> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.oauth.fyi/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Notifications

> What a release notification contains, and how it changes as Updater learns more.

Every tracked release gets exactly one message. Updater builds it once, then
edits it in place as it learns more — it never posts a second message for a
release it has already delivered.

## What's in the card

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Game & platform" icon="gamepad">
    The game's name and icon, plus a badge naming the platform or publisher
    the strongest evidence came from — for example `STEAM` or `RIOT`.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Status badge" icon="certificate">
    A second badge describing how confirmed the release is. See the table
    below.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Version & build" icon="code-branch">
    The version and/or build number, shown as `old → new` once both are
    known, or just the new value the first time it's seen.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Timing" icon="clock">
    When the release actually went out (if the source says) and when Updater
    detected it — these are often different, and both matter.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Summary" icon="align-left">
    A short description of what changed, when the source provides one.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Patch notes link" icon="link">
    A **Read Patch Notes** button pointing at the official source, when
    Updater has a canonical URL for the release.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

Not every release has every field. Updater only shows what it can actually
confirm — a field with nothing behind it is left off the card rather than
shown as "N/A" or a placeholder.

## Status badges

| Badge               | What it means                                                                   |
| ------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `OFFICIAL VERIFIED` | The developer's own patch notes or release post confirms this.                  |
| `PATCH NOTES`       | Updater has a link to official notes for this release.                          |
| `BUILD ONLY`        | A build number changed, but no version number or patch notes have shown up yet. |
| `MAINTENANCE`       | This is a maintenance window, not a content release.                            |
| *(none)*            | Updater detected a change but doesn't have enough yet to label it further.      |

## How it updates over time

A release rarely announces itself all at once. A build number often shows up
before official notes do; a maintenance window is often confirmed before
anyone says what's in it. Updater treats these as the same underlying release
rather than separate events, and updates the one message as better
information arrives — a card that started as `BUILD ONLY` can become
`OFFICIAL VERIFIED` once the developer publishes notes, with the version,
summary, and patch-notes link all filling in on that same message.

If two independent sources both report on the same release — say, an
official publisher article and a separately detected build ID — Updater
combines what each one proves into that single message instead of letting
one overwrite the other, or posting twice.

## The first time you enable a game

The first check after you turn a game on in [`/games`](/updater/commands)
establishes a starting point silently — it will not post updates for things
that already happened before you enabled it. Notifications start from the
next new release after that.