---
title: Agent upgrades: update available badge and a verified one-command upgrade
description: Until now a new agent release meant checking GitHub yourself and repeating the install. The server now tells each running agent about the newest release, the…
canonical: https://watchfor.io/changelog/2026-09-16-agent-self-update
---

[All updates](/changelog/page/3#2026-09-16-agent-self-update) ✨ New Sep 16, 2026 · v 7.8.9

# Agent upgrades: update available badge and a verified one-command upgrade

Until now a new agent release meant checking GitHub yourself and repeating the install. The server now tells each running agent about the newest release, the host page shows an "update available" badge with the command, and `sudo watchfor-agent upgrade` installs it: signature and checksum verified, only GitHub's release hosts accepted, atomic swap, service restart. Servers that should stay current can opt in to a daily timer with `--auto-update`.

## Why

Nothing told you a new agent release was out. Keeping ten servers current meant watching GitHub and running the installer again on each one.

## What happens now

- Every time an agent pushes a batch, WatchFor's answer includes the newest release. The agent asks only WatchFor, so your servers don't need to reach GitHub just to find out.

- The version badge on the host page turns amber and shows the step, for example v0.7.1 → v0.8.0 . Its tooltip has the command. In the hosts list the version gets a small arrow.

- sudo watchfor-agent upgrade downloads the release from GitHub's release hosts only. It checks the signature with the key built into the agent, checks the archive against the signed checksums, runs the new binary once to confirm the version, swaps it in and restarts the service. If any step fails, nothing is replaced.

## Example

A release goes out on Tuesday. On web-1's next push the badge turns amber. You run sudo watchfor-agent upgrade on the server, and a minute later the host page shows the new version and the badge is plain again.

## Updating by itself, only if you ask

Run the installer with --auto-update and a daily timer installs new releases on its own, at a random moment within a six-hour window, so a fleet doesn't restart all at once. It stays off unless you turn it on.

Details are in [Upgrading the agent](/docs/hosts#upgrading-the-agent).

Since then, the agent's own screen has an Update row that does the same thing: see [One screen on the server for the whole agent](/changelog/2026-09-18-agent-screen).

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Canonical page: https://watchfor.io/changelog/2026-09-16-agent-self-update · Site guide: https://watchfor.io/llms.txt