Build Station is meant to run in the background most of the time — its tray icon does the lightweight day-to-day reporting and you barely interact with the main window. Two settings make this more pleasant.
Start on login
Have Build Station launch automatically when you sign into your computer, so agents are ready to pick up tasks as soon as you're online.
1. Open Settings → Startup
Tray menu shortcut.
2. Toggle Start on login
Build Station registers itself with the OS login items list. macOS and Windows handle this differently under the hood but the toggle does the right thing on both.
3. Decide whether to start minimized
Sub-option Open main window on startup. Off by default — Build Station goes straight to the tray. Turn on if you want the main window visible every time you log in.
To turn it off again, just flip the toggle. Build Station unregisters from the OS login items.
Note: Doesn't survive OS reinstall
The login item registration is OS-specific and lives in the OS's startup config. A fresh OS install will not restore it — you'd need to re-enable. Your Build Station settings (working dirs, agent enables) survive though, because they live in your user profile.
Auto-updates
Build Station ships with the Tauri updater. By default it checks for new versions:
- Once on launch.
- Every 24 hours while running.
When an update is available you see:
- A notification (if you have the Update available notification on — see Notifications).
- A small badge on the tray icon.
- A new menu item in the tray menu: Install update X.Y.Z.
Clicking Install update downloads the new version, verifies its signature, and prompts you to restart Build Station. On restart, the new binary replaces the old one.
Tuning the updater
Settings → Updates:
| Setting | Default | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Auto-check for updates | On | Background check on launch + once daily. |
| Auto-install (no prompt) | Off | Skip the "install now?" prompt — just download and queue for next restart. |
| Beta channel | Off | Opt in to pre-release versions. Don't enable unless you want sharp edges. |
The Check now button forces a check immediately, regardless of the schedule.
What gets verified
Every update bundle is signed with Meshly's release key. Build Station refuses to install an update whose signature doesn't verify — protects against tampered downloads or compromised mirrors.
The current version is shown in Settings → Updates and at the bottom of the tray menu. Compare with what's on the release page if you suspect an update silently failed.
Staying on a specific version
If you need to pin to a specific version (e.g., for compliance), turn Auto-check for updates off. Build Station will never prompt or download. You're then responsible for manually checking the release page periodically and installing updates by hand (download the .dmg/.msi as if installing fresh — it upgrades in place).
Restart-required behavior
Updates only apply on Build Station restart. Any in-flight task at the time of restart will be interrupted; new spawns after restart use the updated binary. Restart at a time when no agent is running, OR pause new task pickups (disable projects temporarily) before restarting.
Rolling back
If a new version misbehaves on your machine:
1. Quit Build Station
Tray menu → Quit.
2. Download the previous version
From the Meshly download page — pick the version directly before the current one.
3. Install over the new version
Replace the existing app. Your settings persist.
4. Turn off auto-updates temporarily
So you don't immediately re-upgrade. Settings → Updates → Auto-check off.
Then report what broke so we can fix it in the next release.