Backseat 2.4.0 Beta

Install

Download Install-Backseat.exe below and double-click it. If Windows says it protected your PC, click More info > Run anyway (the installer isn't signed). You need an Anthropic API key (console.anthropic.com); the installer asks for it. Uninstall it in Windows Settings > Apps. Or download Install-Backseat.bat (it downloads the rest itself), or Backseat.zip: extract it and double-click Install Backseat.bat inside.

Updating

• On 2.0.0 or newer: Backseat checks GitHub for a new version once a day when it starts. When one is out, Windows shows a notification and the tray icon's menu (right-click the icon by the clock) shows Update to x.y.z: click it and say Yes. It closes, updates in a window you can watch and starts again. Your memory, settings, API key, Hall of Shame and characters stay as they are. To check any time: right-click the tray icon > Check for updates...
• On 1.x, or not sure: download Install-Backseat.exe below and double-click it. It updates your install in place and keeps all of the above.
• No update offered? Settings > Brain & budget > Updates must be on. A copy made with git clone updates with git pull instead.

Problems: Issues.

Changelog

A real installer: Install-Backseat.exe installs Backseat with a double-click, and Windows Settings > Apps can uninstall
it. Still beta: tested on a fresh Windows in Windows Sandbox, not yet downloaded through a browser on a real PC.

New

• Install-Backseat.exe, a one-click installer. Download it and double-click it: it shows Backseat's icon and a
  progress window, gets Python and everything Backseat needs in a window you can watch, asks for your API key there,
  and offers to start Backseat when it's done. No admin rights. It installs into the same folder as before, so running
  it over an install made with the .bat updates that install. Windows still warns the first time because the installer
  isn't signed: click More info > Run anyway. The .bat and Backseat.zip are still on each release.
• An uninstaller. Windows Settings > Apps > Backseat > Uninstall closes Backseat, turns off Start with Windows,
  removes the shortcuts, the program and its Python, and asks whether to delete your memory, settings, API key,
  characters and Hall of Shame too. No keeps them, so installing again picks up where you left off.

Backseat 2.3.0 Beta

Install

Download Install-Backseat.bat below and double-click it: it downloads the rest itself. Or download Backseat.zip, extract it and double-click Install Backseat.bat inside. You need an Anthropic API key (console.anthropic.com); the installer asks for it. If Windows says the file came from the internet, click More info > Run anyway.

Updating

• On 2.0.0 or newer: Backseat checks GitHub for a new version once a day when it starts. When one is out, Windows shows a notification and the tray icon's menu (right-click the icon by the clock) shows Update to x.y.z: click it and say Yes. It closes, updates in a window you can watch and starts again. Your memory, settings, API key, Hall of Shame and characters stay as they are. To check any time: right-click the tray icon > Check for updates...
• On 1.x, or not sure: download Install-Backseat.bat below and double-click it. It updates your install in place and keeps all of the above.
• No update offered? Settings > Brain & budget > Updates must be on. A copy made with git clone updates with git pull instead.

Problems: Issues.

Changelog

Ranked mode, their take on your game's patch notes, and a lighter Discord camera. Still beta: all of it is
self-checked, none of it has been tried in a real ranked match yet.

New

• Ranked mode. In a ranked or competitive match they keep quiet while you play: they speak only when you die,
  between rounds, in menus and when the match is over, in one short line, and they still keep score (deaths, wins,
  the Hall of Shame). They spot a ranked match on screen by themselves (a "Ranked" or "Competitive" label), or say
  "Hey Vorn, ranked mode" (or "it's ranked"); "ranked off", a casual mode on screen, or leaving the game ends it. Also
  in the tray. No mini-games, music talk, break nags or idle sounds until it's over.
• Patch day. When a game was updated since they last saw you in it (its Steam build, or the game's program file
  for other launchers), they look up its patch notes with one web search (about a cent) and give their take on what
  changed; later comments know the notes too. It's part of Settings > Game profiles.

Fixed

• The Discord camera costs less (#2). Drawing it measured about 11 ms a frame: about a sixth of a CPU core at 15
  fps, with hardly any delay to the overlay. With your game screen behind them, each grab copied the whole display;
  now only the part that's shown is grabbed (58 ms down to 30 on a 5120x1440 screen). And while nobody talks or
  moves, every other frame is the last one sent again, which cuts the drawing by about a third.

Backseat 2.2.0 Beta

Install

Download Install-Backseat.bat below and double-click it: it downloads the rest itself. Or download Backseat.zip, extract it and double-click Install Backseat.bat inside. You need an Anthropic API key (console.anthropic.com); the installer asks for it. If Windows says the file came from the internet, click More info > Run anyway.

