Globlin
npm and bun, side by side
Both package managers are checked. The same package installed under both stays
distinguishable — the bun copy is suffixed (bun).
Windows tray app · npm + bun
Keep your global npm and bun packages up to date
Global CLIs rot silently. Nothing tells you @salesforce/cli is six versions
behind until a command breaks in a way that turns out to be “oh, I’m ancient.”
Globlin sits in the Windows tray, checks the registry on a schedule, and shows you exactly
what has fallen behind.
globlin.exe · latest · 1.7 MB · SHA-256
- No installer
- No runtime dependencies
- Portable single .exe
- Open source, GPL-3.0
Features
It watches, it tells you, it waits for your click
Globlin never touches anything on its own unless you turn that on.
Update one, or update all
A row updates a single package. Update all runs the outdated ones as a queue with a counter, a progress bar on the active row, and a result on each finished row.
An ignore list that costs nothing
Ignored packages still show their version but are never checked, flagged or notified about. Untick one and it is re-checked immediately.
Uninstall without a dialog
Every row offers Uninstall, which opens onto a single confirm item. The two steps are the confirmation — the outer entry does nothing on its own.
Notifications only when something changes
A toast fires when the set of outdated packages changes, not every six hours about the same three packages.
It updates itself, verified
Globlin checks its own releases on the same schedule. Every download is checked against a published SHA-256 sum, and a mismatch is discarded without touching the running app.
Icon states
The colour is the status
The tray icon is drawn from code, not loaded from an image file, so what it shows always matches what it found.
-
Idle — emerald Everything installed is current.
-
Updates — amber One or more packages are behind.
-
Error — red The last registry check failed. A failure never renders as “everything is fine”.
-
Busy — sky blue A check or an update is running, filling like a glass.
Install
Two steps, plus one optional
- Download globlin.exe One file, 1.7 MB, nothing to unzip.
- Run it The icon appears in the tray and the first check starts. The config lives next to the exe, so the whole thing is portable — move it anywhere and it keeps working.
- Optional: tick Run at startup Right-click the tray icon if you want it there every time you log in.
globlin.exe · latest · Windows 10 and 11
FAQ
Questions worth answering
Is Globlin free?
Yes. Globlin is free and open source under the GNU General Public License v3.0. There is no paid tier, no account, and no telemetry.
Does it work on macOS or Linux?
Not today. Globlin is Windows only — it is built around the Windows tray and ships as a single portable .exe for Windows 10 and 11.
Do I need Node.js installed?
Globlin itself has no runtime dependencies, but it drives the npm or bun that is already on your machine. If neither is installed there is nothing for it to check.
Will it update anything without asking?
No. Packages are only ever updated when you click. Globlin can update itself unattended, but that setting is off by default and applies to Globlin alone.
How is this different from npm-check-updates?
npm-check-updates is a command you run by hand against a project's package.json. Globlin is a background tray app for the CLIs you installed globally, and it tells you they are outdated without you remembering to ask.
How often does it check?
Every six hours by default, and immediately whenever you pick Check now. The interval is configurable in globlin.json.
How do I remove it?
Quit from the tray menu, delete the .exe and its .json, then delete the globlin folder in %LOCALAPPDATA%. There is no installer, no service and no scheduled task to clean up.