diff --git a/src/cmd/cz.go b/src/cmd/cz.go
index 00e8edc..7c33774 100644
--- a/src/cmd/cz.go
+++ b/src/cmd/cz.go
@@ -55,6 +55,10 @@ This will require the user to have commitizen installed on their system.`,
 		}
 		utils.GitWrapper(message, git_flags)
 
+		if update {
+			update_msg()
+		}
+
 		if pflag {
 			fmt.Println(message)
 		}
diff --git a/src/cmd/root.go b/src/cmd/root.go
index acec4bd..631d37d 100644
--- a/src/cmd/root.go
+++ b/src/cmd/root.go
@@ -1,19 +1,29 @@
 package cmd
 
 import (
+	"encoding/json"
 	"fmt"
+	"net/http"
 	"os"
 	"strings"
 
 	"github.com/Slug-Boi/cocommit/src/cmd/tui"
 	"github.com/Slug-Boi/cocommit/src/cmd/utils"
 	"github.com/inancgumus/screen"
+	"github.com/charmbracelet/lipgloss"
 
 	"github.com/spf13/cobra"
 )
 
 // Variables lives in here in case of possible future check of updates on running the CLI
 var Coco_Version string
+var update bool
+
+// print styling for the output for the CLI
+var update_style = lipgloss.NewStyle().Bold(true).Foreground(lipgloss.Color("#1aff00"))
+var msg_style = lipgloss.NewStyle().BorderStyle(lipgloss.RoundedBorder()).BorderForeground(lipgloss.Color("170"))
+
+// github_tag struct to hold the tag name from the github api response
 
 // rootCmd represents the base command when called without any subcommands
 // func RootCmd() *cobra.Command {
@@ -33,6 +43,12 @@ var rootCmd = &cobra.Command{
 	Run: func(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) {
 		var message string
 
+		// check if user included -m tag and remove. Wrap around for safety's sake
+		if len(args) > 0 && args[0] == "-m" {
+			// maybe change to a walk in case it pops up later?
+			args = args[1:]
+		}
+
 		// check if the print flag is set
 		pflag, _ := cmd.Flags().GetBool("print-output")
 		tflag, _ := cmd.Flags().GetBool("test_print")
@@ -43,6 +59,9 @@ var rootCmd = &cobra.Command{
 
 		if vflag {
 			fmt.Println("Cocommit version:", Coco_Version)
+			if update {
+				update_msg()
+			}
 			os.Exit(0)
 		}
 
@@ -53,54 +72,38 @@ var rootCmd = &cobra.Command{
 		}
 
 		if aflag {
-			tui.Entry()
-			os.Exit(0)
+			sel_auth := tui.Entry()
+			if len(args) == 0 {
+				if update {
+					update_msg()
+				}
+				os.Exit(0)
+			}
+			args = append(args, sel_auth...)
+			goto skip
 		}
 		// run execute commands again as root run will not call this part
 		// redundant check for now but will be useful later when we add tui
-	wrap_around:
 		switch len(args) {
 		case 0:
 			// launch the tui
-			args = append(args, tui.Entry_CM())
-			screen.Clear()
-			screen.MoveTopLeft()
-			sel_auth := tui.Entry()
-			message = utils.Commit(args[0], sel_auth)
-			if tflag {
-				fmt.Println(message)
-				return
-			}
-			goto tui
+			args = call_tui(args)
 		case 1:
 			if len(args) == 1 {
-				if tflag {
-					fmt.Println(args[0])
-					return
-				}
-
-				utils.GitWrapper(args[0], git_flags)
-				if pflag {
-					fmt.Println(args[0])
-				}
-
-				if gpflag {
-					utils.GitPush()
-				}
-				os.Exit(0)
+				message = args[0]
 			}
 		}
 
-		// check if user included -m tag and remove. Wrap around for safety's sake
-		if args[0] == "-m" {
-			args = args[1:]
-			goto wrap_around
-		}
-
+		skip:
 		// builds the commit message with the selected authors
-		message = utils.Commit(args[0], args[1:])
+		if len(args) > 1 {
+			message = utils.Commit(args[0], args[1:])
+		} 
+
+		if update {
+			update_msg()
+		}
 
