`updater` field defaults to `disabled` in Tauri 1.3, redefining auto-update boundaries for 1.2 migrants

Direct Answer

Tauri 1.3 requires an explicit "updater": "active" (or a full updater configuration object with active: true) in tauri.conf.json to enable auto-updates. The previous Tauri 1.2 behavior—where the updater could activate implicitly when certain keys were present—has been removed. CI pipelines that previously relied on default behavior will now skip update signing and artifact generation unless the configuration explicitly enables the updater.

Confirmed Mechanism for Re-enabling

The Tauri project recommends adding the updater key directly under the top-level tauri object in tauri.conf.json. Two valid forms exist:

• Minimal string form: "updater": "active"
• Full object form: "updater": { "active": true, "endpoints": ["https://example.com/updates.json"], "pubkey": "dW50cnVzdGVkIGNvbW1lbnQ6IG..." }

No changes to core build scripts (tauri build, tauri signer, or CI configuration) are required. The CLI reads the configuration and enables the updater subsystem accordingly.

CI Pipeline Interaction

When updater is absent or set to disabled, tauri build and tauri signer produce no update artifacts (no .appimage, .msi, or .dmg update bundles, no signature files). Pipelines that previously generated these artifacts by default will now complete without them, silently. This is a behavioral boundary: the same pipeline configuration that produced update artifacts in 1.2 will not in 1.3 unless tauri.conf.json is updated.

Documented Migration Path

The official Tauri 1.3 migration guide (tauri.app/v1/guides/migration/) documents this under "Updater configuration." Running tauri migrate on a 1.2 project surfaces a warning when an old updater block is detected without an explicit active flag. However, tauri migrate does not automatically insert the active flag—it only flags the incompatibility. Additionally, at build time, the CLI emits a log message: Updater is disabled by default. Set 'updater.active' to true to enable.

Critical Constraints

• Setting "updater": "active" without providing endpoints and pubkey (in the object form) causes a build error. The minimal valid object requires all three fields.
• The legacy tauri.bundle.updater key is ignored entirely in 1.3; only the top-level tauri.updater key is respected.
• The disabled default applies only to the top-level key; nested legacy configuration has no effect.

Verification Steps

1. Create a minimal Tauri 1.2 project with an updater block but no active flag.
2. Run tauri migrate and observe the warning about updater configuration.
3. Build with tauri build and confirm no update artifacts are produced.
4. Add "updater": "active" with a dummy endpoints array and pubkey, rebuild, and verify update artifacts appear.

One diagnostic detail that would change the recommendation: does your project use a custom build script that invokes tauri signer or tauri build with flags overriding the configuration? If so, the CLI log message may be suppressed and the pipeline may need explicit --config overrides.