Updates and uninstalling

Leathercase does not update itself behind your back. It asks whether a newer version exists only when you say so, downloads it only when you take it, and installs it when you restart. This page covers how that works on each system, where to read what changed, and how to uninstall the app, including what stays behind.

Checking for a newer version

Nothing goes online until you ask. A fresh install has never checked, and Check when Leathercase opens is off.

You can check in four ways:

• Settings, Updates, Check now. Open Settings with Ctrl+, (Cmd+, on macOS) or from Settings at the foot of the sidebar.
• Settings, About, Check now. About Leathercase shows this copy's version with the same row as Updates; open it from the Leathercase menu on macOS, from Help on Windows and Linux, or with About Leathercase in the find field.
• The File menu, Check for updates.
• The find field: press Ctrl+K (Cmd+K), type "Check for updates" and press Enter.

Or let Leathercase check each time it opens: turn on Check when Leathercase opens in Settings, Updates. The hint says what that does: Off until you turn it on. When a newer version is out, a dot on Settings says so; nothing downloads by itself. The choice is this computer's, kept in its preferences.

When a check finds a newer version, a dot appears on Settings in the sidebar and on Updates in the Settings list, both saying Version 0.25.0 is out (with the real number).

The Updates page

The page opens with one line: Leathercase goes online for one thing only, to ask which version is newest, and only when you say so. Nothing about you or your writing is sent. Then four rows.

Row	What it shows
This version	The version installed on this computer
Check when Leathercase opens	The switch described above
Newer version	What the last check found, and the one thing you can do next
Uninstall	How to uninstall opens the uninstall guide inside the app; Back to Settings returns

The Newer version row moves through these states:

The row says	The button	What happens
Not checked since Leathercase opened.	Check now	Asks the releases which version is newest
Asking the releases…	none	The check is running
This is the newest version. Checked at 14:05 UTC.	Check again	Nothing to do
Version 0.25.0 is out. It downloads now and installs when you restart.	Download	Downloads the new version in the background
Version 0.25.0 is out. This copy cannot replace itself, so its download page opens.	Open download page	Opens the version's page in your browser, where you download the installer
Downloading version 0.25.0…	none	The download is running
Version 0.25.0 is downloaded. It installs when you restart, or the next time you quit.	Restart now	Quits, installs and opens the new version
Leathercase could not reach its releases. Check the connection and try again.	Try again	The check or the download failed; nothing changed
This copy of Leathercase cannot check for updates. Newer versions are on the download page.	Try again	This kind of install has no update feed
A build run from source does not check.	none	Only for a copy built by hand from the source

A downloaded update waits. Keep working; it installs when you choose Restart now, or by itself the next time you quit Leathercase. Either way Leathercase first finishes what it was writing (the sentence log, the mate's state, your preferences), waiting at most two seconds, and then quits.

On each system

System and package	What Download does
Windows (the .exe installer)	Downloads the new version and installs it on restart, from a version before 0.30 too
macOS (the .dmg)	Downloads the new version and replaces the app on restart. Every release is signed with the same Apple Developer ID and notarised by Apple, which is what lets the app replace itself. Once only, going from a version before 0.30 to 0.30 or later needs a download by hand: the app's identity changed with its name, so the old app cannot replace itself with the new one. Your homes and settings carry over
Linux, AppImage	Downloads the new AppImage and replaces the old one on restart
Linux, .deb	The app cannot replace a package your system installed, so Open download page opens the release instead. Download the new .deb and install it as you installed the first, from your software centre or with sudo apt install ./leathercase-…amd64.deb

The updater's downloads are kept in a cache folder of their own (see Uninstalling) and do not touch your writing home.

Installing a new version by hand

Every release is on the releases page. Download the file for your system and install it over the old version; your homes, preferences and stories stay as they were, since none of them live inside the app.

System	File
Windows (x64 and Arm)	leathercase-<version>-win.exe
macOS, Apple silicon	leathercase-<version>-mac-arm64.dmg
macOS, Intel	leathercase-<version>-mac-x64.dmg
Linux, x86_64	leathercase-<version>-linux-x86_64.AppImage or leathercase-<version>-linux-amd64.deb
Linux, Arm	leathercase-<version>-linux-arm64.AppImage or leathercase-<version>-linux-arm64.deb

Each release also lists a SHA256SUMS file per system, so you can check that the file you downloaded is the one published.

Windows asks before the installer runs

The Windows installer is not yet signed, so Windows SmartScreen may say it "protected your PC". Choose More info, then Run anyway. The macOS app is signed and notarised and opens without a warning on macOS 12 or later.

What changed in a version

Each release on the releases page carries its notes: what changed in that version, followed by a table of which file to download. The app does not show release notes itself; Every version and its notes, on Settings, About, opens the releases page in your browser, as does Open download page.

Uninstalling

Uninstalling removes the app. It never touches your writing: your notes stay where they are, and so do the files Leathercase kept beside them, so you can read them without the app or open them again after a reinstall. The same guide is in the app: Settings, Updates, How to uninstall.

Before you uninstall: Leathercase's files in your homes

Leathercase keeps its own files in each writing home: Suite.md and suite/ at its root, Writer/ for your cards, and a suite/ folder inside each story's folder (see Files Leathercase writes). Uninstalling leaves them, on purpose: they are yours, and they hold your grid, threads, cards and comments.

To remove them too, do it while the app is still installed: in Settings, Storage, choose Remove… beside each home, then Purge. Purge moves Leathercase's files to the trash and leaves your notes alone. Or delete those folders yourself at any time.

