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What is check4updates?

check4updates is a Python package designed for developers to provide a reliable, simple, and unobtrusive way to check whether their users have the most recent release of their package installed and prompt users when an update is available. It is recommended that check4updates be placed in your package’s __init__.py file so that it is called every time the package is used. To minimise runtime, check4updates only checks online if certain conditions are met, such as sufficient time since the last check. This ensures that incorporating check4updates into your Python package will have a negligible (<0.01sec) effect on the time it takes users to import something from your package (which is when __init__.py is called) and no impact on any of the functions within your package. When check4updates does check online, it searches PyPI for the most recent release (based on version number) and compares that value with the version installed on the user’s system. If certain conditions are met, the user is then prompted to install the updated version which must be done by the user in a separate command so as not to interrupt the currently executing script. Users can choose to upgrade now, skip this version, be reminded later, or never be asked again and check4updates will remember this choice and act accordingly.

Please see how does check4updates work for a more detailed description of its functionality.