# Squirrel/Squirrel.Mac

:shipit: Cocoa framework for updating OS X apps :shipit:

Repository: https://github.com/Squirrel/Squirrel.Mac
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/squirrelmac
Language: Objective-C
License: NOASSERTION
License Family: other
Last push: 2026-08-14T18:17:23+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 66/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 97, release rhythm 8, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 4791, "days_push": 19, "days_rel": null, "gap_med": null, "n_releases_24m": 0}
- flags: no_license
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 1684, forks 139 (observed 2026-08-28T04:05:21.916461+00:00)

## What it is
Squirrel.Mac is a Cocoa framework for macOS that handles automatic application updates, driven by server-controlled update feeds. It lets servers decide which version clients should receive, enabling behaviors like phased rollouts and rollbacks.

## Use cases
- auto-update my mac app from my own server
- server-controlled phased rollout of desktop app updates
- roll back a bad mac app release remotely
- add authenticated update checks to a cocoa application
- ship delta updates to reduce download size on macos

## When to choose
- you ship a native macOS app and want server-driven automatic updates
- you need phased rollouts, rollbacks, or per-request update decisions
- you want an update framework designed for embedding in Cocoa apps

## When to avoid
- you need a cross-platform updater covering Windows or Linux
- you want a fully client-side update feed without server-side logic
- your project is Swift-only and you cannot manage Objective-C dependencies like ReactiveObjC and Mantle

## Facets
- artifact type: library
- maturity: maintenance
- function: deployment, developer-tools
- domain: operating-systems, desktop-applications, developer-tools
- platform: -
- tags: auto-update, cocoa-framework, objective-c, app-updates, electron-updater, macos

## Member repositories
- Squirrel/Squirrel.Mac (main) score 66

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:05:21.916461+00:00.
- Health v2: computed from the inputs above; adoption is never an input.
- Inferred fields (summary, facets, guidance): AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, on 2026-08-30T03:41:15.983337+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/Squirrel/Squirrel.Mac (fetched 2026-08-28T04:05:21.916461+00:00, sha 2325df10a94c)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.