If you connected an agent, remove the Leathercase bridge from that agent's app as well: in Claude Desktop, under Settings, Extensions; for the others, the line you added to their settings (see Connect an agent).

Windows

1. Quit Leathercase.
2. Open Settings, Apps, Installed apps. Find Leathercase, open its menu, and choose Uninstall. On older Windows, open Control Panel, Programs and Features.
3. The uninstaller asks whether to remove this computer's settings as well. Answer Yes to remove them; answer No to keep them for a later reinstall.

This computer's settings are the list of your homes, your preferences, connected agents and the downloaded search model. They live in %APPDATA%\Leathercase. The uninstaller also removes the leathercase:// link and the updater's downloads in %LOCALAPPDATA%\@leathercasedesktop-updater.

When Leathercase was installed for all users and Windows asked another account, an administrator, to approve the uninstall, the uninstaller works in that administrator's account. Its question then removes that account's settings, not yours, and your link stays registered. To remove your settings, sign in to your own account and delete %APPDATA%\Leathercase yourself.

To uninstall without questions, as an administrator would, run the uninstaller with /S; add --delete-app-data to remove this computer's settings too. This is where it is when Leathercase was installed for you alone in the default place; otherwise it is in the folder you chose:

"%LOCALAPPDATA%\Programs\leathercase\Uninstall leathercase.exe" /S --delete-app-data

A Leathercase updated from a version before 0.30 stays in the folder it was first installed in, %LOCALAPPDATA%\Programs\creative-suite, and its uninstaller is there.

macOS

macOS apps have no uninstaller.

1. Quit Leathercase.
2. In Finder, open Applications and drag Leathercase to the Trash. Empty the Trash.

The app's settings stay behind in your Library folder. To remove them too, in Finder choose Go, Go to Folder, and delete each of these that exists:

~/Library/Application Support/Leathercase
~/Library/Caches/@leathercasedesktop-updater
~/Library/Caches/app.leathercase.desktop
~/Library/Caches/app.leathercase.desktop.ShipIt
~/Library/HTTPStorages/app.leathercase.desktop
~/Library/Preferences/app.leathercase.desktop.plist
~/Library/Saved Application State/app.leathercase.desktop.savedState

Or in Terminal:

rm -rf ~/Library/Application\ Support/Leathercase ~/Library/Caches/@leathercasedesktop-updater ~/Library/Caches/app.leathercase.desktop* ~/Library/HTTPStorages/app.leathercase.desktop ~/Library/Preferences/app.leathercase.desktop.plist ~/Library/Saved\ Application\ State/app.leathercase.desktop.savedState

Linux

How you remove the app depends on how you installed it.

If you installed the .deb package (Debian, Ubuntu, Mint, Pop!_OS), remove it from your software centre, or from a terminal:

sudo apt remove leathercase

If you run the AppImage, it was never installed: delete the .AppImage file. If a tool such as Gear Lever or AppImageLauncher added it to your menu, remove it there as well.

The AppImage adds two files the first time it runs, so leathercase:// links reach it: a menu entry and its icon. Delete them with the AppImage:

rm -f ~/.local/share/applications/leathercase.desktop ~/.local/share/icons/hicolor/512x512/apps/leathercase.png

Either way, the app's settings stay behind. To remove them too:

rm -rf ~/.config/Leathercase ~/.cache/@leathercasedesktop-updater

What versions before 0.30 left behind

Before 0.30 the app had another name, and it kept its settings in other folders. Leathercase moves the settings to its own folder the first time it opens, so what is left in the old places can go. On Windows and Linux, 0.30 arrived as an ordinary update; on macOS it had to be downloaded once by hand, because the app's identity changed with its name, so the old app may still be in Applications.

On Windows, delete %APPDATA%\@creative-suite and %LOCALAPPDATA%\@creative-suitedesktop-updater if they are still there.

On macOS, in Terminal:

rm -rf ~/Library/Application\ Support/@creative-suite ~/Library/Caches/@creative-suitedesktop-updater ~/Library/Caches/com.creativesuite.desktop* ~/Library/HTTPStorages/com.creativesuite.desktop ~/Library/Preferences/com.creativesuite.desktop.plist ~/Library/Saved\ Application\ State/com.creativesuite.desktop.savedState

On Linux, the .deb of 0.30 replaces the old package. The old AppImage's menu entry and its settings can go:

rm -f ~/.local/share/applications/creative-suite.desktop ~/.local/share/icons/hicolor/512x512/apps/creative-suite.png
rm -rf ~/.config/@creative-suite ~/.cache/@creative-suitedesktop-updater

What stays behind

What	Where	Removed by uninstalling
Your manuscripts and notes	Your writing homes	Never
Leathercase's files for your stories: Suite.md, suite/, Writer/	Your writing homes	Never; Purge them first, or delete them by hand
This computer's settings: homes list, preferences, keys, agents, the meaning search model, the sample copy	The app's data folder	On Windows if you answer Yes; on macOS and Linux delete it by hand
Downloaded updates	The updater's cache folder	On Windows; on macOS and Linux delete it by hand
The leathercase:// link	Windows registry; macOS app; Linux menu entry	With the app; for the AppImage, delete the menu entry by hand
The bridge in an agent's app	Claude Desktop, Codex, Cursor and the others	Never; remove it in that app
Files you exported	Wherever you saved them	Never

Reinstalling later picks up whatever you kept: a writing home whose suite/ folders are still there opens with its stories, grid and cards as you left them, on this computer or any other.

See also

• Files Leathercase writes
• Privacy
• Homes and stories
• Connect an agent