Updating

• On 2.0.0 or newer: Backseat checks GitHub for a new version once a day when it starts. When one is out, Windows shows a notification and the tray icon's menu (right-click the icon by the clock) shows Update to x.y.z: click it and say Yes. It closes, updates in a window you can watch and starts again. Your memory, settings, API key, Hall of Shame and characters stay as they are. To check any time: right-click the tray icon > Check for updates...
• On 1.x, or not sure: download Install-Backseat.bat below and double-click it. It updates your install in place and keeps all of the above.
• No update offered? Settings > Brain & budget > Updates must be on. A copy made with git clone updates with git pull instead.

Problems: Issues.

Changelog

Recap cards after your games, any two characters as a duo, five more holidays, a check for whether Backseat is slowing
your game, a What's new window (this one), and an installer that checks your API key. Still beta: all of it is
self-checked, none of it has been tried on a real gaming night yet.

New

• Five more holidays, each with an outfit for both and its own weather around them: Lunar New Year (rising
  lanterns), Valentine's Day (now Feb 12 to 14, with outfits: heartbreaker and cupid), St. Patrick's Day (clovers),
  Easter (petals) and Thanksgiving (falling leaves). Like Halloween and Christmas, the looks switch in by themselves
  when the outfit is on "Surprise me", and they work the day into a line now and then.
• Session recap cards. When you leave a game you played for 10 minutes or more, they give their verdict on the
  session out loud, and it goes on a card with the game, the time played, your wins, deaths and epic plays, and their
  respect: a picture ready to post (tray > Recap cards). One short Claude call per game (about 0.05 cents), or free with
  the local model.
• Pick any duo partner. Tray > Character > Duo mode with: any two characters on screen together, characters you
  created included (a created character used to pair only with Vorn). "Both of you" by voice uses the one you picked.
• "Is Backseat slowing my game?" In the tray menu: click it, go back to your game, and 30 seconds later a
  notification says whether Backseat is taking frames (its CPU and memory, and the free local model's share of the
  graphics card). Click the notification for what to turn off.
• What's new after an update. The first time a new version starts, a window shows what changed, and their
  greeting mentions the update in their own words.
• The installer checks your API key with one tiny call (about a hundred-thousandth of a dollar). A key Anthropic
  doesn't accept is asked for again, and an account with no credit yet is pointed to Billing, instead of the
  characters staying quiet with no reason given.
• The About box and the trailer's end card say Backseat is made with the help of AI (#3).

Backseat 2.1.1 Beta

Install

Download Install-Backseat.bat below and double-click it: it downloads the rest itself. Or download Backseat.zip, extract it and double-click Install Backseat.bat inside. You need an Anthropic API key (console.anthropic.com); the installer asks for it. If Windows says the file came from the internet, click More info > Run anyway.

Updating

• On 2.0.0 or newer: Backseat checks GitHub for a new version once a day when it starts. When one is out, Windows shows a notification and the tray icon's menu (right-click the icon by the clock) shows Update to x.y.z: click it and say Yes. It closes, updates in a window you can watch and starts again. Your memory, settings, API key, Hall of Shame and characters stay as they are. To check any time: right-click the tray icon > Check for updates...
• On 1.x, or not sure: download Install-Backseat.bat below and double-click it. It updates your install in place and keeps all of the above.
• No update offered? Settings > Brain & budget > Updates must be on. A copy made with git clone updates with git pull instead.

Problems: Issues.

Changelog

Fixes for games lagging with Backseat running, and for installing on a new PC. The install fixes were tried on a fresh
Windows (Windows Sandbox): it installs in about 3 minutes and the characters start. The lag fixes are self-checked but
haven't been tried in a full Fortnite match yet.

Fixed

• The installer stopped on a new PC (#1). It installed Python with winget, which a fresh Windows doesn't have
  yet. Without Python 3.12, it now downloads Python's own package (15 MB, checked against a known fingerprint) and
  unpacks it into Backseat's folder in seconds: no setup program, no admin prompt (python.org's setup program took
  15 minutes or more on a fresh Windows).
• On a new PC, Backseat couldn't download what it needs from the web. A fresh Windows fetches the certificates
  that prove a website is genuine only when something asks for them, and Python's own check never asked, so the local
  voices, the voice fingerprints for your friends, update checks and Steam stats failed with a certificate error (he
  fell back to the online voice). Backseat now checks websites the way Windows does.
• Games lagged badly with the free local model, and so did the characters (seen in Fortnite). The local model
  thought on the game's graphics card for about 3 seconds a comment and held 10 GB of its memory the whole time. Now,
  while a game is in front, Claude Haiku makes the comments and the model is taken off the graphics card (Settings >
  Brain & budget > Local model in games turns the old way back on), and it loads with a smaller context (6.7 GB
  instead of 10).
• The characters lagged badly and showed a black background while a game was running. Started with Windows
  (or through its task), Backseat ran at below-normal CPU priority, so with a game taking the CPU their window
  couldn't repaint in time. It now runs at normal priority however it starts.
• Less work in the background while you play: the Discord camera draws 15 frames a second instead of 24 (it took half a
  CPU core), and the screen is checked for changes every 3 seconds instead of every second.