-	tui:
 		if tflag {
 			fmt.Println(message)
 			return
@@ -120,6 +123,9 @@ var rootCmd = &cobra.Command{
 // Execute adds all child commands to the root command and sets flags appropriately.
 // This is called by main.main(). It only needs to happen once to the rootCmd.
 func Execute() {
+	// check for update
+	check_update()
+
 	// author file check
 	author_file := utils.CheckAuthorFile()
 	// define users
@@ -131,6 +137,45 @@ func Execute() {
 	}
 }
 
+func call_tui(args []string) []string {
+	// append commit message to args
+	args = append(args, tui.Entry_CM())
+
+	// clear the screen
+	screen.Clear()
+	screen.MoveTopLeft()
+
+	// run the tui and append authors to args
+	args = append(args, tui.Entry()...)
+	return args
+}
+
+func update_msg() {
+	fmt.Print(update_style.Render("--* A new version of cocommit is available. Please update to the latest version *--")+"\n\n")
+}
+
+// function to check for updates (check tag version from repo with the current version)
+func check_update() {
+	var tag github_release
+	tags, err :=  http.Get("https://api.github.com/repos/Slug-Boi/cocommit/releases/latest")
+	if err != nil {
+		fmt.Println("Could not fetch tags from github API")
+		return
+	}
+	defer tags.Body.Close()
+	
+	err = json.NewDecoder(tags.Body).Decode(&tag)
+	if err != nil {
+		fmt.Println("Error decoding json response from github API")
+		return
+	}
+
+	// NOTE: maybe change to a split and parse method idk if this can cause issues
+	if tag.TagName != Coco_Version && Coco_Version != "" {
+		update = true
+	}
+}
+
 func init() {
 	//rootCmD := RootCmd()
 	rootCmd.Flags().BoolP("print-output", "o", false, "Prints the commit message to the console")
diff --git a/src/cmd/update.go b/src/cmd/update.go
index 5f9a18d..27a4004 100644
--- a/src/cmd/update.go
+++ b/src/cmd/update.go
@@ -30,6 +30,17 @@ var updateCmd = &cobra.Command{
 	Long:  `This command will try to update the cocommit cli tool by either running the update script or by running the go get Command if the -g flag is set.`,
 	Run: func(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) {
 		gflag, _ := cmd.Flags().GetBool("go-get")
+		cflag, _ := cmd.Flags().GetBool("check")
+
+		if cflag {
+			fmt.Println("Checking if Cocommit is up to date")
+			if update {
+				update_msg()
+			} else {
+				fmt.Println("Cocommit is up to date")
+			}
+			os.Exit(0)
+		}
 
 		// check version of the cli tool
 		Github, err := http.Get("https://api.github.com/repos/Slug-Boi/cocommit/releases/latest")
@@ -137,12 +148,12 @@ func updateScript() {
 	}
 	err = unzipper("./", r)
 	if err != nil {
-		fmt.Println("Error unzipping file")
+		panic("Error unzipping file - " + err.Error())
 	}
 
 	swapper(exec_path)
 
-	fmt.Println("Cocommit cli tool updated successfully")
+	fmt.Println(update_style.Render("Cocommit cli tool updated successfully"))
 }
 
 func swapper(exec_path string) {
@@ -203,10 +214,18 @@ func unzipper(dst string, r io.Reader) error {
 		// the target location where the dir/file should be created
 		target := filepath.Join(dst, header.Name)
 
-		 // ensure the target path is within the destination directory
-        if !strings.HasPrefix(target, filepath.Clean(dst)+string(os.PathSeparator)) {
-            return fmt.Errorf("illegal file path: %s", target)
-        }
+		// ensure the target path is within the destination directory
+		cleanTarget, err := filepath.Abs(target)
+		if err != nil {
+			return fmt.Errorf("failed to get absolute path: %v", err)
+		}
+		cleanDst, err := filepath.Abs(dst)
+		if err != nil {
+			return fmt.Errorf("failed to get absolute path: %v", err)
+		}
+		if !strings.HasPrefix(cleanTarget, cleanDst+string(os.PathSeparator)) {
+			return fmt.Errorf("illegal file path: %s\nExpected: %s", cleanTarget, cleanDst+string(os.PathSeparator))
+		}
 
