From 34cbd15ba9c3427ba85e633444369ef7dd91ee23 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Jakub Kuczys <me@jacken.men>
Date: Fri, 6 Mar 2026 01:51:22 +0100
Subject: [PATCH] Stop waiting for update check on bot startup (#6687)

---
 redbot/core/_events.py               | 36 ++++++++++++++++++----------
 redbot/core/core_commands.py         |  6 ++++-
 redbot/core/utils/_internal_utils.py | 33 ++++++++++++++++---------
 3 files changed, 51 insertions(+), 24 deletions(-)

diff --git a/redbot/core/_events.py b/redbot/core/_events.py
index ae2830699..2ee86e9bd 100644
--- a/redbot/core/_events.py
+++ b/redbot/core/_events.py
@@ -176,14 +176,15 @@ def init_events(bot, cli_flags):
         if bot.intents.members:  # Lets avoid 0 Unique Users
             table_counts.add_row("Unique Users", str(users))
 
-        outdated_red_message = ""
-        rich_outdated_message = ""
-        pypi_version, py_version_req = await fetch_latest_red_version_info()
-        outdated = pypi_version and pypi_version > red_version_info
-        if outdated:
-            outdated_red_message, rich_outdated_message = get_outdated_red_messages(
-                pypi_version, py_version_req
-            )
+        fetch_version_task = asyncio.create_task(fetch_latest_red_version_info())
+        log.info("Fetching information about latest Red version...")
+        try:
+            await asyncio.wait_for(asyncio.shield(fetch_version_task), timeout=5)
+        except asyncio.TimeoutError:
+            log.info("Version information will continue to be fetched in the background...")
+        except Exception:
+            # these will be logged later
+            pass
 
         rich_console = rich.get_console()
         rich_console.print(INTRO, style="red", markup=False, highlight=False)
@@ -209,12 +210,23 @@ def init_events(bot, cli_flags):
             rich_console.print(
                 f"Looking for a quick guide on setting up Red? Checkout {Text('https://start.discord.red', style='link https://start.discord.red}')}"
             )
-        if rich_outdated_message:
-            rich_console.print(rich_outdated_message)
 
         bot._red_ready.set()
-        if outdated_red_message:
-            await send_to_owners_with_prefix_replaced(bot, outdated_red_message)
+
+        try:
+            pypi_version, py_version_req = await fetch_version_task
+        except (aiohttp.ClientError, asyncio.TimeoutError) as exc:
+            log.error("Failed to fetch latest version information from PyPI.", exc_info=exc)
+        except (KeyError, ValueError) as exc:
+            log.error("Failed to parse version metadata received from PyPI.", exc_info=exc)
+        else:
+            outdated = pypi_version and pypi_version > red_version_info
+            if outdated:
+                outdated_red_message, rich_outdated_message = get_outdated_red_messages(
+                    pypi_version, py_version_req
+                )
+                rich_console.print(rich_outdated_message)
+                await send_to_owners_with_prefix_replaced(bot, outdated_red_message)
 
     @bot.event
     async def on_command_completion(ctx: commands.Context):
diff --git a/redbot/core/core_commands.py b/redbot/core/core_commands.py
index 854b2e1ff..f8525e0a4 100644
--- a/redbot/core/core_commands.py
+++ b/redbot/core/core_commands.py
@@ -424,7 +424,11 @@ class Core(commands.commands._RuleDropper, commands.Cog, CoreLogic):
             owner = app_info.owner
         custom_info = await self.bot._config.custom_info()
 
-        pypi_version, py_version_req = await fetch_latest_red_version_info()
+        try:
+            pypi_version, __ = await fetch_latest_red_version_info()
+        except (aiohttp.ClientError, TimeoutError) as exc:
+            log.error("Failed to fetch latest version information from PyPI.", exc_info=exc)
+            pypi_version = None
         outdated = pypi_version and pypi_version > red_version_info
 
         if embed_links:
diff --git a/redbot/core/utils/_internal_utils.py b/redbot/core/utils/_internal_utils.py
index 088136203..a8a49ec72 100644
--- a/redbot/core/utils/_internal_utils.py
+++ b/redbot/core/utils/_internal_utils.py
@@ -326,18 +326,29 @@ def expected_version(current: str, expected: str) -> bool:
     return Requirement(f"x{expected}").specifier.contains(current, prereleases=True)
 
 
-async def fetch_latest_red_version_info() -> Tuple[Optional[VersionInfo], Optional[str]]:
-    try:
-        async with aiohttp.ClientSession() as session:
-            async with session.get("https://pypi.org/pypi/Red-DiscordBot/json") as r:
-                data = await r.json()
-    except (aiohttp.ClientError, asyncio.TimeoutError):
-        return None, None
-    else:
-        release = VersionInfo.from_str(data["info"]["version"])
-        required_python = data["info"]["requires_python"]
+async def fetch_latest_red_version_info() -> Tuple[VersionInfo, Optional[str]]:
+    """
+    Fetch information about latest Red release on PyPI.
 
-        return release, required_python
+    Raises
+    ------
+    aiohttp.ClientError
+        An error occurred during request to PyPI.
+    TimeoutError
+        The request to PyPI timed out.
+    ValueError
+        An invalid version string was returned in PyPI metadata.
+    KeyError
+        The PyPI metadata is missing some of the required information.
+    """
+    async with aiohttp.ClientSession() as session:
+        async with session.get("https://pypi.org/pypi/Red-DiscordBot/json") as r:
+            data = await r.json()
+
+    release = VersionInfo.from_str(data["info"]["version"])
+    required_python = data["info"]["requires_python"]
+
+    return release, required_python
 
 
 def deprecated_removed(