Release notes (Jan 2026)

[kazad]

Release Notes - January 2025

Along with the major UI redesign being shipped, here's some frontend and backend changes.

Offline-First Architecture

Your calcs now work without internet. The app uses IndexedDB for local storage, syncing to Firebase when online. Calculations save instantly and survive network outages.

• IndexedDB persistence with ES modules
• Graceful degradation when services unavailable
• Smart sync when connectivity returns

Result Format v2

Redesigned the internal result structure from a flat 35-field format to an organized, extensible schema. Better foundation for new output types.

• New datetime output formats
• Legacy engine transformation for backwards compatibility
• Cleaner separation of raw values, formatted output, and metadata

Developer Experience

• Worktree-aware ports: Parallel dev servers on different branches no longer collide
• pnpm: Switched from npm for 70-87% disk savings across worktrees
• Biome linter: 10x faster than ESLint (~500ms vs 5+ seconds)
• Debug panel: Hash timestamps and comprehensive logging for core modules

Performance

• React CalcRow memoization to prevent unnecessary re-renders
• Debounced localStorage saves
• Async MiniSearch loading (removed document.write)
• Enter key + row insertion optimizations

Build System

• Template-based HTML builds with automatic cache-busting
• Hash timestamps for reliable browser cache invalidation
• Cleaner separation of build artifacts

UI Polish

• Demo gallery: Reorganized with categorized structure
• Reference tab: Copy buttons, table of contents, section cards
• Present mode: Shows computed results for formulas like "4% of sales"
• Keyboard shortcuts: Fixed race conditions, cleaner architecture
• Arrow key navigation now selects row text, skips hidden rows
• Theme-derived logo colors

Bug Fixes

• ICObject detection in val() no longer false-positives
• Auth: prevent redundant signInAnonymously calls causing rate limits
• Grid layout only applied when appropriate
• Folder management and calc list improvements