PCS 0.9.154

PCS 0.9.154

This release brings together the changes since PCS 0.9.146: OpenRouter support throughout PCS, guided model selection, a calmer default Companion direction, improved PCS Perspective behavior, Local-model and continuity repairs, and refreshed Help.

The downloads include the complete Windows x64 application and matching editable source.

OpenRouter joins PCS

• Use an OpenRouter API key for conversation and compatible PCS features: memory learning, requested saves, corrections and recall; reading preparation and notebooks; Practice, Calendar and topic organization; PCS Perspective; web research and Wikipedia Study.
• Quick setup now includes OpenRouter. Enter your key, load the public model catalogue and choose an exact model. Free and image-capability filters help narrow the list without replacing your selection. Finish checks the model's required tool and image support.
• Vision works with image-capable models and your approved OBS scene. Optional listening and spoken replies run on your computer, with guided local Voice setup available.
• Memory and preparation can follow the selected OpenRouter connection. Optional OpenRouter helper models and keys are available; another company's API key is not required for those features. PCS does not automatically switch providers or models after a failure.
• Free models remain subject to availability and account limits. OpenRouter web-search plugin charges can apply even when model inference is free.

More reliable OpenRouter tools and memory

• Structured helpers have bounded room for reasoning as well as their final answer. Repaired streaming completion and citation handling improve final replies and web research.
• Notebook drafts have a longer generation allowance, clearer distinctions between original passages, prepared notes and owner-written evidence, and protection against repeating an unchanged completed lesson. Limited JSON formatting recovery happens locally without another API request; source and save validation remain in place.
• Calendar interpretation has more time for compatible reasoning models. Memory recall now has a 75-second total allowance so intake, planning and evidence selection can finish within one bounded operation. Cancellation and sharing checks still apply.
• Saved records identify OpenRouter as their writer. Practice assessment records now allow up to 16 KiB, fixing cases blocked by the previous 4 KiB total-record limit.

A calmer default Companion direction

The default now asks for warm, direct and independent replies, with proportionate praise and reassurance, fewer routine follow-up questions, and room for a complete answer to stand on its own.

Only recognized factory wording adopts the new default. Custom directions stay yours. The underlying shared system prompt, conversation initiative, Conversation pace and PCS Perspective defaults are unchanged.

PCS Perspective works more naturally between replies

• A thinking pause requested by PCS now hands its result back to the conversation so PCS can say what it concluded.
• A completed independent thought can wait for the next suitable quiet moment instead of being discarded whenever you speak first.
• Independent exploration keeps microphone input on. A focused pause with microphone input off happens when PCS requests one or you choose Explore now; use Return to conversation to interrupt it.
• Contributions remain bounded and optional. A finished thought may still be irrelevant or mistaken, and PCS can still choose an awkward moment to speak.

Automatic activity following removed

PCS no longer waits for the model to classify your first statement before supplying permitted saved context. The Automatically follow my current activity setting and its classification tools are gone. Ordinary discussion needs no named activity; manual Activity details and explicit memory approvals remain available.

The experimental direct Alibaba Qwen connection is also retired. Its historical records remain readable, and Qwen-family models offered through OpenRouter are separate model choices.

Local models and smaller repairs

• Custom GGUF models can place weights across GPU memory and system RAM instead of forcing every layer onto the GPU. Compatible templates also receive PCS's thinking choice. The Recommended model keeps its existing placement.
• Repaired Local startup-context omission when Practice and a long Companion direction filled the instruction budget, plus saving older vault states without a PCS Perspective section.
• Other repairs cover Notebook saved-web selection, Claude/ChatGPT writer attribution and account labels, typed research-result delivery, OpenAI playback completion, Local conversation controls, Map indexing and Materials cancellation.

Help brought up to date

Help and the standalone guide now cover the current provider choices, guided OpenRouter setup, local speech, independent PCS Perspective controls, Calendar sharing and cloud embedding limits. The refresh covers 69 articles and 205 expanded topics. Removed features are distinguished from historical records and clearly dated screenshots.

Verification and remaining limits

The final source passed 2,513 Python checks with 3 skips, plus 3,486 JavaScript checks. Final live OpenRouter checks covered corrected-memory awareness, successful recall and exact read, Notebook review/save/reopen, and the complete Calendar create/read/update/readback/reopen journey. Both release archives passed manifest, checksum and extraction checks.

Live acceptance used fictional data and nvidia/nemotron-3.5-super-vl:free. It does not qualify every catalogue model, physical audio/OBS devices or a fresh installer launch. AI-generated memories and study plans still need inspection; passing these cases does not establish perfect semantic fidelity.

OpenRouter's optional startup memory directory/map is omitted when Vision is enabled; image-containing requests omit optional matching cues. Ordinary permitted recall remains available. The tested Gemma 4 26B Custom GGUF still showed long-prompt crashes on the pinned runtime, so the fitting changes are not a recommendation to use that model.

Upgrading from 0.9.146

1. Save your work, make an encrypted backup and keep the previous installation. Quit PCS and wait for shutdown before moving its data. Copy original Materials separately; the vault backup does not contain those files.
2. Unpack the complete Windows ZIP into a new writable folder. Use the included backup/restore procedure to bring over your vault without merging data folders, then launch Start PCS.exe and inspect your records.
3. Review the connection if you previously used the direct Qwen route. Saved automatic-activity settings are ignored and cleared on the next settings save. Jev needs fresh approval if its previous approval included automatic activity following.
4. Keep your pre-upgrade backup for returning to an older version. Saved OpenRouter connection data requires PCS 0.9.151 or later; OpenRouter helper data and Practice assessments exceeding the old 4 KiB limit require 0.9.152 or later. Opening the app alone does not activate these requirements, and deleting newer records does not lower an already recorded requirement.

First launch prepares the bundled Python runtime and dependencies offline. Optional AI models, inference runtimes and speech packs remain separate downloads.

Support PCS

Support is optional: Ko-fi.