TerminalCanaryUpdater

A PowerShell module for updating Windows Terminal Canary with automatic process management and smart installation handling.

Author: izambe
Created with assistance from: Amazon Q AI Assistant

Problem Solved

This module solves the common "suicide mission" problem when trying to update Windows Terminal Canary from within Terminal Canary itself - where the update process kills the terminal session before the installation can complete.

Features

• Smart Process Management: Automatically handles closing Terminal Canary processes at the right time
• Multiple Installation Methods: Uses both silent installation and UI fallback methods
• Version Checking: Compare installed version with latest available
• Simple Commands: Easy-to-use functions and aliases
• Error Handling: Robust error handling with cleanup

Installation

From PowerShell Gallery

Install-Module -Name TerminalCanaryUpdater -Scope CurrentUser
Import-Module TerminalCanaryUpdater

Manual Installation

1. Download the module files
2. Place in your PowerShell modules directory
3. Import the module: Import-Module TerminalCanaryUpdater

Usage

Quick Update (Recommended)

canary-quick

• Downloads installer
• Launches installer UI
• Automatically kills Canary processes after 3 seconds
• Simple one-command solution

Full-Featured Update

canary-update

• Checks current version
• Prompts for confirmation
• Downloads and installs silently
• Falls back to UI if needed
• Shows version information

Force Update (No Prompts)

canary-update -Force

Check Version

canary-version
canary-version -CheckLatest

Functions

Install-CanaryQuick

Simple one-command installer that launches the UI and automatically kills processes.

Alias: canary-quick

Update-TerminalCanary

Full-featured updater with version checking and smart installation.

Alias: canary-update

Parameters:

• -Force: Skip confirmation prompts

Get-CanaryVersion

Check current installed version and optionally compare with latest.

Alias: canary-version

Parameters:

• -CheckLatest: Also check and compare with latest available version

How It Works

1. Downloads the latest installer from Microsoft's CDN
2. Detects running Terminal Canary processes
3. Launches installer (for UI methods) or installs silently
4. Closes processes at the optimal time to avoid interrupting the installation
5. Cleans up temporary files
6. Reports success and new version information

Requirements

• Windows 10/11
• PowerShell 5.1 or later
• Windows Terminal Canary (for updates)

Credits

• Author: izambe
• AI Assistant: Amazon Q helped with development and problem-solving
• Inspiration: Solving the real-world problem of updating Terminal Canary from within itself

License

MIT License - see LICENSE file for details

Contributing

Contributions welcome! Please submit issues and pull requests on GitHub at https://github.com/izambe/TerminalCanaryUpdater