[AnishSarkar22]

What

• Upgrades Electron from 44.2.0 to 44.10.1 and pins electron, electron-builder and electron-updater exactly in surfsense_local/electron/package.json.
• Documents the 1 GiB limit in docs/architecture/updates.md (new section and two Known gaps).
• Adds a step to surfsense_local/RELEASE.md: check for an Electron 44 patch before each release, never go below 44.7, and carry the electron-updater patch over on a bump.
• Adds a section to the user docs (www/content/docs/v2/updates.mdx) telling Mac users on 2.3.0 or earlier to reinstall once.

Why

Mac updates have never installed since 2.1.0. electron-updater hands the whole update zip to Squirrel.Mac, which before Electron 44.7 reads it into one memory buffer. Past 1 GiB that buffer asks for 2 GiB, Electron's allocator refuses it, and the app crashes with EXC_BREAKPOINT and no error event (electron/electron#55089). Every Mac zip from 2.1.0 to 2.3.0 is 1.13–1.34 GB. With a finished download waiting, the app crashed shortly after launch.

Electron 44.7.0 streams the zip to disk instead (release notes).

The fix ships in the app doing the installing, so Mac users on 2.3.0 or earlier still crash on the next update and must install it once by hand (DMG or brew upgrade); their data folder carries over. There is no compatibility layer: no smaller bridge release, no update feed rule, no renamed manifest. The release notes, downloads page and user docs tell those users to reinstall. Windows and Linux are unaffected.

Fixes #

How to test

Measured locally on Apple Silicon:

Electron	Update size	Result
44.2.0	1023 MiB	Downloads
44.2.0	1025 MiB and larger	Crashes, same stack as user crash reports
44.10.1	1222 MiB, signed by the same certificate	Downloads, installs, relaunches as the new version; about 150 MB peak memory in the main process
44.10.1	1222 MiB, signed by another certificate	Refused, installed app unchanged

These runs used a throwaway self-signed certificate, not the Developer ID, and no notarization.

Before release:

1. cd surfsense_local/electron && pnpm install && pnpm typecheck && pnpm test
2. Install a signed, notarized build of this branch by hand on a Mac, then let it update to a later test build over 1 GiB. It should install and relaunch without crashing.
3. Add "Mac users on 2.3.0 or earlier: download the new version once" to the release notes' Known issues, and to the downloads page.

High-level PR Summary

This PR fixes a critical bug preventing Mac updates from installing on versions 2.1.0–2.3.0 by upgrading Electron from 44.2.0 to 44.10.1, which streams update zips to disk instead of loading them into a single memory buffer that crashes above 1 GiB. The PR also pins electron, electron-builder, and electron-updater exactly, documents the 1 GiB limit and testing steps in architecture docs, adds release checklist reminders about Electron version requirements, and notifies Mac users on affected versions to manually reinstall once.

⏱️ Estimated Review Time: 5-15 minutes

💡 Review Order Suggestion

Order	File Path
1	docs/architecture/updates.md
2	surfsense_local/RELEASE.md
3	www/content/docs/v2/updates.mdx
4	surfsense_local/electron/package.json
5	surfsense_local/electron/pnpm-lock.yaml

Summary by CodeRabbit

• Documentation
  • Added guidance for Mac users on version 2.3.0 or earlier, including how to install a newer version manually and what to expect from future updates.
  • Documented the 1 GiB update limit affecting older Mac versions and the status of testing updates larger than 1 GiB.
  • Clarified release guidance for updating the app’s underlying components.

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[coderabbitai]

No actionable comments were generated in the recent review.

Walkthrough

The Electron package now uses exact dependency versions. Release instructions specify Electron version requirements. Architecture and user documentation describe the macOS update limit and manual upgrade steps for SurfSense 2.3.0 or earlier.

Changes: macOS updates

Layer / File(s)	Summary
Pin Electron versions surfsense_local/electron/package.json, surfsense_local/RELEASE.md	Electron, electron-builder, and electron-updater now use exact versions. Release instructions cover Electron patch updates, the minimum Electron version, and carrying the updater patch forward.
Document macOS update behavior docs/architecture/updates.md, www/content/docs/v2/updates.mdx	The documentation describes the pre-44.7 in-memory ZIP limit, the manual upgrade steps for affected versions, and the missing end-to-end test for an update over 1 GiB.

Estimated code review effort: 2 (Simple) | ~10 minutes

Change: Bug fix · Severity of issue fixed: Medium

Possibly related PRs

• MODSetter/SurfSense#2324: The installer ZIP size reported in this PR exceeds the 1 GiB limit described here.
• MODSetter/SurfSense#2380: This PR identifies version 2.3.0 as the release version targeted by the manual upgrade guidance.
• MODSetter/SurfSense#2383: This PR adds the update guide that this PR extends with macOS-specific behavior.

Suggested reviewers: credo23

Merge Risk: Minimal · up to 70d3e

No actionable merge-blocking issue was identified. The dependency pins and upgrade guidance are consistent; complete the documented signed and notarized macOS update test before release.

Pre-merge checks: 5

Check name	Status	Explanation
Description Check		Check skipped - CodeRabbit’s high-level summary is enabled.
Title check		The title clearly and concisely describes the main change: fixing Mac updates over 1 GiB by upgrading to Electron 44.10.1.
Docstring Coverage		No eligible functions found in the changed files. Skipping docstring coverage check. Docstring coverage is scoped to functions touched by this diff with cyclomatic complexity of at least 2. Documentat…
Linked Issues check		Check skipped because no linked issues were found for this pull request.
Out of Scope Changes check		Check skipped because no linked issues were found for this pull request.

Full details: Docstring Coverage

Explanation

No eligible functions found in the changed files. Skipping docstring coverage check. Docstring coverage is scoped to functions touched by this diff with cyclomatic complexity of at least 2. Documentation-only edits and deletions within surviving functions are included; unchanged diff context and fully deleted functions are excluded. Analyzed 0 functions across 0 files. (4 skipped: 4 unsupported.)

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Recent review info

Run configuration

• Source mode: Auto
• Repository: MODSetter/SurfSense
• Branch: dev
• File: .coderabbit.yaml
• Commit: ad04234
• Layers: Repository YAML
• Review profile: CHILL
• Plan: Advanced
• Run ID: 7166c4cf-be9c-43bd-b39a-cc29cf4bb2fa

Commits

Reviewing files that changed from the base of the PR and between ad04234 and 70d3edc.

Files ignored due to path filters: 1

• surfsense_local/electron/pnpm-lock.yaml is excluded by !**/pnpm-lock.yaml

Files selected for processing: 4

• docs/architecture/updates.md
• surfsense_local/RELEASE.md
• surfsense_local/electron/package.json
• www/content/docs/v2/updates.mdx

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