DevCapsule 0.3.0

DevCapsule 0.3.0 adds a web console and persistent session diagnostics, expands the choice of IDEs, and separates a project's requirements from a developer's personal setup. The launcher and the 49 user-guide pages now use the same capability and configuration model.

What changed

• A web console for each session. The launcher prints a session-specific console link beside the desktop link. Inspect configuration, component versions, processes and resource use; read project records; answer decisions prepared by an agent; and read checkout notifications. The console requires a compatible base. Older bases remain usable and receive a clear notice instead of a console link that cannot work. Several consoles can stay authenticated side by side in the same browser profile.
• Logs that survive a session. Each launch writes per-component logs to a directory on the launcher host. Files rotate and share a per-checkout budget. The terminal stays focused on startup, readiness, warnings and the final session result. Ctrl+C reports an interrupted session instead of a traceback.
• A diagnostic snapshot and export. devcapsule project diagnose combines launcher information with bounded probes of the running capsule. Its export redacts recognized secrets and bounds the captured data. Inspect an export before sharing it: application output can contain sensitive text that a general redactor cannot recognize.
• More IDE choices. Alongside PyCharm and VSCodium, the catalog includes IntelliJ IDEA, Eclipse IDE for Java Developers, JetBrains Rider with .NET, and Microsoft Visual Studio Code. VSCodium remains the default provider of frontend-ide. VS Code is downloaded from Microsoft on the developer's request under its acquisition terms; DevCapsule does not redistribute it. The browser-automation capability supplies Playwright and Chromium.
• Capabilities for projects and checkouts. Projects use project config require, offer, drop and recommend to declare capabilities, minimum versions and recommendations. Developers use add, omit, restore and use for their checkout. Agents use the same capability model as other tools. project run derives the plan directly; there is no separate configuration-resolution step.
• One named configuration home. DEVCAPSULE_CONFIG_HOME selects the home for launcher settings and checkout state. devcapsule home show, home default and home trust work without a project. Defaults and vendor trust live in one schema-versioned settings.toml. Inside a capsule, these commands operate on the capsule's own home.
• Explicit choices at launch. Software acquisition approvals are grouped into one prompt. Saved per-checkout Docker arguments and environment inputs support development scenarios without putting secret values in Git. A one-time project run --ide IDE --force may set aside a required IDE; it warns and records the departure without saving it or bypassing other checks.
• Faster rebuilds and clearer compatibility checks. Directory build inputs use named contexts and archives are cached by digest. Cache publication is serialized and incomplete entries are rejected. The launcher diagnoses an incompatible base or lock before attempting work it cannot support.
• Complete versioned guides. All 49 user-documentation files were checked against the CLI and reviewed for prose; all 12 planned-page stubs have full content. Packaged workflow instructions call the iterative review process Pair Review Loop, or Pair Review for short.

Upgrading from 0.2.15

Install the new launcher, inspect your checkout with devcapsule project config show, and use devcapsule project config check to see unresolved choices. Installing the launcher grants no new host access and does not silently replace a project's lock or a developer's selected versions.

To migrate a schema-1 manifest to schema 2 and refresh its lock, run devcapsule project init --regenerate, review the .devcapsule/ diff, and commit the manifest and platform lock together. Do not hand-edit a lock. The concurrent-console fix requires the rebuilt recipe-11 base; updating only the launcher leaves an older locked base unchanged.

Scripts using retired configuration commands must move to the current CLI: config show replaces config list; project requirements use require, offer and drop; developer choices use add, omit, restore and use; home defaults and mutating trust commands live under devcapsule home. config resolve and run --force-config are retired. The new run --force has the narrower required-IDE meaning described above and cannot be combined with --save.

Old home files are not silently merged into the new settings.toml. Inspect devcapsule home show and re-establish defaults or vendor trust with the home commands where needed. Agent credentials still belong to your provider accounts and are not granted by a launcher upgrade.

Component versions and validation limits

The IDE catalog supplies PyCharm, IntelliJ IDEA and Rider 2026.2.4, VSCodium 1.143.17232, VS Code 1.144.0, and Eclipse Java 2026-09-R.

The candidate's catalog pins Codex 0.166.0, Claude Code 2.1.314, and Antigravity CLI 1.4.12. Their artifacts were checked against vendor integrity values and startup-tested on the pinned base with DevCapsule's seeded settings. Existing locks retain their selected versions. These pins are not a claim to be each vendor's latest release; authentication, model access and provider tool actions still depend on the user's account.

Known limits and deferred work

• A very old lock without provider evidence can keep its original IDE beside an ordinary IDE override. A plain launch still works; refresh the project's manifest and lock before relying on that override.
• config show --json uses schema 2 for the current listing, although its help still says schema 1. The retired project config default and mutating project config trust spellings do not yet print their home replacements.
• Automated image/cache cleanup and installed-IDE reuse with an empty download cache are deferred. The cleanup guide describes the available manual steps.
• The new orientation, glossary and recipe proposals are scheduled for 0.3.1. Console materialized views, additional diagnostics browser evidence, and ecosystem-aware project bootstrap remain outside this release.