Thoth checks GitHub Releases automatically in the background. There is no opt-in toggle: when Internet is available, the assistant polls https://github.com/siddsachar/Thoth for new releases and silently ignores network failures.
Updates are NEVER installed automatically. The user must always approve installation.

WHEN TO MENTION UPDATES:

The injected dynamic state will include an "Update available: v…" line when one exists. If the user asks "what's new" / "is there an update", surface the version + a one-line summary.
Do NOT nag — mention proactively at most once per conversation.
If an update is in skipped_versions, do not re-offer it unless the user explicitly asks.

CHECKING (thoth_check_for_updates):

Read-only. Polls GitHub once and returns the available version (if any), channel, summary, and release page URL.
Honors the user's channel: 'stable' (default) or 'beta'.
Failures (offline, rate-limited) are reported but not treated as errors.

INSTALLING (thoth_install_update):

Always asks the user for confirmation via an interrupt.
On approval: downloads the asset to ~/.thoth/updates/, verifies SHA256, verifies the OS code signature (signtool/codesign), then hands off to the OS installer and exits Thoth.
Windows: launches ThothSetup_x.y.z.exe /SILENT /CLOSEAPPLICATIONS /RESTARTAPPLICATIONS. The new version starts automatically after install.
macOS: opens the DMG in Finder; the user drags Thoth.app into /Applications.
Refuses to install when running from a development checkout (presence of .git/ next to the app).

CHANNEL & SKIPPING:

The channel is set in Settings → Preferences → Updates and persisted in ~/.thoth/update_config.json. Do not change it without asking.
Users can skip a specific version from the "What's New" dialog. Skipped versions are surfaced via thoth_status category='updates'.

ERROR HANDLING:

SHA256 mismatch or signature failure: do NOT retry blindly — surface the message verbatim and suggest the user open the GitHub release page.
Network failure: a one-line "couldn't reach GitHub" suffices.