diff --git a/kickoff/CMakeLists.txt b/kickoff/CMakeLists.txt
index 70e361c..d860cb4 100644
--- a/kickoff/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/kickoff/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@ QML_SOURCES
     ListOfGridsView.qml
     ListOfGridsViewDelegate.qml
     NormalPage.qml
+    UpdateBar.qml
     PlacesPage.qml
     SectionView.qml
     VerticalStackView.qml
diff --git a/kickoff/FullRepresentation.qml b/kickoff/FullRepresentation.qml
index aa25d3c..7d9a6bb 100644
--- a/kickoff/FullRepresentation.qml
+++ b/kickoff/FullRepresentation.qml
@@ -77,6 +77,9 @@ EmptyPage {
         }
     }
 
+    // Quine Linux: system update status (UpdateBar.qml).
+    footer: UpdateBar {}
+
     contentItem: VerticalStackView {
         id: contentItemStackView
         focus: true
diff --git a/kickoff/UpdateBar.qml b/kickoff/UpdateBar.qml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3ebe376
--- /dev/null
+++ b/kickoff/UpdateBar.qml
@@ -0,0 +1,100 @@
+/*
+    SPDX-FileCopyrightText: 2026 Quine Foundation
+    SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0-or-later
+*/
+
+// Quine Linux: a bar at the bottom of Kickoff when a newer system image is
+// available, or downloaded and waiting for a restart. It reads the status
+// that quine-update-check.service writes as root (quine-linux's overlay,
+// /usr/libexec/quine-linux/update-check), and is hidden otherwise.
+
+pragma ComponentBehavior: Bound
+
+import QtQuick
+import org.kde.kirigami as Kirigami
+import org.kde.plasma.plasma5support as P5Support
+import org.kde.plasma.private.sessions as Sessions
+
+Kirigami.InlineMessage {
+    id: root
+
+    readonly property string statusFile: "/run/quine-linux/update-status.json"
+    readonly property string readCommand: "cat " + statusFile
+    // "current", "available" or "staged"; anything else hides the bar.
+    property string updateState: ""
+    property string newBuild: ""
+
+    position: Kirigami.InlineMessage.Position.Footer
+    // Hidden, InlineMessage's implicit height is 0, so the menu doesn't keep
+    // room for it (EmptyPage sizes by the footer's implicit height).
+    visible: updateState === "available" || updateState === "staged"
+    showCloseButton: false
+    type: updateState === "staged" ? Kirigami.MessageType.Positive : Kirigami.MessageType.Information
+    icon.name: updateState === "staged" ? "system-reboot-update" : "system-software-update"
+    text: updateState === "staged"
+        ? i18nc("@info", "An update is ready. Restart to finish updating.")
+        : i18nc("@info", "A system update is available%1.",
+                newBuild ? i18nc("@info build date", " (built %1)", newBuild) : "")
+
+    actions: [
+        Kirigami.Action {
+            visible: root.updateState === "available"
+            text: i18nc("@action:button", "Update Now")
+            icon.name: "system-software-update"
+            // Aurora's System Update: `ujust update` in a terminal.
+            onTriggered: {
+                executable.connectSource("kioclient exec /usr/share/applications/dev.getaurora.system-update.desktop")
+                kickoff.expanded = false
+            }
+        },
+        Kirigami.Action {
+            visible: root.updateState === "staged" && sessions.canReboot
+            text: i18nc("@action:button", "Restart")
+            icon.name: "system-reboot"
+            onTriggered: {
+                kickoff.expanded = false
+                sessions.requestReboot()
+            }
+        }
+    ]
+
+    Sessions.SessionManagement {
+        id: sessions
+    }
+
+    P5Support.DataSource {
+        id: executable
+        engine: "executable"
+        connectedSources: []
+        onNewData: (source, data) => {
+            disconnectSource(source)
+            if (source !== root.readCommand) {
+                return
+            }
+            let status = null
+            try {
+                status = JSON.parse(data["stdout"])
+            } catch (e) {
+                // No file yet (the first check hasn't run, or a live session).
+            }
+            root.updateState = status?.state ?? ""
+            const built = status?.new?.timestamp
+            root.newBuild = built ? Qt.formatDate(new Date(built), Qt.locale(), Locale.ShortFormat) : ""
+        }
+    }
+
+    function refresh() {
+        executable.connectSource(readCommand)
+    }
+
+    Component.onCompleted: refresh()
+
+    Connections {
+        target: kickoff
+        function onExpandedChanged() {
+            if (kickoff.expanded) {
+                root.refresh()
+            }
+        }
+    }
+}