Check for application update based on latest GitHub release tag

updatechecker.py

from distutils.version import LooseVersion
import json
import threading
import request

__version__ = '0.0.0'


Update = namedtuple('Update', ['version', 'url'])


class UpdateChecker(threading.Thread):
    """
    Checks for application updates based on GitHub repo published releases
    """
    API_URL = 'https://api.github.com/repos/{user}/{repo}/releases/latest'
    TAG_PREFIX = 'v'

    def __init__(self):
        threading.Thread.__init__(self)
        self.update = None

    def run(self):
        try:
            with request.urlopen(self.API_URL, timeout=5) as f:
                data = json.loads(f.read().decode('utf-8'))
                repo_version = LooseVersion(data['tag_name'].lstrip(self.TAG_PREFIX))
                url = data['html_url']
        except BaseException:
            return
        current_version = LooseVersion(__version__)
        if repo_version > current_version:
            self.update = Update(version=repo_version, url=url)

    def join(self):
        threading.Thread.join(self)
        return self.update