v2.8.0 — Chases · Tier 2 complete

Highlights

Time-based programming has arrived. QLC+ chases — ordered sequences of saved scenes with per-step timing — are now first-class. Until now every action has been static state; the moment you wanted "slow sunset transition over 30 seconds" or "loop a party chase until I tell you to stop," no tool existed. This release closes that gap.

All four Tier 2 items now complete. Remaining backlog is Tier 3 only.

Closes #4. MCP tool catalog 34 → 40.

The moment

create_chase(
  name="Sunset",
  steps=["Daylight", "Warm", "Amber", "Off"],
  hold_ms=7500,
  fade_in_ms=1500,
  run_order="Loop"
)
start_chase("Sunset")

That's the whole "build a 30-second sunset transition" workflow.

What's new

Six new tools

Tool	Effect
list_chases	List all chases in the workspace
describe_chase	Return a chase's full step list with resolved scene names + per-step timing
create_chase	Build a chase from name + ordered list of scene references
delete_chase	Remove from workspace
start_chase	Begin playback via QLC+'s native chase engine
stop_chase	Halt playback; fixtures hold their last step

Step shapes

create_chase accepts three forms per step:

Form	Example
Scene name string	"Warm Wash"
Scene numeric ID	42
Dict with overrides	{"scene": "Amber", "hold_ms": 4000, "fade_in_ms": 1000}

Scene refs are resolved server-side. Unknown scenes cause the whole create_chase to fail with a structured 400 listing which steps couldn't resolve.

Run modes

• Direction: Forward (default) · Backward
• RunOrder: Loop (default) · SingleShot · PingPong · Random

All normalized case-insensitively ("loop", "single-shot", "ping_pong" etc all work).

Implementation

• Chase XML follows QLC+ 4.14.x format: <Function Type="Chaser"> with <Speed>, <Direction>, <RunOrder>, <SpeedModes>, and a list of <Step Number="i" Values="<scene_id>"> elements.
• Playback dispatches over the persistent QLC+ WebSocket via QLC+API|setFunctionStatus|<id>|<0|1>.
• New get_next_function_id() scans ALL function types (Scene + Chaser + EFX + …) since QLC+ uses a single ID space across them. Existing scene-save paths unaffected.

Composability with the rest of the stack

Chases compose massively with everything we've built:

• batch_action([create_chase(...), start_chase(...)]) — build and cue in one round trip
• Chase + strobe — strobe accent during a chase step
• Chase + scene management — duplicate a scene, tweak it, drop it into a chase as a new step
• Unblocks #8 (scheduling) → "schedule start_chase at 9am weekdays"
• Unblocks #12 (audio-reactive) → "sync chase BPM to audio input"

Upgrade

git pull
./lightsctl.sh control-restart   # picks up the new endpoints
./lightsctl.sh mcp-restart       # picks up the new MCP tools

No package dependency changes.

Compatibility

• No breaking changes. All existing endpoints + MCP tools behave identically.
• New routes live under /api/chases — a previously-unused path.
• Workspace XML format is identical to what QLC+ itself writes — chases created via MCP show up in the QLC+ web UI's function list immediately, and chases created in the QLC+ UI are visible via list_chases.

Documentation

• docs/MCP_SERVER.md — new "Chase management" section
• docs/CONTROL_SERVER_ARCHITECTURE.md — API surface table extended (6 new rows)
• mcp-server/README.md + root README.md — refreshed
• Wiki MCP-Server.md + Control-Server.md updated
• Marketing site: CueSheet Act II restructured around chase build → start → stop (start_chase is the accent row), AiConversation final exchange demonstrates a batch_action(create_chase + start_chase) for "30-second sunset", new FAQ entry, tool catalog renders 40

Tier 2 status

🎉 All four Tier 2 items complete:

• ✅ #4 chases (this)
• ✅ #5 strobe (v2.7.0)
• ✅ #6 color_temperature (v2.5.0)
• ✅ #7 palette (v2.6.0)

Remaining roadmap (Tier 3)

• #8 — Scheduled scene activation
• #10 — SSE event stream
• #11 — Multi-workspace switching
• #12 — Audio-reactive mode