[Feat|Local] Auto-update and stable release channel

[CREDO23]

Summary

• Opt-in auto-update in the Electron main process via electron-updater: off by default, Settings › General gets a "Check for updates automatically" switch and a "Check now" row; download starts only after a check the user enabled or clicked, install always waits for "Restart to update"
• Update state (checking, downloading, ready, up-to-date, error) is pushed to the renderer over IPC; a banner offers the restart once a version is downloaded
• New app publishes on the stable update channel (stable-*.yml); the legacy 0.0.x desktop reads latest-*.yml, which no release produces anymore, so it can never update into the new app and no release needs pinning
• Mac builds dmg + zip; the updater installs from the zip. Differential download is off, GitHub's CDN rejects the multi-range requests it needs
• desktop-release.yml (legacy desktop) deleted; release-local.yml now triggers on v* and is the only desktop release workflow; docker-build.yml builds hosted images from v0.* tags only
• Dry-run artifact upload includes *.zip, *.deb, *.blockmap, *.yml so a workflow_dispatch run can be checked for the channel files

Test plan

• pnpm typecheck and pnpm test in surfsense_local/electron; pnpm test in surfsense_local/frontend
• Dev build: Settings › General shows the updates row idle; switch and "Check now" do nothing in dev
• After merge: workflow_dispatch on Desktop Release, publish: never, all targets; artifacts contain stable-mac.yml, stable.yml, stable-linux.yml, a mac .zip, and no latest-*.yml
• Two dry-run builds at different versions: install the lower one, serve the higher one's stable-*.yml + installer locally, confirm "Check now" downloads it and "Restart to update" installs it (mac, Windows, AppImage)
• Legacy desktop v0.0.40 pointed at a release without latest-mac.yml: startup check logs "update check skipped", no dialog

High-level PR Summary

This PR implements opt-in auto-update functionality for the desktop app using electron-updater with a new stable release channel. Updates are off by default and can be enabled via a new switch in Settings › General, with a "Check now" button available regardless of the setting. When an update is downloaded, a banner appears offering the user to restart and install. The release workflow is consolidated from two separate workflows into a single release-local.yml that triggers on v* tags and publishes to the stable channel (via stable-*.yml files), ensuring the legacy 0.0.x desktop (which reads latest-*.yml) can never auto-update into the new app. Mac builds now produce both dmg and zip formats, with the updater installing from the zip. Differential downloads are disabled due to GitHub CDN limitations.

⏱️ Estimated Review Time: 30-90 minutes

💡 Review Order Suggestion

Order	File Path
1	surfsense_local/electron/src/main/updater.test.mts
2	surfsense_local/electron/src/main/updater.mts
3	surfsense_local/electron/electron-builder.yml
4	surfsense_local/electron/package.json
5	surfsense_local/electron/src/main/index.ts
6	surfsense_local/electron/src/preload/index.ts
7	surfsense_local/frontend/src/lib/api.ts
8	surfsense_local/frontend/src/features/updates/update-settings.test.tsx
9	surfsense_local/frontend/src/features/updates/update-settings.tsx
10	surfsense_local/frontend/src/features/settings/settings-dialog.tsx
11	surfsense_local/frontend/src/app/app-bootstrap.tsx
12	.github/workflows/release-local.yml
13	.github/workflows/docker-build.yml
14	.github/workflows/desktop-release.yml
15	surfsense_local/electron/pnpm-lock.yaml

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Project	Deployment	Actions	Updated
surf-sense-frontend	Ready	Preview	Sep 14, 2026 12:43pm UTC