diff --git a/include/ghostty.h b/include/ghostty.h
index b413dec41..12eb26840 100644
--- a/include/ghostty.h
+++ b/include/ghostty.h
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@
 extern "C" {
 #endif
 
+#include <stddef.h>
 #include <stdbool.h>
 #include <stddef.h>
 #include <stdint.h>
diff --git a/macos/Sources/App/macOS/AppDelegate.swift b/macos/Sources/App/macOS/AppDelegate.swift
index 603523e80..d1f12ad0f 100644
--- a/macos/Sources/App/macOS/AppDelegate.swift
+++ b/macos/Sources/App/macOS/AppDelegate.swift
@@ -108,7 +108,13 @@ class AppDelegate: NSObject,
 
         // Initial config loading
         configDidReload(ghostty)
-
+        
+        updaterController.updater.updateCheckInterval = 60
+        updaterController.updater.automaticallyChecksForUpdates =
+            ghostty.config.autoUpdates == "check" || ghostty.config.autoUpdates == "download"
+        updaterController.updater.automaticallyDownloadsUpdates =
+            ghostty.config.autoUpdates == "download"
+        
         // Register our service provider. This must happen after everything is initialized.
         NSApp.servicesProvider = ServiceProvider()
 
diff --git a/macos/Sources/Ghostty/Ghostty.Config.swift b/macos/Sources/Ghostty/Ghostty.Config.swift
index e917bf2c0..4ddb986f9 100644
--- a/macos/Sources/Ghostty/Ghostty.Config.swift
+++ b/macos/Sources/Ghostty/Ghostty.Config.swift
@@ -360,6 +360,17 @@ extension Ghostty {
             _ = ghostty_config_get(config, &v, key, UInt(key.count))
             return v;
         }
+
+        var autoUpdates: String {
+            let defaultValue = "off"
+            guard let config = self.config else { return defaultValue }
+            let key = "auto-updates"
+            
+            var value: UnsafePointer<Int8>? = nil
+            guard ghostty_config_get(config, &value, key, UInt(key.count)) else { return defaultValue }
+            guard let pointer = value else { return defaultValue }
+            return String(cString: pointer)
+        }
     }
 }
 
diff --git a/src/config/Config.zig b/src/config/Config.zig
index d853f0481..b9217d0e3 100644
--- a/src/config/Config.zig
+++ b/src/config/Config.zig
@@ -1462,6 +1462,13 @@ term: []const u8 = "xterm-ghostty",
 /// running. Defaults to an empty string if not set.
 @"enquiry-response": []const u8 = "",
 
+/// This controls the automatic update functionality on macOS by setting the
+/// properties on the Squirrel automatic update component. By default this is
+/// set to "off" which doesn't do anything. The "check" option will automatically
+/// check for updates but will NOT download them, while as the "download" option
+/// will both check AND download updates automatically for the user.
+@"auto-updates": AutoUpdates = .off,
+
 /// This is set by the CLI parser for deinit.
 _arena: ?ArenaAllocator = null,
 
@@ -4096,6 +4103,13 @@ pub const LinuxCgroup = enum {
     @"single-instance",
 };
 
+/// See auto-updates
+pub const AutoUpdates = enum {
+    check,
+    download,
+    off,
+};
+
 pub const Duration = struct {
     /// Duration in nanoseconds
     duration: u64 = 0,