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v0.23.0 — v0.23.0 — Goal Runtime, Native Anthropic, Plugin Framework

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@github-actions github-actions released this 19 May 14:18
v0.23.0
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v0.23.0 — Goal Runtime, Native Anthropic, Plugin Framework

The biggest release since v0.18.7. Goals turn castor from a chat assistant into an autonomous agent that can work for hours on multi-step tasks — surviving disconnects, process restarts, and context-window pressure.

Long-running multi-step tasks are now first-class citizens. Create a goal in the Goals view and Castor breaks it into a plan, dispatches subagents per subtask, and tracks progress live.

Goals — long-running autonomous tasks

Create a goal ("Research construction costs in Argentina and write a report"), walk away, come back to a completed deliverable. The system plans, delegates to specialized subagents, validates results, and retries on failure — all without user input.

Architecture: Goal -> Plan -> Subagent dispatch. A separate castor-worker daemon claims goals from a durable SQLite queue. Full design doc in docs/superpowers/plans/.

  • Worker daemon (python -m worker) — claims goals via lease, heartbeats, survives crashes. Also runs inline (--once for tests, auto-start in web mode).
  • Orchestrator — breaks the goal into subtasks, dispatches subagents, tracks progress via structured facts.
  • 4 subagent types — research, browser, code, scraper — each with a restricted tool whitelist (the security boundary). Fresh LLM context per subtask, 20-round cap.
  • Acceptance gate — after the orchestrator returns, validators check each subtask's done_condition (5 kinds: files_exist, min_count, regex_in_file, shell_returns_zero, http_200). Failures inject a remediation note and re-enter the orchestrator (up to 3 attempts).
  • Structured deliverables — files, links, reports attached via goal_attach_output. UI renders Download/Open/Save buttons.
  • Per-goal browser sessions — parallel goals get isolated browser contexts.
  • Budget enforcement — wall-clock seconds + USD caps, enforced at the runner level.
  • Live UI — Goals view with plan progress, events timeline, facts tab. Polling at 2s while running, 10s when idle.

New migrations: 011_goals_subtasks_checkpoints.sql through 014_goal_done_conditions.sql.

  • Full native client for Claude models (providers.py) — no OpenAI shim
  • Three workstreams merged: converters, stream reassembler, routing + 88 tests
  • Model routing: local providers (LM Studio / Ollama) via OpenAI-compat, cloud Claude via native SDK
  • NEEDS KEY badge + key modal in provider picker

Native Anthropic provider

Direct Anthropic API support without the OpenAI compatibility shim. Three workstreams merged:

  • Converters — bidirectional message/tool format translation between OpenAI and Anthropic schemas.
  • Stream reassembler — handles Anthropic's SSE delta format (content_block_delta, tool_use blocks) and reassembles into the internal streaming shape.
  • Client + routing — providers.py auto-routes to the native adapter when the active provider is anthropic.

88 new tests across the three workstreams.

Skills

Plugin framework (Hermes-inspired)

Extensible slot-based plugin system for hooking into agent lifecycle events. Plugins can observe/modify behavior at defined extension points without touching core code.

  • 3-layer DB corruption protection — rolling backups, startup integrity check (PRAGMA integrity_check), graceful shutdown WAL checkpoint
  • Auto-migration from ~/.qwe-qwe/ — users upgrading from the old project name get all data (DB, Qdrant collections, uploads, skills) migrated automatically on first boot
  • SSL: certifi CA bundle used for all outbound urllib requests
  • fastembed warnings suppressed (loguru "Local file sizes do not match" spam gone)
  • Browser: per-goal sessions for parallel isolation; auto-recovery on dead sessions; execute() runs in thread executor to avoid asyncio conflicts

Synthesis trickle mode

Background knowledge curator runs continuously (not just overnight), extracting entities and wiki summaries from recent conversations. Keeps the knowledge graph fresh without waiting for the nightly synthesis run.

Centralized command registry

Slash commands (/goal, /resume, /status, etc.) now registered via a central registry instead of ad-hoc string matching. Easier to add new commands, consistent help output.

Skill export

Companion to skill import (v0.18.7) — export castor skills to the agentskills.io SKILL.md format for sharing via skills.sh or GitHub.

JSONL trajectory recording

Every agent run optionally records a full JSONL trajectory (messages, tool calls, results, timing) for offline analysis, evals, and debugging.

Persistent tool_search activations

tool_search activations now persist per-thread across page reloads. Previously, extended tools unlocked via tool_search("browser") would disappear on refresh.

DB corruption protection

3-layer defense: rolling backups on startup, SHA-256 integrity check, graceful WAL checkpoint on shutdown. Recovers automatically from the most recent valid backup if corruption is detected.

Notable fixes

  • Orchestrator browser tool leak — built-in browser skill tools (24) leaked into the orchestrator's tool set, causing the LLM to bypass dispatch_subagent and burn 80+ rounds driving a browser directly. Fixed via _ORCHESTRATOR_EXCLUDED_TOOLS blacklist.
  • Goal plan validation — error message listed wrong done_condition kinds; fuzzy matching now suggests corrections (files_exists -> files_exist); empty plans no longer pass the acceptance gate vacuously.
  • UI scroll jumps — clicking nav links with href="#" scrolled to top; render() only preserved scroll for chat view. Now all .scroll-col containers retain position across re-renders.
  • Failed goals UI — failed goals wouldn't open in detail view (!gR.value.error guard rejected them). Fixed to check gR.value.id.
  • Streaming tool results — reply event was wiping tool results accumulated during streaming. allStrings guard preserves them.
  • Soul trait [object Object] — built-in trait descriptions passed raw objects to esc().
  • Tool-call collapse — chat UI collapses tool-call rows beyond N per category to reduce visual noise.
  • 16 audit hardening fixes — security, robustness, and observability improvements.
  • Auto-migrate from ~/.qwe-qwe/ — seamless data migration on project rename to Castor.

By the numbers

  • 1354 tests passing (was ~725 at v0.22.1), 24 skipped
  • 14 SQLite migrations (was 10)
  • Coverage floor unchanged at 24%
  • ~60 commits since v0.22.1

Upgrade

git pull
pip install -e . --upgrade
python cli.py --web --ssl --port 7861

Four new migrations apply automatically on first boot. No config changes required. Telemetry consent unchanged.

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