diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 3c3fcce..d61ba4f 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -1,5 +1,16 @@
 # Changelog
 
+## 0.4.4 — 2026-03-16
+
+- **New releases detected in under an hour, not half a day.** The update check cache was set to 12 hours, which meant you could be stuck on an old version all day while new releases dropped. Now "you're up to date" expires after 60 minutes, so you'll see upgrades within the hour. "Upgrade available" still nags for 12 hours (that's the point).
+- **`/gstack-upgrade` always checks for real.** Running `/gstack-upgrade` directly now bypasses the cache and does a fresh check against GitHub. No more "you're already on the latest" when you're not.
+
+### For contributors
+
+- Split `last-update-check` cache TTL: 60 min for `UP_TO_DATE`, 720 min for `UPGRADE_AVAILABLE`.
+- Added `--force` flag to `bin/gstack-update-check` (deletes cache file before checking).
+- 3 new tests: `--force` busts UP_TO_DATE cache, `--force` busts UPGRADE_AVAILABLE cache, 60-min TTL boundary test with `utimesSync`.
+
 ## 0.4.3 — 2026-03-16
 
 - **New `/document-release` skill.** Run it after `/ship` but before merging — it reads every doc file in your project, cross-references the diff, and updates README, ARCHITECTURE, CONTRIBUTING, CHANGELOG, and TODOS to match what you actually shipped. Risky changes get surfaced as questions; everything else is automatic.
diff --git a/VERSION b/VERSION
index 17b2ccd..6f2743d 100644
--- a/VERSION
+++ b/VERSION
@@ -1 +1 @@
-0.4.3
+0.4.4
diff --git a/bin/gstack-update-check b/bin/gstack-update-check
index 7c5e5ca..d44c7e0 100755
--- a/bin/gstack-update-check
+++ b/bin/gstack-update-check
@@ -20,6 +20,11 @@ SNOOZE_FILE="$STATE_DIR/update-snoozed"
 VERSION_FILE="$GSTACK_DIR/VERSION"
 REMOTE_URL="${GSTACK_REMOTE_URL:-https://raw.githubusercontent.com/garrytan/gstack/main/VERSION}"
 
+# ─── Force flag (busts cache for standalone /gstack-upgrade) ──
+if [ "${1:-}" = "--force" ]; then
+  rm -f "$CACHE_FILE"
+fi
+
 # ─── Step 0: Check if updates are disabled ────────────────────
 _UC=$("$GSTACK_DIR/bin/gstack-config" get update_check 2>/dev/null || true)
 if [ "$_UC" = "false" ]; then
@@ -97,24 +102,27 @@ if [ -f "$MARKER_FILE" ]; then
   exit 0
 fi
 
-# ─── Step 3: Check cache freshness (12h = 720 min) ──────────
+# ─── Step 3: Check cache freshness ──────────────────────────
+# UP_TO_DATE: 60 min TTL (detect new releases quickly)
+# UPGRADE_AVAILABLE: 720 min TTL (keep nagging)
 if [ -f "$CACHE_FILE" ]; then
-  # Cache is fresh if modified within 720 minutes
-  STALE=$(find "$CACHE_FILE" -mmin +720 2>/dev/null || true)
-  if [ -z "$STALE" ]; then
-    # Cache is fresh — read it
-    CACHED="$(cat "$CACHE_FILE" 2>/dev/null || true)"
+  CACHED="$(cat "$CACHE_FILE" 2>/dev/null || true)"
+  case "$CACHED" in
+    UP_TO_DATE*)        CACHE_TTL=60 ;;
+    UPGRADE_AVAILABLE*) CACHE_TTL=720 ;;
+    *)                  CACHE_TTL=0 ;;  # corrupt → force re-fetch
+  esac
+
+  STALE=$(find "$CACHE_FILE" -mmin +$CACHE_TTL 2>/dev/null || true)
+  if [ -z "$STALE" ] && [ "$CACHE_TTL" -gt 0 ]; then
     case "$CACHED" in
       UP_TO_DATE*)
-        # Verify local version still matches cached version
         CACHED_VER="$(echo "$CACHED" | awk '{print $2}')"
         if [ "$CACHED_VER" = "$LOCAL" ]; then
           exit 0
         fi
-        # Local version changed — fall through to re-check
         ;;
       UPGRADE_AVAILABLE*)
-        # Verify local version still matches cached old version
         CACHED_OLD="$(echo "$CACHED" | awk '{print $2}')"
         if [ "$CACHED_OLD" = "$LOCAL" ]; then
           CACHED_NEW="$(echo "$CACHED" | awk '{print $3}')"
@@ -124,7 +132,6 @@ if [ -f "$CACHE_FILE" ]; then
           echo "$CACHED"
           exit 0
         fi
-        # Local version changed (manual upgrade?) — fall through to re-check
         ;;
     esac
   fi
diff --git a/browse/test/gstack-update-check.test.ts b/browse/test/gstack-update-check.test.ts
index 2ec70e2..6623993 100644
--- a/browse/test/gstack-update-check.test.ts
+++ b/browse/test/gstack-update-check.test.ts
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@
  */
 
 import { describe, test, expect, beforeEach, afterEach } from 'bun:test';
-import { mkdtempSync, writeFileSync, rmSync, existsSync, readFileSync, mkdirSync, symlinkSync } from 'fs';
+import { mkdtempSync, writeFileSync, rmSync, existsSync, readFileSync, mkdirSync, symlinkSync, utimesSync } from 'fs';
 import { join } from 'path';
 import { tmpdir } from 'os';
 
