Cortex v2.0.0

This release packages the source at its tag. Read any Action required section below before upgrading an existing installation.

What changed in v2.0.0

• A protected five-tab dashboard with dim Paper and dark Ink themes, consistent rounded surfaces, subtle dotted panels, calmer button motion and an optional orange-and-teal cursor outline.
• One place on Overview for working notes and project-context previews, starting at None; Ask links to the same workflow.
• Readiness and receipts for separately authorized checks, database migration commands and deployments, with explicit confirmation before execution.
• A blank private-brain starter and distinct new-database bootstrap and existing-database upgrade paths.
• Linux and macOS setup entry points in the same source archive. Both lead to the hosted web dashboard, not a desktop binary.

Action required

• Local tools and builds require Node 22.18.0 or newer within 22.x, not Node 20 or a newer major version. Configure the hosting project's Node version accordingly.
• Configure CONSOLE_PASSCODE separately from the connector secret before deploying. The browser console fails closed without it; MCP access is separate.
• Back up notes and database state separately. Existing v1.2.0 databases predate the supported Ops migration baseline and require an administrator-reviewed integration plan before deployment. This release does not provide an automatic upgrade for them. Never run pristine bootstrap or fabricate migration records on an existing database.
• If historical migration records have no checksums, dashboard apply remains blocked pending evidence-backed administrator reconciliation. A read-only check or hashes of today's files cannot certify what ran in the past.
• Optional dashboard checks, deployments and configuration saves require their own provider grants and database receipts. They do not become authorized simply by installing new source.

Read the v2.0.0 release and upgrade guide for this exact source before continuing.

Install and verify

New installation: follow the setup guide for this source snapshot. The protected five-tab dashboard starts with a blank brain: only an empty profile and index, with no sample projects, notes, history, credentials, or selected working context. Basic browsing does not require a paid model key.

Browser setup needs GitHub and Vercel accounts. The optional interactive wizard additionally needs Node 22.18 or newer within 22.x (tested with 22.23.2), Git, and authenticated GitHub and Vercel CLIs. Vercel CLI must be 50.5.1 or newer. Configure your Git author identity before creating a brain through the wizard.

Download the attached source archive and extract it before running commands. Linux
and macOS share this package. From the extracted directory, Linux users can run
bash "Cortex Setup.sh"; macOS users can open Cortex Setup.command. These are
setup launchers for the hosted web application, not desktop app binaries. The
manual alternative, with the prerequisites already installed and signed in, is:

npm ci --ignore-scripts
npm run onboard

The wizard asks before creating a private brain, importing notes, saving provider settings, or deploying. It verifies the production domain before checking the MCP door. Provider grants and optional database setup remain explicit administrator steps; a matching tool roster does not prove model answers or email delivery.

Database: use the pristine bootstrap guide for this source snapshot only for a new, empty database. Existing installations need a reviewed migration check and forward migration plan, never pristine bootstrap.

Updates: npm run update is an optional interactive source and deployment helper. Back up notes and database state separately, review local changes and release instructions, and check the resulting deployment. It does not apply database migrations.

The attached cortex-<tag>.tar.gz is the tree packaged by the release workflow. Verify its provenance attestation with gh attestation verify cortex-<tag>.tar.gz --owner Obelyth. Subscribe to GitHub Watch → Custom → Releases for future releases.

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Cortex v1.2.0

A snapshot of main with the full check suite re-run at this tag. Updates ship from main (SECURITY.md).

Already running Cortex? One command pulls what shipped, redeploys, and re-verifies the doors:

npm run update

If an Action required section appears below, do those steps too — they are the manual part (a new env var, a migration) the one command cannot do for you. No section means no manual steps. To hear about the next release: Watch → Custom → Releases on the repo.

The attached cortex-<tag>.tar.gz is the exact tree at the tag, packaged by the release workflow with a signed provenance attestation — check it with gh attestation verify cortex-<tag>.tar.gz --owner Obelyth.

New here? Set up in five minutes (Node 20+, gh and vercel CLIs logged in):

npm install
npm run onboard

On a Mac, the download can do the prerequisites too: double-click Cortex Setup.command (first time: right-click it, choose Open) — it installs what is missing, asking before each step, signs you in to GitHub and Vercel, and starts the same wizard.

The wizard creates your private brain repo from the included template, asks whether to start fresh or index an existing folder of notes (preview first, then commit), generates your secrets locally, deploys to Vercel, verifies the deployment against the live tool roster, and prints the wiring commands for your devices. Safe to re-run.

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What's Changed

Changes

• Release polish: attested source snapshot, Announcements thread, front-page badges in #20
• release: v1.2.0 in #21

Full Changelog: v1.1.0...v1.2.0

Cortex v1.1.0

A snapshot of main with the full check suite re-run at this tag. Updates ship from main (SECURITY.md).

Already running Cortex? One command pulls what shipped, redeploys, and re-verifies the doors:

npm run update

If an Action required section appears below, do those steps too — they are the manual part (a new env var, a migration) the one command cannot do for you. No section means no manual steps. To hear about the next release: Watch → Custom → Releases on the repo.

New here? Set up in five minutes (Node 20+, gh and vercel CLIs logged in):

npm install
npm run onboard

On a Mac, the download can do the prerequisites too: double-click Cortex Setup.command (first time: right-click it, choose Open) — it installs what is missing, asking before each step, signs you in to GitHub and Vercel, and starts the same wizard.

The wizard creates your private brain repo from the included template, asks whether to start fresh or index an existing folder of notes (preview first, then commit), generates your secrets locally, deploys to Vercel, verifies the deployment against the live tool roster, and prints the wiring commands for your devices. Safe to re-run.

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What's Changed

Changes

• guide: claude.ai gets a guest entry, so an org account has a safe path to pick in #17
• Updates reach every copy: npm run update, a macOS setup wizard, and update awareness on every surface in #18
• release: v1.1.0 in #19

Full Changelog: v1.0.0...v1.1.0

Cortex v1.0.0

A snapshot of main with the full check suite re-run at this tag. Updates ship from main — redeploy to update (SECURITY.md).

Set up in five minutes (Node 20+, gh and vercel CLIs logged in):

npm install
npm run onboard

The wizard creates your private brain repo from the included template, asks whether to start fresh or index an existing folder of notes (preview first, then commit), generates your secrets locally, deploys to Vercel, verifies the deployment against the live tool roster, and prints the wiring commands for your devices. Safe to re-run.

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What's Changed

• Retire dependabot version-bump PRs in #11
• Web refresh: mobile fixes + copy sync to the current product in #12
• Roadmap: pull @obelyth/verify forward to Q3 2026 in #15
• Landing: the console demo adopts the console's current design — all seven screens in #14
• Setup: the wizard forks — fresh brain or index existing notes; releases become real in #16

Full Changelog: https://github.com/Obelyth/cortex/commits/v1.0.0