Updates¶
Am_Picker tells you when a new version exists, and what it added. Here is exactly what it does, and how to turn it off.
What happens¶
Once a day, at most, Am_Picker asks the update server whether a newer version exists. If one does, it shows you a window with what changed. If none does, you never see anything.
That is the whole feature. It does not download anything, does not install anything, and does not interrupt what you are doing.
The rules¶
Once a day, per tool. An automatic check is rate-limited to one a day. A check you ask for by hand always goes to the network.
Offline is not an error. If the request fails, the window shows the last known answer and says it came from the cache. Only a failure with nothing cached at all is reported as an error.
A check never blocks Maya. The request runs off the main thread. A slow or unreachable server costs you nothing.
Skip is per version. Skipping silences exactly that version — the next one is a fresh decision, not silence forever.
Remind me later is 24 hours.
Critical releases override both. A release the author flags as critical notifies you even if you skipped or snoozed. This is reserved for releases that fix something that loses work, and is deliberately rare.
What is sent¶
A request carries the tool name, the version you are running, and an anonymous install id — a random UUID with nothing derived from you, your machine, your scene or your projects.
The install id is opt-out: turn it off and checks still work.
Nothing about your pickers, your rigs, your files or your studio is sent, ever.
Turning it off¶
Update preferences are per tool, and include:
| Setting | What it does |
|---|---|
| Automatic checks | Off means it only ever checks when you ask |
| Channel | Whether pre-release builds count as updates |
| Install id | Opt out of the anonymous id |
With automatic checks off, Am_Picker never contacts the network on its own.
Where the settings live¶
In Am_Picker's own pref.json, under an updates key — alongside the rest of
the tool's preferences.
If the install folder is read-only, as it is in many studio deployments, the file falls back to your Maya user preferences folder. Nothing is lost; it just lives somewhere writable.
Checking by hand¶
Help → About shows the version you are running and offers a check.
Reading what changed¶
The update window and the public changelog page are rendered from the same release record, so they cannot disagree with each other. The changelog is written for animators rather than as a commit log — it says what the release means for your work, with the two or three things worth interrupting somebody mid-shot for at the top.
Updating¶
Updates are not applied automatically. To update, download the new release and run the installer over the top — it replaces the package and rebuilds the shelf button rather than adding a second one.
Your pickers are not touched. They live in your Maya scenes and .ampkr files,
not in the installed folder.