diff --git a/bcc_core.py b/bcc_core.py
index dc41ba3..1b33a66 100644
--- a/bcc_core.py
+++ b/bcc_core.py
@@ -46,6 +46,112 @@ MAX_BACKUPS = 15
 KNOWN_FIELDS = {"command", "args", "env", "url", "type", "headers"}
 
 
+# --------------------------------------------------------------------------- #
+# Version / update checking
+#
+# __version__ is the single source of truth for the app version (must match
+# pyproject.toml's [project] version). The About dialog and the update
+# checker both read this constant instead of hard-coding a version string.
+#
+# The update checker is notify-only: it reads release metadata from the
+# repo's Gitea releases API and NEVER downloads or replaces the running
+# binary. All network I/O here is fail-quiet (returns None on any problem)
+# so it's safe to run unattended, off the UI thread, at startup.
+# --------------------------------------------------------------------------- #
+__version__ = "1.1.0"
+
+REPO_URL = "https://git.avezzano.io/the_og/better-claude-config"
+ISSUES_URL = f"{REPO_URL}/issues"
+RELEASES_URL = f"{REPO_URL}/releases"
+LICENSE_URL = f"{REPO_URL}/raw/branch/main/LICENSE"
+
+# Public repo -> anonymously reachable, no auth/token needed or embedded.
+_RELEASES_API_URL = (
+    "https://git.avezzano.io/api/v1/repos/the_og/better-claude-config/releases/latest"
+)
+
+
+def parse_version(v: str) -> tuple[int, ...]:
+    """
+    Parse a version string into a tuple of ints for numeric comparison.
+
+    Strips a leading 'v' ("v1.2.3" -> "1.2.3") and any pre-release/build
+    metadata after a '-' or '+' ("1.2.3-beta.1" -> "1.2.3"). Stops at the
+    first non-numeric dotted component. Empty or entirely non-numeric input
+    returns an empty tuple rather than raising, so a malformed tag from a
+    flaky API response degrades gracefully instead of crashing the caller.
+    """
+    s = (v or "").strip()
+    if s[:1].lower() == "v":
+        s = s[1:]
+    s = re.split(r"[-+]", s, maxsplit=1)[0]
+    parts: list[int] = []
+    for chunk in s.split("."):
+        m = re.match(r"\d+", chunk)
+        if not m:
+            break
+        parts.append(int(m.group()))
+    return tuple(parts)
+
+
+def is_newer_version(current: str, candidate: str) -> bool:
+    """
+    True if `candidate` is a strictly newer version than `current`.
+
+    Comparison is purely numeric (major.minor.patch, ...) — NEVER a lexical
+    string compare, so "v2.0.0" vs "v10.0.0" resolves correctly instead of
+    sorting "2" after "10". Tuples of differing length are zero-padded before
+    comparing, so "1.2" and "1.2.0" are correctly treated as equal.
+
+    An unparseable `candidate` always yields False (nothing to report). An
+    unparseable `current` is treated as "0" for comparison purposes — a
+    malformed local version shouldn't silently suppress a real update.
+    """
+    cur = parse_version(current)
+    new = parse_version(candidate)
+    if not new:
+        return False
+    width = max(len(cur), len(new), 1)
+    cur = cur + (0,) * (width - len(cur))
+    new = new + (0,) * (width - len(new))
+    return new > cur
+
+
+def fetch_latest_release(timeout: float = 4.0) -> dict | None:
+    """
+    Query the repo's (public, anonymous) Gitea releases API for the latest
+    release. Returns {"version": "<tag>", "url": "<releases page>"} on
+    success, or None on ANY failure: network error, timeout, bad status,
+    malformed JSON, or a response missing tag_name.
+
+    Fail-quiet by design — this is meant to be called off the UI thread
+    (see UpdateCheckWorker in bcc.py) for both the About dialog's "Check for
+    updates" button and an optional silent startup check. Never downloads or
+    touches any binary; this only ever reads release metadata.
+    """
+    import urllib.error
+    import urllib.request
+
+    req = urllib.request.Request(
+        _RELEASES_API_URL,
+        headers={
+            "Accept": "application/json",
+            "User-Agent": f"BetterClaudeConfig/{__version__}",
+        },
+    )
+    try:
+        with urllib.request.urlopen(req, timeout=timeout) as r:
+            payload = json.loads(r.read().decode("utf-8"))
+    except (urllib.error.URLError, TimeoutError, ValueError, OSError):
+        return None
+    if not isinstance(payload, dict):
+        return None
+    tag = payload.get("tag_name")
+    if not tag or not isinstance(tag, str):
+        return None
+    return {"version": tag, "url": payload.get("html_url") or RELEASES_URL}
+
+
 # --------------------------------------------------------------------------- #
 # Data model
 # --------------------------------------------------------------------------- #
@@ -474,7 +580,7 @@ def _normalize_unicode(text: str, notes: list[str]) -> str:
     out = text
     for junk in _JUNK_CHARS:
         out = out.replace(junk, "")
-    out = out.replace(" ", " ")  # non-breaking space
+    out = out.replace(" ", " ")  # non-breaking space
     for smart, ascii_q in _QUOTE_MAP.items():
         out = out.replace(smart, ascii_q)
     if out != text: