.

## Self-hosted instances

A self-hosted instance shows the same **Settings → System** update card, with an explicit **Update now** action rather than a background download. Confirming it restarts every service; the instance is briefly unavailable, usually a few minutes, while it updates. If anything fails partway through, it rolls back automatically to the version you were running, with services healthy again on the previous version, rather than left in a broken in-between state.

## Release candidates

You can opt an instance into release candidates from the same settings card, to get pre-release versions for early testing. Release candidates can contain bugs that affect your installation or data; only turn this on for an instance you're using specifically to test upcoming changes, not one running anything you depend on.

## Related

- [Installation](/en/docs/getting-started/installation): downloading and verifying a release in the first place
- [Self-Hosting](/en/docs/guides/self-hosting): the deployment path where update timing is entirely up to you