VaultSync 1.8.2

[ATAC-Helicopter]

Following the introduction of Chronicle in 1.8.0 and the Recovery improvements in 1.8.1, VaultSync 1.8.2 focuses on usability, restore workflows, and first-time user experience.

The highlight of this release is the introduction of Snapshot Explorer v1, allowing users to browse and recover individual files directly from their backups without restoring an entire snapshot.

Snapshot Explorer v1

Snapshot Explorer introduces a new way to interact with backups.

Features include:

• Browse backup folders and supported archives
• Search snapshot contents
• Preview text and source files
• Restore individual files and folders
• Asynchronous browsing, previewing, and restore operations
• Inline folder expansion
• Automatic preview loading
• Line-numbered code previews
• Lightweight syntax highlighting
• Clear handling of unsupported encrypted archive browsing

Several usability improvements were also made throughout development, including clearer selection behavior, improved navigation, and prevention of duplicate Explorer windows.

New Interactive Onboarding

The onboarding experience has been completely redesigned.

Rather than introducing VaultSync through a feature tour, new users are guided through the application's initial setup by:

• Selecting a projects root
• Choosing a backup destination
• Creating the first project
• Running the first backup
• Reviewing restore points and backup history

The interface has also been simplified to reduce distractions and better focus each setup step.

Engineering Improvements

This release also includes continued work on code quality and maintainability:

• SonarQube cleanup
• Reduced duplicated code across services and UI
• Dependency updates
• Improved release validation
• macOS single-instance improvements
• Additional Snapshot Explorer polish and responsiveness

Full Changelog

Added

• Snapshot Explorer v1 for browsing backups, searching snapshots, previewing text files, and restoring selected files or folders.

Changed

• Improved Snapshot Explorer responsiveness through asynchronous operations.
• Enhanced Snapshot Explorer navigation, previews, and readability.
• Reworked first-run onboarding into an interactive setup guide.
• Continued SonarQube cleanup and dependency refreshes.
• Added release validation for duplicate changelog IDs.

Fixed

• Improved Snapshot Explorer preview behavior and action state handling.
• Prevent duplicate Explorer windows.
• Improved macOS single-instance startup.
• Additional path validation improvements.

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This discussion was created from the release VaultSync 1.8.2.