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smolvm update upgrades your installed SmolVM to the latest stable release from PyPI. You don’t need to remember whether you installed SmolVM with pip or as a uv tool — the command detects how you installed it and runs the matching upgrade for you. Run it any time you want to pick up the newest release, or use --check first to see whether an update is available before installing it.

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Synopsis

smolvm update [OPTIONS]

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Options

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--check
flag
default:"false"
Report whether an update is available without installing it. Exits successfully whether you’re up to date or behind.
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--json
flag
default:"false"
Emit machine-readable JSON instead of formatted text. Useful for scripts and automation.

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Examples

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Check for an update

See whether a newer release is available without changing anything: 
smolvm update --check
Example output when an update is available: 
Update available: 0.0.14 → 0.0.15. Run smolvm update to install.
Example output when you’re already up to date: 
smolvm 0.0.15 is up to date.

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Upgrade to the latest release

Run the upgrade. SmolVM picks the right package manager based on how it was installed: 
smolvm update
If you installed SmolVM with uv tool install smolvm, this runs uv tool upgrade smolvm. Otherwise it runs pip install --upgrade smolvm. Output from the underlying package manager streams live to your terminal.

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JSON output for automation

Get a structured response you can parse from a script: 
smolvm update --json
The response includes the previous version, the version now installed, whether an upgrade happened, and the raw output from the underlying package manager: 
{
  "command": "update",
  "exit_code": 0,
  "data": {
    "previous": "0.0.14",
    "current": "0.0.15",
    "upgraded": true,
    "pip_output": "..."
  }
}
Combine --check and --json to script update detection: 
smolvm update --check --json | jq '.data.update_available'
The check response includes current, latest, and an update_available boolean.

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How install detection works

smolvm update looks for smolvm in the list returned by uv tool list. If it’s there, the upgrade goes through uv. Otherwise it falls back to pip install --upgrade smolvm running under the same Python interpreter that started the CLI. If the upgrade fails (for example, because the network is unreachable), SmolVM prints a recovery command you can run manually: 
pip install --upgrade smolvm

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Exit codes

CodeDescription
0Success — already up to date, update available (with --check), or upgrade completed
1Upgrade failed, or the installed version could not be determined
  • smolvm prune — reclaim disk space from older releases after an upgrade
  • smolvm doctor — verify your install after an upgrade
Last modified on June 7, 2026