@@ -16,8 +16,8 @@ const SCRIPT = join(import.meta.dir, '..', '..', 'bin', 'gstack-update-check');
 let gstackDir: string;
 let stateDir: string;
 
-function run(extraEnv: Record<string, string> = {}) {
-  const result = Bun.spawnSync(['bash', SCRIPT], {
+function run(extraEnv: Record<string, string> = {}, args: string[] = []) {
+  const result = Bun.spawnSync(['bash', SCRIPT, ...args], {
     env: {
       ...process.env,
       GSTACK_DIR: gstackDir,
@@ -412,4 +412,56 @@ describe('gstack-update-check', () => {
     expect(exitCode).toBe(0);
     expect(stdout).toBe('UPGRADE_AVAILABLE 0.3.3 0.4.0');
   });
+
+  // ─── --force flag tests ──────────────────────────────────────
+
+  test('--force busts fresh UP_TO_DATE cache', () => {
+    writeFileSync(join(gstackDir, 'VERSION'), '0.3.3\n');
+    writeFileSync(join(gstackDir, 'REMOTE_VERSION'), '0.4.0\n');
+    writeFileSync(join(stateDir, 'last-update-check'), 'UP_TO_DATE 0.3.3');
+
+    // Without --force: cache hit, silent
+    const cached = run();
+    expect(cached.stdout).toBe('');
+
+    // With --force: cache busted, re-fetches, finds upgrade
+    const forced = run({}, ['--force']);
+    expect(forced.exitCode).toBe(0);
+    expect(forced.stdout).toBe('UPGRADE_AVAILABLE 0.3.3 0.4.0');
+  });
+
+  test('--force busts fresh UPGRADE_AVAILABLE cache', () => {
+    writeFileSync(join(gstackDir, 'VERSION'), '0.3.3\n');
+    writeFileSync(join(gstackDir, 'REMOTE_VERSION'), '0.3.3\n');
+    writeFileSync(join(stateDir, 'last-update-check'), 'UPGRADE_AVAILABLE 0.3.3 0.4.0');
+
+    // Without --force: cache hit, outputs stale upgrade
+    const cached = run();
+    expect(cached.stdout).toBe('UPGRADE_AVAILABLE 0.3.3 0.4.0');
+
+    // With --force: cache busted, re-fetches, now up to date
+    const forced = run({}, ['--force']);
+    expect(forced.exitCode).toBe(0);
+    expect(forced.stdout).toBe('');
+    const cache = readFileSync(join(stateDir, 'last-update-check'), 'utf-8');
+    expect(cache).toContain('UP_TO_DATE');
+  });
+
+  // ─── Split TTL tests ─────────────────────────────────────────
+
+  test('UP_TO_DATE cache expires after 60 min (not 720)', () => {
+    writeFileSync(join(gstackDir, 'VERSION'), '0.3.3\n');
+    writeFileSync(join(gstackDir, 'REMOTE_VERSION'), '0.4.0\n');
+    writeFileSync(join(stateDir, 'last-update-check'), 'UP_TO_DATE 0.3.3');
+
+    // Set cache mtime to 90 minutes ago (past 60-min TTL)
+    const ninetyMinAgo = new Date(Date.now() - 90 * 60 * 1000);
+    const cachePath = join(stateDir, 'last-update-check');
+    utimesSync(cachePath, ninetyMinAgo, ninetyMinAgo);
+
+    // Cache should be stale at 60-min TTL, re-fetches and finds upgrade
+    const { exitCode, stdout } = run();
+    expect(exitCode).toBe(0);
+    expect(stdout).toBe('UPGRADE_AVAILABLE 0.3.3 0.4.0');
+  });
 });
diff --git a/gstack-upgrade/SKILL.md b/gstack-upgrade/SKILL.md
index 42f13f6..9d63565 100644
--- a/gstack-upgrade/SKILL.md
+++ b/gstack-upgrade/SKILL.md
@@ -189,4 +189,13 @@ After showing What's New, continue with whatever skill the user originally invok
 
 ## Standalone usage
 
-When invoked directly as `/gstack-upgrade` (not from a preamble), follow Steps 2-6 above. If already on the latest version, tell the user: "You're already on the latest version (v{version})."
+When invoked directly as `/gstack-upgrade` (not from a preamble):
+
+1. Force a fresh update check (bypass cache):
+```bash
+~/.claude/skills/gstack/bin/gstack-update-check --force
+```
+Use the output to determine if an upgrade is available.
+
+2. If `UPGRADE_AVAILABLE <old> <new>`: follow Steps 2-6 above.
+3. If no output (up to date): tell the user "You're already on the latest version (v{version})."
diff --git a/gstack-upgrade/SKILL.md.tmpl b/gstack-upgrade/SKILL.md.tmpl
index a199db6..a441b8d 100644
--- a/gstack-upgrade/SKILL.md.tmpl
+++ b/gstack-upgrade/SKILL.md.tmpl
@@ -187,4 +187,13 @@ After showing What's New, continue with whatever skill the user originally invok
 
 ## Standalone usage
 
-When invoked directly as `/gstack-upgrade` (not from a preamble), follow Steps 2-6 above. If already on the latest version, tell the user: "You're already on the latest version (v{version})."
+When invoked directly as `/gstack-upgrade` (not from a preamble):
+
+1. Force a fresh update check (bypass cache):
+```bash
+~/.claude/skills/gstack/bin/gstack-update-check --force
+```
+Use the output to determine if an upgrade is available.
+
+2. If `UPGRADE_AVAILABLE <old> <new>`: follow Steps 2-6 above.
+3. If no output (up to date): tell the user "You're already on the latest version (v{version})."