Backseat 2.1.0 Beta

Install

Download Install-Backseat.bat below and double-click it: it downloads the rest itself. Or download Backseat.zip, extract it and double-click Install Backseat.bat inside. You need an Anthropic API key (console.anthropic.com); the installer asks for it. If Windows says the file came from the internet, click More info > Run anyway.

Updating

• On 2.0.0 or newer: Backseat checks GitHub for a new version once a day when it starts. When one is out, Windows shows a notification and the tray icon's menu (right-click the icon by the clock) shows Update to x.y.z: click it and say Yes. It closes, updates in a window you can watch and starts again. Your memory, settings, API key, Hall of Shame and characters stay as they are. To check any time: right-click the tray icon > Check for updates...
• On 1.x, or not sure: download Install-Backseat.bat below and double-click it. It updates your install in place and keeps all of the above.
• No update offered? Settings > Brain & budget > Updates must be on. A copy made with git clone updates with git pull instead.

Problems: Issues.

Changelog

"Clip that!", milestones, fresher lines and a Report a problem button, plus two fixes from the log. Still beta: the new
parts are self-checked but haven't been tried in a real game yet.

New

• Fresher lines. Their automatic comments kept opening the same way ("Ah, the tinkerer...", "[your name], still
  idling..."), a third brought up the hour and one in nine said "Pathetic". Now each one they start themselves is told
  how they opened lately and the words they keep leaning on (from this session and the last two), and they bring up the
  time only now and then. Tried on the free local model: "Pathetic" went from 4 of 6 lines to none.
• "Clip that!" Say it while you're in a game, no "Hey Vorn" needed (friends in your Discord call can say it too),
  and they frame the moment in the Hall of Shame with their verdict, a roast for a fail or grudging praise for a great
  play, and save the clip with your capture tool. It only works while a game is in front. About 0.05 cents.
• Clips through Medal, with split audio. With Medal running, clips use Medal's own clip key and clips folder instead
  of Game Bar's. For clips with split audio (the game and your Discord call on their own tracks), you need Medal, with
  its audio split by app: Game Bar and NVIDIA Instant Replay don't split it, and Game Bar records the game's sound only.
• Milestones. 10, 50, 100, 250, 500 and 1,000 hours together, a month since you met, and every year since: they
  celebrate it at the next greeting or comment, once. Updating from 2.0, the day you met is the first day they still
  have in memory.
• Report a problem. Tray > Report a problem... opens a new issue on GitHub in your browser, already filled in with
  your version, your Windows version and the last error in companion.log, with names, paths, keys, emails and Steam IDs
  taken out. Nothing is sent until you read it and press Submit (you need a GitHub account).
• Open source. Backseat is now free software under the GNU GPL v3 (see LICENSE): anyone can use, change and
  share it, and a shared changed version stays GPL v3, with its source. The About box says so too.

Fixed

• A crash when the sound device dropped out. A headset reconnecting or Windows switching its default device made
  playing a line fail with "Device unavailable", and that took the whole app down. Now the line plays on Windows' default
  device instead, or, if no device will play right then, shows as subtitles without sound.
• Mini-games outside games. The free local model sometimes calls the desktop a "menu", so trivia started while you
  were in other apps (questions about Windows or the app you had open). Mini-games now start only while a game is in
  front.

Backseat 2.0.2 Beta

Install

Download Install-Backseat.bat below and double-click it: it downloads the rest itself. Or download Backseat.zip, extract it and double-click Install Backseat.bat inside. You need an Anthropic API key (console.anthropic.com); the installer asks for it. If Windows says the file came from the internet, click More info > Run anyway.

Updating

• On 2.0.0 or newer: Backseat checks GitHub for a new version once a day when it starts. When one is out, Windows shows a notification and the tray icon's menu (right-click the icon by the clock) shows Update to x.y.z: click it and say Yes. It closes, updates in a window you can watch and starts again. Your memory, settings, API key, Hall of Shame and characters stay as they are. To check any time: right-click the tray icon > Check for updates...
• On 1.x, or not sure: download Install-Backseat.bat below and double-click it. It updates your install in place and keeps all of the above.
• No update offered? Settings > Brain & budget > Updates must be on. A copy made with git clone updates with git pull instead.

Problems: Issues.

Changelog

A hotfix.

Fixed

• In duo mode they did the same idle animations at the same time. After each exchange both of them went quiet at
  once and started their next idle together, often the same stretch or look-around. Now each takes their own pause after
  talking (2 to 14 seconds), so they move on their own again.

