v18.1.0

A review release of fixes. The brain format (version: 7), bf.yaml and the reply schemas are unchanged; listed fields are bounded, and the search cache rebuilds once. Upgrade with uv tool upgrade brain-framework (or update a brain's pin), then run bf skills DIR.

Fixed

• bf skills --force keeps a file you edited that the new version no longer ships, as it keeps every other file BF does not ship, instead of deleting it.
• A record commit whose completion marker landed before a final directory sync failed reports success instead of "nothing was written".
• A registered brain whose folder exists but cannot be reached fails with cannot reach the brain registered as NAME instead of advice to register it again, which bf register then refused.
• bf run --hook "", as an unset variable gives it, is invalid input instead of running the first argument as a routine; bf status --check --watch names --watch in its invalid-input line.
• bf eval --baseline=~/eval.json expands ~, like every other path option. Without a home directory, commands fail with one bf: line naming HOME instead of a traceback.
• bf schedule installs systemd units below XDG_CONFIG_HOME when it is set, where the user manager reads them.
• bf watch runs updates for a pip install --user installation, and bf watch --json reports unavailable desktop alerts with a bf: line on stderr instead of a JSON object.
• A claim footnote's label can no longer change a note's structure: [^```] or [^<pre>] used to open a block that hid the sections and links after it. Links in a footnote's continuation paragraph, indented by four spaces or a tab, now support the section that cites it, and labels match regardless of case, as on GitHub.
• A copied document whose headings repeat an explicit anchor, or whose title's slug another heading anchors, stays searchable: the later heading takes a generated slug. OKF notes still fail bf validate.
• An OKF sources entry whose ?rel= names an undeclared relation still cites its target in reads; bf validate still reports the relation.
• Validation messages count only the distinct problems they do not name.
• The example sensor, routine and hook guides make a downloaded script executable with chmod +x before configuring it as a command, since a download drops the executable bit and bf validate then rejects the program; github-history.md copies from the release tag matching bf --version and says when to raise timeout for a large backfill.
• Programs no longer inherit ZDOTDIR, PHPRC or PHP_INI_SCAN_DIR, which make zsh or PHP run code before the program starts.
• The guarded-write helper follows a linked brain folder and links above it, such as /home on Fedora Atomic or /tmp on macOS, as bf does, instead of refusing every absolute path through them; links inside the brain are still refused.
• bf-use asks before updating the skills for a newer bf, and names the folder to pass to bf skills.
• Quitting bf watch while an update is still stopping prints bf: stopping the active update; this can take up to 60 seconds instead of leaving a silent terminal.
• An exact read across several brains returns the brain that holds the ref with a problems entry for another brain that fails, such as on a malformed record of a shared source or a busy writer, instead of failing; when no brain holds it, the failure stands.
• A page's address as --scope, such as bf://brain/projects, bf://brain/7d or bf://brain/memories/gmail, is invalid input instead of silently matching nothing; use its brain-relative form.
• Listed fields stop at 2 KiB of JSON per item, in field-name order, so a shared brain declaring hundreds of fields cannot push home, a listing or a note's backlinks past the reply limit; exact reads keep every field.
• The retrieval reference states that a relation page's total includes the claims of its narrower relations.