[Bug]: desktop polls for updates every 4 minutes instead of 4 hours #28480

Before submitting

• I searched existing issues and did not find a duplicate.
• I included enough detail to reproduce or investigate the problem.

Area

apps/desktop

Steps to reproduce

1. Run a packaged desktop build with auto-update enabled (nightly or latest channel, e.g. 0.0.42). Development builds skip the poller.
2. Enable OTLP export under Settings → Maintenance → Diagnostics, or read the local trace log at ~/.t3/userdata/logs/desktop.trace.ndjson.
3. Leave the app idle and count desktop.updates.checkForUpdates spans with reason: poll.

Expected behavior

The updater polls every 4 hours, about 6 checks per day. Before the Effect port, apps/desktop/src/main.ts used const AUTO_UPDATE_POLL_INTERVAL_MS = 4 * 60 * 60 * 1000;.

Actual behavior

The updater polls every 4 minutes: 360 checks per day, 60x the intended rate. Nothing deduplicates the resulting work, so each check:

• starts a desktop.updates.checkForUpdates span (reason: poll) and a desktop.updates.handleCheckingForUpdate span, both exported over OTLP when it is configured;
• writes checking for updates / looking for updates log lines;
• publishes two desktopUpdateStatus telemetry messages (checking → no-update, since state updates are published unconditionally) and two UPDATE_STATE_CHANNEL IPC broadcasts;
• sends one request to the GitHub Releases update feed (latest*.yml / nightly*.yml).

#14259 independently records the same cadence in a user trace: "The poller runs desktop.updates.checkForUpdates every 4 minutes". Anyone running OTLP export or reading trace logs sees update-check activity every 4 minutes for as long as the app is open.

Cause: #2546 (port desktop app to Effect) translated the millisecond constant to the Duration string "4 minutes" at apps/desktop/src/updates/DesktopUpdates.ts:57, dropping the hours-to-minutes factor. git show aa219be713^:apps/desktop/src/main.ts shows the previous 4 * 60 * 60 * 1000, and git log -L 56,58:apps/desktop/src/updates/DesktopUpdates.ts shows the line unchanged since that commit.

Impact

Minor bug or occasional failure — nothing breaks functionally, but every packaged install makes 60x the intended update-feed requests and emits 60x the updater spans, logs, telemetry messages, and IPC broadcasts.

Version or commit

main @ 80a2351; regression introduced in aa219be (#2546).

Environment

macOS 25.6.0, packaged desktop build with OTLP export configured. The same cadence appears in the Linux AppImage trace attached to #14259.

Logs or stack traces

# apps/desktop/src/updates/DesktopUpdates.ts:57
const AUTO_UPDATE_POLL_INTERVAL = "4 minutes";

# desktop.trace.ndjson, reported in #14259
18:17:08.855 -> 18:17:09.583 desktop.updates.checkForUpdates Success {reason: poll}
18:21:09.585 desktop.updates.handleCheckingForUpdate Success

Workaround

Set T3CODE_DISABLE_AUTO_UPDATE=1, or run from source, where the poller is disabled. A locally built package with "4 hours" restores the previous cadence.

Possible directions

Restore "4 hours"; I have a one-line PR ready. Optionally add jitter so instances do not poll in lockstep.