Backseat 2.0.1 Beta

Install

Download Install-Backseat.bat below and double-click it: it downloads the rest itself. Or download Backseat.zip, extract it and double-click Install Backseat.bat inside. You need an Anthropic API key (console.anthropic.com); the installer asks for it. If Windows says the file came from the internet, click More info > Run anyway.

Updating

• On 2.0.0 or newer: Backseat checks GitHub for a new version once a day when it starts. When one is out, Windows shows a notification and the tray icon's menu (right-click the icon by the clock) shows Update to x.y.z: click it and say Yes. It closes, updates in a window you can watch and starts again. Your memory, settings, API key, Hall of Shame and characters stay as they are. To check any time: right-click the tray icon > Check for updates...
• On 1.x, or not sure: download Install-Backseat.bat below and double-click it. It updates your install in place and keeps all of the above.
• No update offered? Settings > Brain & budget > Updates must be on. A copy made with git clone updates with git pull instead.

Problems: Issues.

Changelog

A hotfix.

Fixed

• Start with Windows didn't start him. Windows' startup list skipped Backseat at log-in without a word. Start with
  Windows is now a task in Task Scheduler ("Backseat", 20 seconds after you log in, as you, no admin rights), with the
  startup list as a fallback. If you turned it on in 2.0.0, it moves to the task by itself the next time Backseat starts.
• Started with Windows, he's on screen right away, watching and talking as if you'd opened him, instead of hiding
  until a game starts.
• Started with Windows, he now notes it in companion.log, and a second copy quietly bows out instead of showing
  "already running".

Backseat 2.0.0 Beta

Install

Download Install-Backseat.bat below and double-click it: it downloads the rest itself. Or download Backseat.zip, extract it and double-click Install Backseat.bat inside. You need an Anthropic API key (console.anthropic.com); the installer asks for it. If Windows says the file came from the internet, click More info > Run anyway.

Updating

• On 2.0.0 or newer: Backseat checks GitHub for a new version once a day when it starts. When one is out, Windows shows a notification and the tray icon's menu (right-click the icon by the clock) shows Update to x.y.z: click it and say Yes. It closes, updates in a window you can watch and starts again. Your memory, settings, API key, Hall of Shame and characters stay as they are. To check any time: right-click the tray icon > Check for updates...
• On 1.x, or not sure: download Install-Backseat.bat below and double-click it. It updates your install in place and keeps all of the above.
• No update offered? Settings > Brain & budget > Updates must be on. A copy made with git clone updates with git pull instead.

Problems: Issues.

Changelog

The whole first roadmap. Beta: everything is built and tested, but some of it (clips, Steam stats, updates) hasn't seen
much real play yet.

New

• Character creator: your own character on Vorn's or Mika's body (name, who they are, voice, power-up, hair, eye, skin
  and outfit colours, live preview). Claude writes their personality, the ways their name gets misheard and their own
  lines. Colours for Vorn and Mika too.
• Challenges and bounties: one thing for your next match they can check on screen, with a respect bounty paid by whoever
  set it, a fine when you fail or dodge it, and a record. "Hey Mika, give me a challenge."
• Games detected anywhere, not just Steam: Windows Game Bar's list, launcher folders, or fullscreen.
• Game profiles: each game looked up once with a web search, so comments, hints, trivia and dares use its real maps
  and weapons.
• Mini-games in menus: trivia (from Sonnet, checked against the game's profile, no repeats) and challenges.
• Squad leaderboard: weekly shame points for your Discord friends and a worst-player award.
• Sound effects: 37 real recorded grunts, gasps, yells, giggles, sighs and yawns (public domain, from Freesound) on
  pokes, throws, landings, idle animations and before some lines.
• Auto-clips: a Hall of Shame moment in a game saves the last 30 seconds (Windows Game Bar or NVIDIA Instant Replay);
  the highlights page plays it with their roast and them over the clip.
• Frame-rate guard: with the free local model, a game keeping the GPU 90%+ busy gets its comments from Claude instead.
• Accurate stats from Steam: real kills, deaths and wins for games with Steam stats, with your own Steam Web API key.
• Auto-update: a daily check of GitHub's latest release, then tray > Update; the repo is public now.
• Releases: a one-file installer (Install-Backseat.bat) that downloads the rest, version stages, and this changelog.
• Holidays, jealousy, grudges, click reactions and ragdoll throws, lip-sync, interrupting, free voice commands, outfits to
  earn, anime outfits for Mika, outfits for Vorn, Spotify comments, coaching reports, varied duo banter and more idle
  animations (all since 1.2.0).

Fixed

• In duo mode the free local model no longer answers with a copy of the line it's answering.
• The Discord ear no longer takes their own voices for a friend talking.
• A friend's dumb question no longer costs you respect.
• Test scripts can't pop up a crash box or write to companion.log.
• Updating no longer overwrites characters you edited in Settings.