diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index bba85c9..fabfe5a 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -27,4 +27,5 @@ dist-desktop/
 desktop/updater.key
 **/.tauri/
 data/mobile-releases/*.apk
+frontend/public/desktop/updates/latest.json
 scripts/deploy-target.local.env
diff --git a/frontend/public/desktop/updates/latest.json b/frontend/public/desktop/updates/latest.json
deleted file mode 100644
index cc93840..0000000
--- a/frontend/public/desktop/updates/latest.json
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,6 +0,0 @@
-{
-  "version": "0.1.0",
-  "notes": "Initial desktop release placeholder",
-  "pub_date": "2026-06-11T00:00:00Z",
-  "platforms": {}
-}
diff --git a/frontend/public/desktop/updates/latest.json.example b/frontend/public/desktop/updates/latest.json.example
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0a8c761
--- /dev/null
+++ b/frontend/public/desktop/updates/latest.json.example
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+{
+  "version": "0.0.0",
+  "notes": "Generated at deploy/publish — do not commit latest.json",
+  "pub_date": "2026-06-11T00:00:00Z",
+  "platforms": {}
+}