Document how to install the nightly builds

docs/binary.rst

@@ -63,6 +63,25 @@ particular desktop, but it should work for most major desktop environments.
 Customizing the installation
 --------------------------------
 
+.. _nightly:
+
+* You can install the latest nightly kitty build with ``installer``:
+
+  .. parsed-literal::
+     :class: pre
+
+     |ins| \\
+         installer=nightly
+
+  If you want to install it in parallel to the released kitty specify a
+  different install locations with ``dest``:
+
+  .. parsed-literal::
+     :class: pre
+
+     |ins| \\
+         installer=nightly dest=/some/other/location
+
 * You can specify a different install location, with ``dest``:
 
   .. parsed-literal::
@@ -88,6 +107,7 @@ Customizing the installation
      |ins| \\
          installer=/path/to/dmg or tarball
 
+
 Uninstalling
 ----------------
 

docs/build.rst

@@ -10,6 +10,9 @@ Build from source
 |kitty| is designed to run from source, for easy hack-ability. Make sure
 the following dependencies are installed first.
 
+.. note::
+   If you just want to test the latest changes to kitty you dont need to build
+   from source. Instead install the :ref:`latest nightly build <nightly>`.
 
 .. note::
    If you are making small changes only to the python parts of kitty, there is no need to

docs/installer.py

@@ -73,6 +73,14 @@ def __call__(self, blocks, block_size, total_size):
 # }}}
 
 
+def get_nightly_url():
+    base = 'https://github.com/kovidgoyal/kitty/releases/download/nightly/kitty-nightly'
+    if is_macos:
+        return base + '.dmg'
+    arch = 'x86_64' if is64bit else 'i686'
+    return base + '-' + arch + '.txz'
+
+
 def get_latest_release_data():
     print('Checking for latest release on GitHub...')
     req = urllib.Request('https://api.github.com/repos/kovidgoyal/kitty/releases/latest', headers={'Accept': 'application/vnd.github.v3+json'})
@@ -194,9 +202,12 @@ def main(dest=None, launch=True, installer=None):
         url, size = get_latest_release_data()
         installer = download_installer(url, size)
     else:
-        installer = os.path.abspath(installer)
-        if not os.access(installer, os.R_OK):
-            raise SystemExit('Could not read from: {}'.format(installer))
+        if installer == 'nightly':
+            url = get_nightly_url()
+        else:
+            installer = os.path.abspath(installer)
+            if not os.access(installer, os.R_OK):
+                raise SystemExit('Could not read from: {}'.format(installer))
     if is_macos:
         macos_install(installer, dest=dest, launch=launch)
     else:

publish.py

@@ -242,8 +242,11 @@ def update_nightly_description(self, release_id: int) -> None:
         now = str(datetime.datetime.utcnow()).split('.')[0] + ' UTC'
         with open('.git/refs/heads/master') as f:
             commit = f.read().strip()
-        self.patch(url, 'Failed to update nightly release description',
-                   body=f'Nightly release, generated on: {now} from commit: {commit}')
+        self.patch(
+            url, 'Failed to update nightly release description',
+            body=f'Nightly release, generated on: {now} from commit: {commit}.'
+            ' For how to install nightly builds, see: https://sw.kovidgoyal.net/kitty/binary/#customizing-the-installation'
+        )
 
     def __call__(self) -> None:
         releases = self.releases()