diff --git a/.npmignore b/.npmignore
index 039e6414..38b1ae8a 100644
--- a/.npmignore
+++ b/.npmignore
@@ -31,3 +31,12 @@ tsconfig.json
 
 # config files
 *.yml
+
+# assorted unimportant tooling files
+.vscode/
+.prettierrc
+CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md
+CONTRIBUTING.md
+
+# for tooling purposes only
+/script/update-embedded-git.js
diff --git a/docs/releases.md b/docs/releases.md
index 85cd06e2..e7f0764b 100644
--- a/docs/releases.md
+++ b/docs/releases.md
@@ -1,9 +1,25 @@
 # Releases
 
+## Update Git
+
+The most important part of the release process is updating the embedded Git package. This can be done using this one-liner:
+
+```sh
+npm run update-embedded-git
+```
+
+This script:
+
+- retrieves the latest `dugite-native` release from the GitHub API
+- gets the checksums embedded in the release
+- generates the `script/embedded-git.json` payload to be used at install time
+
+## Publishing to NPM
+
 Releases are done to NPM, and are currently limited to the core team.
 
 ```sh
-# to ensure everything is up-to-date
+# to ensure everything is up-to-date and tests pass
 npm i
 # you might need to do a different sort of version bump here
 npm version minor
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 31d43529..7fa83b6b 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -15,7 +15,8 @@
     "test:external": "mocha -t 30000 --require ts-node/register test/external/*.ts",
     "postinstall": "node ./script/download-git.js",
     "prettify": "prettier \"{examples,lib,script,test}/**/*.ts\" --write",
-    "is-it-pretty": "prettier \"{examples,lib,script,test}/**/*.ts\" --list-different"
+    "is-it-pretty": "prettier \"{examples,lib,script,test}/**/*.ts\" --list-different",
+    "update-embedded-git": "node ./script/update-embedded-git.js"
   },
   "engines": {
     "node": ">= 6",
diff --git a/script/config.js b/script/config.js
index 9f32eb40..45f56592 100644
--- a/script/config.js
+++ b/script/config.js
@@ -3,6 +3,8 @@ const path = require('path')
 const os = require('os')
 const fs = require('fs')
 
+const embeddedGit = require('./embedded-git.json')
+
 function getConfig() {
   const config = {
     outputPath: path.join(__dirname, '..', 'git'),
@@ -12,30 +14,15 @@ function getConfig() {
     tempFile: ''
   }
 
-  if (process.platform === 'darwin') {
-    config.checksum = 'e95eefd33c8305aa4b362fe76d4a499cd7c1f11ff3183fc10009317466bc309f'
-    config.source =
-      'https://github.com/desktop/dugite-native/releases/download/v2.18.0-4/dugite-native-v2.18.0-macOS.tar.gz'
-  } else if (process.platform === 'win32') {
-    if (os.arch() === 'x64') {
-      config.checksum = '186cba377cbb7f2bb0d0061ccdd9ddc12c7acc8381a2f56e3c59952a1ecc09a9'
-      config.source =
-        'https://github.com/desktop/dugite-native/releases/download/v2.18.0-4/dugite-native-v2.18.0-windows-x64.tar.gz'
-    } else {
-      config.checksum = '680769787069722f283bf0e5f0acaed37c049bbe81a27ebda6fa4b9b8ffe86d1'
-      config.source =
-        'https://github.com/desktop/dugite-native/releases/download/v2.18.0-4/dugite-native-v2.18.0-windows-x86.tar.gz'
-    }
-  } else if (process.platform === 'linux') {
-    if (os.arch() === 'arm64') {
-      config.checksum = '5182bc8660ec3052d9ae05ee209f95a567eed30d7c6c60920c25ca68ce6f032b'
-      config.source =
-        'https://github.com/desktop/dugite-native/releases/download/v2.18.0-4/dugite-native-v2.18.0-arm64.tar.gz'
-    } else {
-      config.checksum = '8eb1468bd10927229c7adbc41e0dec2b0f1fdbd0605fda9194cca028b35d52b1'
-      config.source =
-        'https://github.com/desktop/dugite-native/releases/download/v2.18.0-4/dugite-native-v2.18.0-ubuntu.tar.gz'
-    }
+  const key = `${process.platform}-${os.arch()}`
+
+  const entry = embeddedGit[key]
+
+  if (entry != null) {
+    config.checksum = entry.checksum
+    config.source = entry.url
+  } else {
+    console.log(`No embedded Git found for ${process.platform} and architecture ${os.arch()}`)
   }
 
   if (config.source !== '') {
diff --git a/script/embedded-git.json b/script/embedded-git.json
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..5339c455
--- /dev/null
+++ b/script/embedded-git.json
@@ -0,0 +1,27 @@
+{
+  "win32-x64": {
+    "name": "dugite-native-v2.19.0-windows-x64.tar.gz",
+    "url": "https://github.com/desktop/dugite-native/releases/download/v2.19.0-1/dugite-native-v2.19.0-windows-x64.tar.gz",
+    "checksum": "d38baa1e5c559e2d0172a84f6e5ce996946f60ddd4432632c4ead90e49b73d60"
+  },
+  "win32-ia32": {
+    "name": "dugite-native-v2.19.0-windows-x86.tar.gz",
+    "url": "https://github.com/desktop/dugite-native/releases/download/v2.19.0-1/dugite-native-v2.19.0-windows-x86.tar.gz",
+    "checksum": "44dc57777959309ed4115e24ce0598dae19c93ce9731ef3a612f549b53e7ae9e"
+  },
+  "darwin-x64": {
+    "name": "dugite-native-v2.19.0-macOS.tar.gz",