 		// check the file type
 		switch header.Typeflag {
@@ -241,4 +260,5 @@ func unzipper(dst string, r io.Reader) error {
 func init() {
 	rootCmd.AddCommand(updateCmd)
 	updateCmd.Flags().BoolP("go-get", "g", false, "Use the go get command to update the cocommit cli tool")
+	updateCmd.Flags().BoolP("check", "c", false, "Check if the cocommit cli tool is up to date")
 }
diff --git a/src/cmd/users.go b/src/cmd/users.go
index fda9fd7..591558e 100644
--- a/src/cmd/users.go
+++ b/src/cmd/users.go
@@ -22,6 +22,10 @@ func UsersCmd() *cobra.Command {
 		Short: "Displays all users from the author file located at:\n" + authorfile,
 		Long:  `Displays all users from the author file located at:` + "\n" + authorfile,
 		Run: func(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) {
+			if update {
+				update_msg()
+			}
+
 			//TODO: make this print a bit prettier (sort it and maybe use a table)
 			// check if the no pretty print flag is set
 			np, _ := cmd.Flags().GetBool("np")
diff --git a/src/cmd/utils/author_file_utils.go b/src/cmd/utils/author_file_utils.go
index 62ba9d2..1b071d5 100644
--- a/src/cmd/utils/author_file_utils.go
+++ b/src/cmd/utils/author_file_utils.go
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ import (
 	"fmt"
 	"os"
 	"regexp"
+	"strings"
 )
 
 // Author file utils is a package that contains functions that are used to read
@@ -26,6 +27,7 @@ func Find_authorfile() string {
 }
 
 func CheckAuthorFile() string {
+	var cocommit_folder string
 	authorfile := Find_authorfile()
 	if _, err := os.Stat(authorfile); os.IsNotExist(err) {
 		println("Author file not found at: ", authorfile)
@@ -36,18 +38,15 @@ func CheckAuthorFile() string {
 			println("Error reading response")
 		}
 		if response == "y" {
-			if authorfile == "" {
-				fmt.Println("author_file environment variable not set using default location:")
-				config, err := os.UserConfigDir()
-				if err != nil {
-					fmt.Println("Error getting user config directory")
-					os.Exit(1)
-				}
-				authorfile = config + "/cocommit/authors"
-				fmt.Println(authorfile)
-			}
+			parts := strings.Split(authorfile, "/")
+			cocommit_folder = strings.Join(parts[:len(parts)-1], "/")
 
 			// create the author file
+			err := os.Mkdir(cocommit_folder, 0766)
+			if err != nil {
+				fmt.Println("Error creating directory: ", err, cocommit_folder)
+				os.Exit(1)
+			}
 			file, err := os.Create(authorfile)
 			if err != nil {
 				fmt.Println("Error creating file: ", err)
diff --git a/src/cmd/utils/user_util.go b/src/cmd/utils/user_util.go
index 92ffb04..033c189 100644
--- a/src/cmd/utils/user_util.go
+++ b/src/cmd/utils/user_util.go
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ package utils
 
 import (
 	"bufio"
+	"fmt"
 	"os"
 	"strings"
 )
@@ -47,11 +48,19 @@ func Define_users(author_file string) {
 		info := strings.Split(input_str, "|")
 		if len(info) < 4 {
 			if len(info) > 0 {
-				println("Error: User ", info[0], " is missing information")
+				if info[0] == "" {
+					info[0] = "(empty string)"
+				}
+				fmt.Println("Error: User", info[0], "is missing information")
+				} else {
+					fmt.Println("Error: Some user is missing information")
+				}
+				fmt.Println("Please check the author file for proper syntax")
+			if input_str == "" {
+				fmt.Println("empty line found in author file")
 			} else {
-				println("Error: Some user is missing information")
+				fmt.Println("author file input:", input_str)
 			}
-			println("Please check the author file for proper syntax")
 			os.Exit(1)
 		}
 		usr := User{Username: info[2], Email: info[3], Names: info[0] + "/" + info[1]}