v0.15.0

Backplane 0.15.0

0.15.0 is a rewrite. The hub (the part that runs your agents and keeps your threads) and the desktop app are now native programs written in Rust, replacing 0.14's Bend server and web-based app. It can update itself safely.

What's new since 0.14

• A native desktop app on Linux, macOS and Windows, drawn on the GPU. Threads, projects, the composer, the terminal (Ctrl+J), the board, schematic, 3D and Mech viewers, the drawing pad, the performance overlay (Ctrl+Shift+H) and the keyboard shortcuts in Settings.
• Safe self-updates. A small supervisor (backplane) starts the hub, installs signed updates, tries each new build on probation and goes back to the last good one if it fails. Updates never interrupt a running turn. You can restart, update or roll back the hub from your phone or another machine.
• Signed releases. Every release is signed; the hub refuses an update that isn't signed with Backplane's key, is older than what you run, or doesn't match what it claims to be.
• More than one Claude account. When one runs out, a thread carries on under the next with its context. Ctrl+Shift+A and 1–9 pick an account.
• Your own skills. $ in the composer finds skills from Claude, Codex, plugins, your projects and Backplane.
• Voice in Rust. Dictation on the desktop and the phones, whole recordings and Pebble ring notes, with an optional local speech engine.
• Pairing from the desktop app by link, short code or backplane://, over LAN, tailnet or tailscale serve. Revoking a device in Settings disconnects it at once.
• Phones: Markdown in messages, a collapsible Settled group, terminals, accounts, the drawing pad, the hub screen (restart, roll back), updates, and respectful push notifications.
• 3D boards built natively from the .kicad_pcb in milliseconds, with part models streamed in.

Moving from 0.14

Your 0.14 data stays where it is and is never changed. 0.15 keeps its own.

• Linux and macOS: press Update in 0.14 as usual. 0.14 installs 0.15 and switches to it on the same port, so paired phones keep working. If agents are still working, 0.14 waits for them first (up to 30 minutes); press Update now to switch at once. If 0.15 can't start, 0.14 starts again.
• While your work comes across, the desktop and your phones show "Bringing your 0.14 work across…" with progress and the time left. A large history can take a few minutes; Backplane stays usable meanwhile and won't roll back because of it.
• Windows: 0.14 can't update itself. Download backplane-v0.15.0-windows-x64-native.zip, extract it and open backplane-gpui.exe (see Installing below).
• Bring your projects across: on first start, setup asks "Bring your 0.14 projects across?". You can also do it later from Settings → Import from 0.14. It copies projects, threads and messages, bots, memories, rooms, routines and paired phones. Running it again never makes duplicates. If you have more than one 0.14 home, the most recently used one is imported.
  • Choose Import with keys to bring API keys, webhook secrets and logins too. Otherwise you sign in again. On macOS you sign in to Claude again either way, because Claude Code keeps its login in the keychain.
  • Routines arrive switched off, so none runs twice while 0.14 is still running. Turn them on once 0.14 is stopped.
  • Not brought across: the mailroom's run threads and mail; running turns, queues, open questions, wakes, locks and usage history (they start fresh); links to your other machines (link them again); the Google connection; 0.14's self-deploys; on Windows, a vault locked by Windows (DPAPI). A bot folder over 2 GB stays where it is; its threads and memories come across.

Installing

• Linux and macOS: curl -fsSL https://github.com/BackplaneWorks/Backplane/releases/download/v0.15.0/install.sh | sh
• Windows: extract the zip and open backplane-gpui.exe. Windows may say "Windows protected your PC": choose More info, then Run anyway (the exe is not signed yet). The first time, Backplane asks to install itself to C:\Users\<you>\AppData\Local\Backplane; choose Install so it can update itself. It adds a Backplane entry to the Start menu.
• Android: install backplane-v0.15.0-android.apk. If you installed a test (debug) build before, uninstall it once first: Android won't replace an app signed with a different key.
• iPhone: through TestFlight.

Known issues

• Windows: the programs aren't code-signed yet, so SmartScreen warns on first start (choose More info, then Run anyway). Managed PCs may not allow that.
• Android: if you installed a test (debug) build of the app before, uninstall it once; the signed 0.15.0 app won't install over it.
• Browser tab: the embedded Chromium runs on Linux only. On macOS and Windows the Browser tab shows pages through a helper that streams them; clicks, typing, scrolling, popups and downloads work, but it's slower.
• If you press Update in 0.14 while agents are working, 0.14 waits for them (up to 30 minutes) before switching; press Update now to switch at once.

These weren't tested for this release:

• Pairing the macOS desktop app with a hub on another computer (pairing on the same Mac was tested).
• The Android app on a real phone over Tailscale (tested in the emulator), and Windows over a home network (LAN; Windows over Tailscale was tested).
• Agents other than Claude were tested against stand-ins of their command-line tools, not the real ones.
• An agent running FreeCAD scripts; FreeCAD itself is found and used for STEP previews.
• Opening a pull request from the Diff view.
• On iPhone, clearing a notification when you've already read it on another device.

Not supported yet

• Google sign-in for bots and the Gmail and Calendar tools.
• Search across all threads (0.14's Find), and search inside a thread.
• Drilling into a subagent's own steps from its parent thread.
• Japanese in the desktop app.
• A project home on the phones (the goal, parts and boards show on the desktop only).
• The web client: 0.15 has no browser-based app.

Downloads

Platform	Download
Linux x64	backplane-v0.15.0-linux-x64-native.tar.gz
Linux ARM64	backplane-v0.15.0-linux-arm64-native.tar.gz
macOS Apple Silicon	backplane-v0.15.0-darwin-arm64-native.tar.gz
Windows x64	backplane-v0.15.0-windows-x64-native.zip
Android	backplane-v0.15.0-android.apk · backplane-v0.15.0-android.aab
iPhone	TestFlight

install.sh installs the right archive for your Linux or Mac and checks it. The archives named without -native are for 0.14's own updater; you don't need them. SHA256SUMS lists every file's checksum, and manifest.json is signed with Backplane's release key. Third-party licences are in licenses/ inside each archive.