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# napari 0.6.5
⚠️ *Note: these release notes are still in draft while 0.6.5 is in release candidate testing.* ⚠️

*Fri, Sep 26, 2025*
*Wed, Oct 1, 2025*

We're happy to announce the release of napari 0.6.5!
napari is a fast, interactive, multi-dimensional image viewer for Python.
Expand All @@ -16,13 +15,17 @@ napari follows [EffVer (Intended Effort Versioning)](https://effver.org/); this

## Highlights

This a sizeable release containing a few new exciting features and a lot of bugfixes.

### EffVer and no more _alpha_
It is our first release officially following the [EffVer versioning scheme](https://effver.org/). We also took this occasion to (finally!) remove the `Alpha` qualifier from the project ([#8288](https://github.com/napari/napari/pull/8288)), to better reflect the reality of the extensive use of napari in production. Note that these changes are just formally bringing up to date the state of the project: our development continues as before!

### Define a startup script for custom launch behaviour
Do you have a code snippet that you always find yourself running after you launch napari? No more! You can now put this code in a script and set its path in the new `startup script` setting ([#8188](https://github.com/napari/napari/pull/8188)), and it will be executed every time napari opens. It's just a python script, so sky's the limit :) We found it particularly useful for adding custom colormaps, setting up the scale bar *just right*, or automatically launching our favourite plugin on startup.

![Screenshot of the application settings menu highlighting the field for the startup script path](https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/7b0e5e5c-252b-45a0-ae76-aac88e488cbc)

