Updating machines

Every machine runs the Burrowbox agent: its MCP tools, browser engines, vault, VPN and fixes. When we release a new version, your existing machines get it without being recreated. Files, installed apps, browser sign-ins, certificates and the desktop are kept.

A machine that doesn't have the newest tools yet (for example, browser_certificate_import missing from tools/list) just needs an update.

#Is there an update?

The machine object shows the agent it runs and whether a newer one exists:

{ "id": "2f6aeedcd3", "agentVersion": "a-3f1c9e2b7d10", "updateAvailable": true, "autoUpdate": true }

The dashboard marks these machines with Update.

#How machines get updates

Light-browser machines aren't updated automatically because the update restarts the agent, and the light browser loses its sign-ins when that happens. The full browser keeps them.

#Update a machine now

Use any of these. The machine must be running.

• Dashboard: open the machine and click A newer agent is available — update.
• REST:

  curl -X POST https://burrowbox.dev/api/machines/2f6aeedcd3/update \
    -H "Authorization: Bearer $BURROWBOX_KEY"
  

• Platform MCP: machine_update with {"id": "2f6aeedcd3"}.

The response shows what happened in update.mode:

#What happens during an update

1. The new agent is copied to the machine and checked against its checksum.
2. The agent restarts on the new version, in about a second. Agents connected over MCP reconnect, and the next tools/list shows the new tools.
3. System changes the release needs, such as new packages, are installed in the background over the next minute or two.

When a machine stops, the new version is installed on disk first. Some hosts resume a machine with its programs exactly as they were, so the old agent would still be running after the start. Burrowbox detects this when the machine comes back and restarts the agent onto the installed version, without interrupting the desktop or the browser.

Nothing on the machine is lost: files, apps, browser profiles and sign-ins, the vault, certificates and extensions all stay.

#Pin a machine

To keep a machine on its current version, for example while a long job runs:

curl -X PATCH https://burrowbox.dev/api/machines/2f6aeedcd3 \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $BURROWBOX_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"autoUpdate": false}'

It still updates when you call /update yourself. Set "autoUpdate": true to rejoin automatic updates.

#Troubleshooting