StackingWizard beta 2026-08-23 (Beta 2: big nights)

StackingWizard public beta - build 2026-08-23 (Beta 2: big nights)

UPDATED 24 AUGUST: the macOS download is now a SIGNED AND NOTARIZED build of the very same code. Macs simply open it - no right-click, no Control-click, no trip through Privacy and Security. The macOS checksum below changed accordingly; the Windows build is untouched.

Big nights, fixed at the root: the first beta kept every aligned frame in memory, so a 500-frame Seestar night could eat 40 GB and crawl into swap. Aligned frames now stream through a disk cache that is freed afterwards, memory stays flat whatever the frame count, and the final vote is a new sort-once algorithm running on every core - measured on the workshop PC: 187 Seestar frames in 2 min 31 s end to end, where the first beta needed over 8 minutes for the final vote on 60 frames alone.

Also in this build: a measured time-left on every stage (grading, aligning, the final vote) and a Stop button; six stars must agree before a frame is placed, with a second harder look before any frame is given up; Dwarf "failed_" frames never lead the stack; previews fit the panel; the copy-the-receipts button sits in the card; saved names carry the frame count; combining leaves out a stack that shares under half the field; grading folds frames that arrive at a different bit-scale.

Known: the Looking Glass list struggles past about 500 frames (a lighter list is next). Unsigned beta: Defender may frown - the false-positive report for this build is filed; signing is in progress.

Windows 10/11: StackingWizard.exe - nothing to install. If Windows says "protected your PC": More info > Run anyway.
macOS (Apple Silicon): StackingWizard-mac.zip - unzip it and open it. Nothing else.

SHA-256:

• StackingWizard.exe 5b4d7e6ee7d0df8d49cce0d9045feba041fdd10669e3ce06a1417635731eadaf
• StackingWizard-mac.zip 3fcb9605d11304e8593e57f52fe7f4395fdcf79e9c2935f1720150f8656af52b

Free for everyone, founded on kindness. Reports: wizard@lukomatico.com (press "copy the receipts" on The Stack page first).