### Automatically tiled overlays and ColorBar overlay
Canvas overlays such as `scale_bar`, `text_overlay`, and `colorbar` overlay are now automatically tiling ([#7836](https://github.com/napari/napari/pull/7836)), preventing annoying overlap and making them easier to use without having to manage positioning. Wait, `colorbar` overlay you said? You heard it right! This is a new overlay ([#7832](https://github.com/napari/napari/pull/7832))that shows a color bar legend, and it works with any layer which uses a colormap. All of this works seamlessly with multiple overlays and even grid mode:
Canvas overlays such as `scale_bar`, `text_overlay`, and `colorbar` overlay are now automatically tiling ([#7836](https://github.com/napari/napari/pull/7836)), preventing annoying overlap and making them easier to use without having to manage positioning. Wait, `colorbar` overlay you said? You heard it right! This is a new overlay ([#7832](https://github.com/napari/napari/pull/7832)) that shows a color bar legend, and it works with any layer which uses a colormap. All of this works seamlessly with multiple overlays and even grid mode:

```py
import napari
Expand All @@ -46,20 +49,22 @@ for layer in layers:

![Image depicting the napari viewer in grid mode with scale bars and color bars enabled](https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/622b2d36-11a7-4c55-9550-c82ddebc2fda)

Alternatively, you may also activate the `colorbar` (and other layer-related overlays such as `bounding_box`) from the graphical interface by right clicking on selected layers in the layerlist and toggling the relative entries in the **Visualization** submenu ([#8319](https://github.com/napari/napari/pull/8319)).

### Task manager will now try to prevent losing unfinished work
We added a new task manager ([#8211](https://github.com/napari/napari/pull/8211)) which automatically registers any running `thread_worker`, showing a confirmation dialog if you attempt to close napari while a task is running.

### New `remove()` and `pop()` methods for Points and Shapes
### New *remove* and *pop* methods for Points and Shapes
Points and Shapes can now be easily removed, not just added :P ([#8031](https://github.com/napari/napari/pull/8031) and [#8072](https://github.com/napari/napari/pull/8072)).

### A new and updated guide on napari Preferences
Our documentation on the napari Preferences has received a major overhaul! [Check it out here](https://napari.org/stable/guides/preferences.html#preferences)!
### A few shiny new updates to our website and documentation
[napari.org](https://napari.org/) can now be visited in *dark mode* ([docs#840](https://github.com/napari/docs/pull/840))! You could try out this new relaxing colorscheme while exploring the new overhauled [Preferences documentation](https://napari.org/stable/guides/preferences.html#preferences) section 😉 ([docs#834](https://github.com/napari/docs/pull/834)).
There's also new sections on [viewer overlays](https://napari.org/stable/tutorials/fundamentals/viewer.html#viewer-overlays) and [layer overlays](https://napari.org/stable/guides/layers.html#layer-overlays), to better explain how to use these old and new tools.
Our [release notes page](https://napari.org/dev/release/index.html) also received a glow-up ([docs#838](https://github.com/napari/docs/pull/838)), displaying past release highlights in collapsible boxes in the timeline. This should make it easier to quickly catch up when updating across multiple releases!

TODO: does this link work?
### Extra dependencies for development moved to dependency groups
A note for our contributors and plugin developers: we transferred our dev-related extra dependencies to the new python dependency groups ([#8227](https://github.com/napari/napari/pull/8227)). The installation is therefore slightly different, for example: `pip install napari --group testing` instead of `pip install napari[testing]`. The previous method will continue to work, but we will likely remove the old `optional-dependences` approach in a future release.

- Migrate non-user extras to dependency-groups ([#8227](https://github.com/napari/napari/pull/8227))
- [maint] Drop alpha mentions ([#8288](https://github.com/napari/napari/pull/8288))
- Auto generate release index with highlights and timeline ([docs#838](https://github.com/napari/docs/pull/838))

## New Features

Expand All @@ -78,6 +83,8 @@ TODO: does this link work?
- Add "Hide completed" checkbox to Tracks layer for improved visualization ([#8253](https://github.com/napari/napari/pull/8253))
- Handle affine layer metadata when splitting RGB images ([#8256](https://github.com/napari/napari/pull/8256))
- Update the Shapes select_all_shapes action to allow selection in all modes and add notification of number ([#8292](https://github.com/napari/napari/pull/8292))
- Implement toggling colorbar and bounding box in layerlist context menu ([#8319](https://github.com/napari/napari/pull/8319))
- Add warning for big stride when toggling grid mode ([#8320](https://github.com/napari/napari/pull/8320))

