Answered by Steve changelog

This release adds bounded, resumable file transfer for AI clients and makes the Jobs workspace vertically resizable.

New capabilities

• Reads up to 100,000 text characters directly.
• Returns up to 1 MiB as inline Base64.
• Transfers files up to 50 MiB through source-bound, expiring MCP handles with 512 KiB chunks, strict offsets, SHA-256 verification, durable writes, and atomic commit.
• Lets the user drag the divider so the lane panels or Activity area can receive more vertical space.

Validation: focused transfer, dispatcher, interface, packaging, frozen self-test, signed-build, MCP contract, and live-route gates passed. The arbitrary public command limit remains 12,000 characters.

Signing disclosure: the application and installer are SHA-256 Authenticode signed and RFC 3161 timestamped with the self-signed Answered by Steve Internal Checkpoint certificate. This is not a public-CA signature.

This focused release repairs the Windows Jobs display regression without changing the public tool contract or device topology.

Correctness fixes

• Keeps the lane refresh loop alive after a transient readiness or rendering error.
• Restores the live root PID, child-process tree, elapsed timer, lane state, pause, resume, show, process termination, and whole-lane termination display.
• Separates normal dispatcher job history under Jobs from secure relay connection and forwarding output under Activity.
• Preserves non-copyable activity views and Control+wheel text resizing.

Validation: both Windows sources passed 161 tests and frozen executable self-tests. Both exact installers passed Microsoft Defender scans. Windows 11 passed a recoverable signed upgrade and live SDR public-route run, pause, resume, completion, visual acceptance, and orphan cleanup.

Signing disclosure: both executable layers are SHA-256 Authenticode signed and RFC 3161 timestamped with the self-signed Answered by Steve Internal Checkpoint certificate. This is not a public-CA signature.

This release turns the compact 0.1.6 client into the complete Windows operations surface. The public connector now advertises 71 callable schemas with descriptions written for the AI that must decide when and how to use them.

New capabilities

• Added Speak Aloud with queued playback, status, pause, resume, and stop. Speech runs outside both dispatcher lanes and requires the local user to enable it.
• Added controlled Browser1 sessions for Edge, Chrome, or Firefox, including tabs, navigation, page reading, semantic find, click, type, key input, screenshots, console history, failed network requests, dialog history, and clean shutdown.
• Expanded Windows observation and administration across identity, snapshots, disks, processes, windows, ports, network paths, events, files, logs, deployment comparison, rollback readiness, services, scheduled tasks, Docker Compose, receipts, and dispatcher history.
• Rewrote tool descriptions to distinguish observation, bounded writes, exact-identity controls, browser interaction, local policy behavior, independent AI-client approval, and outputs that can expose sensitive local data.

Correctness fixes

• Repaired system_snapshot, process_list, and process_tree so inaccessible or optional Windows fields no longer abort a whole collection.
• Made scheduled-task inspection tolerate a missing next-run timestamp.
• Made browser observers return an honest empty stopped state when no controlled browser is running.
• Replaced generic INVALID_ARGUMENT failures with semantic codes including NOT_FOUND, COMPOSE_PROJECT_NOT_FOUND, and BROWSER_NOT_RUNNING.
• Added correlation IDs and bounded local diagnostics for internal failures.
• Fixed MCP response compatibility so the same real JSON result appears in both text content and structured content instead of a generic success sentence.

Safety and compatibility

• Preserved Read Only, Ask Each Time, and Full Access local-policy behavior while making that behavior explicit to the calling AI.
• Preserved account identity, device registration, two managed lanes, durable receipts, startup choice, tray behavior, and the responsive interface from 0.1.6.
• Kept separate Windows 11 and Windows 10 installers. The Windows 10 package requires build 19041 or newer and was launched on Windows 10 Pro 22H2 build 19045.
• No Linux client or Linux release was changed by this Windows promotion.

Validation: 160 source tests and 19 focused release contracts passed on each Windows line. Frozen self-tests passed. Both exact installers passed fresh Microsoft Defender custom scans with no threats. Windows 11 passed full installed public-route acceptance on DESKTOP-3JVL64J through G9. Windows 10 passed silent installation, interactive launch, and installed application hash verification on STEVE-DEV.