+    "url": "https://github.com/desktop/dugite-native/releases/download/v2.19.0-1/dugite-native-v2.19.0-macOS.tar.gz",
+    "checksum": "53dcc276a404c8769104fa3ddf5595a86a7e22016449fb79d9bc5724a5563d80"
+  },
+  "linux-x64": {
+    "name": "dugite-native-v2.19.0-ubuntu.tar.gz",
+    "url": "https://github.com/desktop/dugite-native/releases/download/v2.19.0-1/dugite-native-v2.19.0-ubuntu.tar.gz",
+    "checksum": "04b4f70544e798467f07905b0b05853d6a34f4cfcbf63481e94907c6b9aa5876"
+  },
+  "linux-arm64": {
+    "name": "dugite-native-v2.19.0-arm64.tar.gz",
+    "url": "https://github.com/desktop/dugite-native/releases/download/v2.19.0-1/dugite-native-v2.19.0-arm64.tar.gz",
+    "checksum": "0589faac66321c27175f6fc9b19de13e6c1c091ea9de1f206d184d42ee020b47"
+  }
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/script/update-embedded-git.js b/script/update-embedded-git.js
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..4abc29da
--- /dev/null
+++ b/script/update-embedded-git.js
@@ -0,0 +1,113 @@
+const request = require('request')
+const fs = require('fs')
+const path = require('path')
+
+const options = {
+  url: `https://api.github.com/repos/desktop/dugite-native/releases/latest`,
+  headers: {
+    Accept: 'application/json',
+    'User-Agent': 'dugite'
+  },
+  secureProtocol: 'TLSv1_2_method',
+  json: true
+}
+
+request(options, async (err, response, release) => {
+  if (err) {
+    console.error('Unable to get latest release', err)
+    return
+  }
+
+  const { tag_name, assets } = release
+
+  console.log(`Updating embedded git config to use version ${tag_name}`)
+
+  const output = {
+    'win32-x64': await findWindows64BitRelease(assets),
+    'win32-ia32': await findWindows32BitRelease(assets),
+    'darwin-x64': await findMacOS64BitRelease(assets),
+    'linux-x64': await findLinux64BitRelease(assets),
+    'linux-arm64': await findLinuxARM64Release(assets)
+  }
+
+  const fileContents = JSON.stringify(output, null, 2)
+
+  const embeddedGitPath = path.join(__dirname, 'embedded-git.json')
+
+  fs.writeFileSync(embeddedGitPath, fileContents, 'utf8')
+
+  console.log(
+    `Done! Don't forget to commit any changes and run the test suite again with \`npm i\` to confirm they pass!`
+  )
+})
+
+function findWindows64BitRelease(assets) {
+  const asset = assets.find(a => a.name.endsWith('-windows-x64.tar.gz'))
+  if (asset == null) {
+    throw new Error('Could not find Windows 64-bit archive in latest release')
+  }
+  return getDetailsForAsset(assets, asset)
+}
+
+function findWindows32BitRelease(assets) {
+  const asset = assets.find(a => a.name.endsWith('-windows-x86.tar.gz'))
+  if (asset == null) {
+    throw new Error('Could not find Windows 32-bit archive in latest release')
+  }
+  return getDetailsForAsset(assets, asset)
+}
+
+function findMacOS64BitRelease(assets) {
+  const asset = assets.find(a => a.name.endsWith('-macOS.tar.gz'))
+  if (asset == null) {
+    throw new Error('Could not find MacOS 64-bit archive in latest release')
+  }
+  return getDetailsForAsset(assets, asset)
+}
+
+function findLinux64BitRelease(assets) {
+  const asset = assets.find(a => a.name.endsWith('-ubuntu.tar.gz'))
+  if (asset == null) {
+    throw new Error('Could not find Linux 64-bit archive in latest release')
+  }
+  return getDetailsForAsset(assets, asset)
+}
+
+function findLinuxARM64Release(assets) {
+  const asset = assets.find(a => a.name.endsWith('-arm64.tar.gz'))
+  if (asset == null) {
+    throw new Error('Could not find Linux ARM64 archive in latest release')
+  }
+  return getDetailsForAsset(assets, asset)
+}
+
+function downloadChecksum(url) {
+  return new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
+    const options = {
+      url,
+      headers: {
+        Accept: 'application/octet-stream',
+        'User-Agent': 'dugite-native'
+      },
+      secureProtocol: 'TLSv1_2_method'
+    }
+
+    request(options, (err, response, body) => {
+      if (err) {
+        reject(err)
+        return
+      }
+
+      resolve(body)
+    })
+  })
+}
+
+async function getDetailsForAsset(assets, currentAsset) {
+  const { name } = currentAsset
+  const url = currentAsset.browser_download_url
+  const checksumFile = assets.find(a => a.name === `${name}.sha256`)
+  const checksumRaw = await downloadChecksum(checksumFile.browser_download_url)
+  const checksum = checksumRaw.trim()
+  return { name, url, checksum }
+}
diff --git a/test/helpers.ts b/test/helpers.ts
index 235932fa..ea4e7cb1 100644
--- a/test/helpers.ts
+++ b/test/helpers.ts
@@ -1,8 +1,8 @@
 import { GitProcess, IGitResult } from '../lib'
 
 // NOTE: bump these versions to the latest stable releases
-export const gitVersion = '2.18.0'
-export const gitLfsVersion = '2.5.0'
+export const gitVersion = '2.19.0'
+export const gitLfsVersion = '2.5.2'
 
 const temp = require('temp').track()