Unstick 0.6.0 — Efficiency Idle

Unstick v0.6.0 — release notes

Channel: portable release (unsigned until Authenticode cert — private beta / local OK)
Surface: Portable zip + optional HKCU autostart
Version: 0.6.0
Roadmap: roadmap-v0.6.0.md
Design: idle-under-stress-design.md
Evidence: hardware-control-l3-cliff-evidence.md Run 2

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Why 0.6.0

Control depth after 0.5.0: when Soft intensity 2 is still sitting on a sustained OS-disk/RAM cliff, Unstick may deepen to Efficiency Idle (Windows Idle + EcoQoS) — Soft-only, streak-gated, TTL-restored. Not Suspend. Not a zero-stutter guarantee on slow OS volumes.

Highlights

• Efficiency Idle (intensity 3) — after sustained cliff at i2 (idle_escalate_streak, default 4 ticks); reasons disk_control:efficiency_idle / mem_control:efficiency_idle
• Config — idle_under_stress_enabled (default true), idle_escalate_streak, idle_release_streak in %LOCALAPPDATA%\Unstick\config.json
• Soft restore — Idle demotions still auto-restore via Soft TTL (~45s) and release when utilization eases
• Guard UX — tripwire efficiency idle · disk i3; chips Disk idle / RAM idle; hover explains Efficiency Mode
• L3 proof — WD Green cliff Run 2: i3 ~9s; released ~39s after hog stop; no hang FP; launch stutter honesty unchanged

Unchanged / honesty

• Windows x64 portable only
• SoftOnly default; Suspend remains experimental-only
• Overload = relief, not damage prevention
• On saturated slow OS SSDs (~0.7–1 s response), new-process / screenshot hitch may remain
• No standby purge; no timer-resolution lever; no claimed DPC or hardware-damage “fix”

Install / update

See USER-GUIDE Updating (portable). Download Unstick-0.6.0-windows-x64.zip, stop service/UI, extract over install, restart.

# or local package
pwsh -File scripts/Package-Portable.ps1

Proof

• L1: cargo test -p guardian-core (Idle gate / plan / config)
• L3: cliff evidence Run 2 — WD Green Efficiency Idle + restore
• Manual: Guard efficiency idle under disk_hog cliff

Next

• Authenticode-signed public Latest when cert exists (signing-blocker.md)
• v0.7 UX/ops — action history, profiles, tray badges (roadmap-future.md)