Signing disclosure: both installers are SHA-256 Authenticode signed and RFC 3161 timestamped with the self-signed Answered by Steve Internal Checkpoint certificate. This is not a public-CA signature, so Windows can still display a trust or uncommon-download warning. The public-CA signing gate was not weakened or reported as passed.

• Rebuilt both Windows clients around a compact sidebar with dedicated Status, Jobs, Activity, Access, and Setup pages.
• Added a 400 by 520 first-launch layout, responsive lane stacking, collapsible sections, remembered placement, and sensible size limits for smaller displays.
• Placed recent activity directly below the two managed execution lanes while retaining the larger Activity page.
• Preserved sign-in, computer binding, pause, approvals, startup, tray, MCP setup, and all two-lane dispatcher controls.
• SHA-256 signed and timestamped each application, installer, and embedded uninstaller with the established internal checkpoint beta certificate.

Testing note: all 139 Python tests passed for each platform source. The Windows 10 candidate passed a signed 0.1.5-to-0.1.6 upgrade, installed self-test, native desktop visual check, Microsoft Defender scan, and live public dispatcher smoke on STEVE-DEV. The Windows 11 frozen and installed clients passed self-test, upgrade testing on WIN-DEV, and Defender scanning.

• Renamed the provider-neutral connection action to MCP Setup across every current client.
• Added separate ChatGPT and Claude setup guides while preserving each provider's own authorization flow.
• Fixed the Linux GUI so the MCP Tunnel URL is visibly rendered as well as copied.
• Added the five-step Claude website guide and its first-use tool approval note.
• Rebuilt and internally signed both Windows installers, signed the Linux bundle, and confirmed no humanctl commands are packaged.

Testing note: Windows 10 passed live desktop, clipboard, local binding, public route, and receipt validation on STEVE-DEV; the shared public account was then restored and re-proven on LINUX-DEV. Windows 11 passed the full source suite, frozen self-test, payload audit, signing checks, and Microsoft Defender scan on WIN-DEV. Linux passed native GUI, isolated install and rollback, GPG verification, public status tools, and two public-route receipts.

• Added the Computers side panel for this computer, bound computer, connection state, and registered devices.
• Added server-authoritative bind, unbind, reconnect, switch, and stale-client rejection behavior.
• Kept the beta5 scrollable/resizable activity area and UI text/encoding cleanup.
• Added the visible Windows 11 client header version label.
• Fixed Linux activity-log scrolling so resize and selection behavior no longer drags the log away from new work.
• Added a signed Linux tarball with checksum, detached GPG signature, and rotated Linux release public key.

Testing note: this is lightly tested but proven working. Windows 11 passed signed install, binding survival, public route smoke, and elevated admin smoke on WIN-DEV. Windows 10 passed install/self-test/launch smoke on STEVE-DEV. Linux passed clean install, desktop launch, sign-in, bind, local smoke, and public-route smoke on LINUX-DEV.

• Replaced the single-job lock model with independent left and right managed lanes.
• Added per-lane readiness, elapsed time, owned-process visibility, pause, resume, show, and explicit termination.
• Replaced the older recovery command with dispatcher_terminate_lane while retaining the exact nine-tool public contract.
• Preserved the New03 command-integrity fixes for nested PowerShell, CMD, variables, quoting, and command hashes.

• Fixed quote truncation in nested PowerShell and CMD commands.
• Preserved PowerShell $ variables, loops, pipelines, parentheses, and quoted operators by staging commands into temporary script files.
• Added execution-mode and submitted-command SHA-256 metadata to dispatcher results.
• Kept managed job cancellation and child-process-tree recovery intact.

Upgrade note: after upgrading the Windows app, remove the Answered by Steve plugin on every device, reinstall it, and start a new chat. An older device session or existing chat can continue to show 8 commands instead of the full 9-command schema.

• Added guarded recovery and headless-control support.
• Added desktop human-control and private file-sharing foundations.
• Improved dispatcher job handling, Windows app routing, and account/device flow.
• Expanded the verified release gate to 123 passing tests.

Initial public Windows beta package with signed application and installer, certificate bootstrap, account sign-in, device registration, and hosted routing connection.