Updating

Here's how to keep an existing Client Reporter install up to date.

Since Client Reporter is source you clone, updating just means pulling the latest code and running the usual Laravel update steps - installing any new dependencies, running database migrations and rebuilding the front-end assets. It never updates itself, so you're always in control of when and how you upgrade.

Before you update

• Back up your database. For SQLite, copy database/database.sqlite; for MySQL/PostgreSQL, take a dump. Migrations only go forward, so there's no undo.
• Back up .env - and keep APP_KEY safe in particular, since it's what decrypts your stored integration credentials, the AI provider key and users' two-factor secrets. Losing it means re-entering every credential. A complete backup is the database, .env, and storage/app/public/ (uploaded logos and cached favicons).
• Read the changelog for the release you're moving to, and take note of anything in a BREAKING or upgrade-notes section.
• It's worth flipping on maintenance mode while you upgrade: php artisan down (then php artisan up when you're done).

Standard update (shell access)

From the project root:

# 1. Pull the latest code (or check out a release tag)
git pull            # or: git fetch --tags && git checkout v0.1.0

# 2. Install PHP dependencies without dev tooling
composer install --no-dev --optimize-autoloader

# 3. Rebuild front-end assets
npm install && npm run build

# 4. Run database migrations and clear caches
php artisan client-reporter:update

client-reporter:update is a little convenience command that wraps up the last of the upgrade: it runs php artisan migrate --force and then php artisan optimize:clear. It does not download or replace your application code - always pull with git/composer first, then run it. Pass --force to skip the confirmation prompt (handy in scripts):

php artisan client-reporter:update --force

If you'd rather run the steps yourself instead of using the helper:

php artisan migrate --force
php artisan optimize:clear

Once you're done, reload the app. The admin Settings page shows the running version, so you can confirm the upgrade actually took.

Updating on shared hosting without shell access

If you can't run git/composer/npm on the server, prepare the release on a machine that can and then deploy the built files:

1. On a local machine, pull the new code and run composer install --no-dev --optimize-autoloader and npm install && npm run build.
2. Upload the updated files (including vendor/ and the built public/build/ assets) to the server, keeping your .env and database/database.sqlite in place.
3. Run the migrations and cache clear. If your host gives you a cron or terminal feature, run:

   php artisan client-reporter:update --force

   If you've got no way to run artisan at all, the next scheduled schedule:run will keep the app ticking over - but sort out running the migrations somehow before you rely on any new features, because pending migrations won't apply themselves.

Caches

php artisan optimize:clear (which client-reporter:update runs for you) clears the config, route, view and application caches. If you cache config/routes for performance in production, rebuild them afterwards:

php artisan config:cache
php artisan route:cache
php artisan view:cache

The in-app update checker

Client Reporter can give you a nudge when a newer release is out, but it never installs anything itself. When it's enabled, client-reporter:check-updates runs daily (via the scheduler) and compares your installed version against the latest GitHub release. If there's a newer stable release, Administrators see a notice, and the current/latest versions show up on the admin Settings page.

Toggle this from the Settings page (Update checks) or in configuration:

CLIENT_REPORTER_UPDATE_CHECK=true

The config for this lives under updates.* in config/client-reporter.php (endpoint and check interval). See Configuration.

Following releases

• Watch or star the repo at github.com/coysh-digital/client-reporter to get release notifications.
• Read the CHANGELOG.md - it follows Keep a Changelog and Semantic Versioning, so breaking changes are always called out.
• Update the companion WordPress and Craft plugins when a release mentions new minimum versions; the app tells you about plugin compatibility.

See also Installation and Shared hosting.