## Bug Fixes

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- Use EffVer ([#8243](https://github.com/napari/napari/pull/8243))
- Use shared workflows for build docs ([#8308](https://github.com/napari/napari/pull/8308))
- Bump napari-sphinx-theme in deps and constraints ([#8315](https://github.com/napari/napari/pull/8315))
- Update release notes 0.6.5 for full release ([docs#855](https://github.com/napari/docs/pull/855))
- Add funding information to the home page ([docs#818](https://github.com/napari/docs/pull/818))
- Update version switcher for 0.6.4 ([docs#826](https://github.com/napari/docs/pull/826))
- Fix version switcher URL to prevent problems with unversioned pages ([docs#827](https://github.com/napari/docs/pull/827))
Expand All @@ -113,12 +121,12 @@ TODO: does this link work?
- Add some info about running python scripts via cli ([docs#847](https://github.com/napari/docs/pull/847))
- Add note about workers registration as tasks and close confirmation dialog when closing napari GUI via close button ([docs#851](https://github.com/napari/docs/pull/851))
- Release notes v0.6.5 ([docs#853](https://github.com/napari/docs/pull/853))
- Re-add palette shortcut to viewer guide ([docs#854](https://github.com/napari/docs/pull/854))
- Add overlays to docs ([docs#857](https://github.com/napari/docs/pull/857))

## Other Pull Requests

- Improve workflow naming by prefixing triage- doc- make- ([#8159](https://github.com/napari/napari/pull/8159))
- Move the test that requires `make_napari_viewer` from `test_qt_viewer` ([#8176](https://github.com/napari/napari/pull/8176))
- Bump `superqt` min version ([#8212](https://github.com/napari/napari/pull/8212))
- Change headless setup for Windows and Linux to `pyvista/setup-headless-display-action` ([#8216](https://github.com/napari/napari/pull/8216))
- Update `coverage`, `hypothesis`, `pint`, `pyopengl`, `virtualenv`, `xarray` ([#8221](https://github.com/napari/napari/pull/8221))
- [pre-commit.ci] pre-commit autoupdate ([#8222](https://github.com/napari/napari/pull/8222))
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- [maint] Revert docs constraints changes from #8270 ([#8307](https://github.com/napari/napari/pull/8307))
- Fix constraints generation ([#8309](https://github.com/napari/napari/pull/8309))
- CI: Fix `github.rest.issues.removeLabel` call ([#8311](https://github.com/napari/napari/pull/8311))
- Fix little typos ([#8316](https://github.com/napari/napari/pull/8316))
- Add pooch cache for build docs ([docs#830](https://github.com/napari/docs/pull/830))
- ci(dependabot): bump the github-actions group with 3 updates ([docs#831](https://github.com/napari/docs/pull/831))
- add docs/release/index.md to gitignore ([docs#843](https://github.com/napari/docs/pull/843))
Expand All @@ -155,15 +164,17 @@ TODO: does this link work?
- Use shared workflow for build docs ([docs#850](https://github.com/napari/docs/pull/850))


## 12 authors added to this release (alphabetical)
## 14 authors added to this release (alphabetical)

(+) denotes first-time contributors 🥳

- [Constantin Aronssohn](https://github.com/napari/napari/commits?author=cnstt) - @cnstt
- [Daniel Althviz Moré](https://github.com/napari/napari/commits?author=dalthviz) ([docs](https://github.com/napari/docs/commits?author=dalthviz)) - @dalthviz
- [Grzegorz Bokota](https://github.com/napari/napari/commits?author=Czaki) ([docs](https://github.com/napari/docs/commits?author=Czaki)) - @Czaki
- [Jaime Rodríguez-Guerra](https://github.com/napari/napari/commits?author=jaimergp) ([docs](https://github.com/napari/docs/commits?author=jaimergp)) - @jaimergp
- [Johannes Soltwedel](https://github.com/napari/napari/commits?author=jo-mueller) - @jo-mueller
- [Juan Nunez-Iglesias](https://github.com/napari/docs/commits?author=jni) - @jni
- [Jules Vanaret](https://github.com/napari/napari/commits?author=jules-vanaret) - @jules-vanaret
- [Kanai Potts](https://github.com/napari/napari/commits?author=8bitbiscuit) - @8bitbiscuit
- [Lorenzo Gaifas](https://github.com/napari/napari/commits?author=brisvag) ([docs](https://github.com/napari/docs/commits?author=brisvag)) - @brisvag
- [Melissa Weber Mendonça](https://github.com/napari/docs/commits?author=melissawm) - @melissawm
Expand All @@ -172,7 +183,7 @@ TODO: does this link work?
- [rwkozar](https://github.com/napari/napari/commits?author=rwkozar) - @rwkozar
- [Tim Monko](https://github.com/napari/napari/commits?author=TimMonko) ([docs](https://github.com/napari/docs/commits?author=TimMonko)) - @TimMonko

## 15 reviewers added to this release (alphabetical)
## 16 reviewers added to this release (alphabetical)

(+) denotes first-time contributors 🥳

Expand All @@ -185,6 +196,7 @@ TODO: does this link work?
- [Jaime Rodríguez-Guerra](https://github.com/napari/napari/commits?author=jaimergp) ([docs](https://github.com/napari/docs/commits?author=jaimergp)) - @jaimergp
- [Johannes Soltwedel](https://github.com/napari/napari/commits?author=jo-mueller) - @jo-mueller
- [Juan Nunez-Iglesias](https://github.com/napari/docs/commits?author=jni) - @jni
- [Jules Vanaret](https://github.com/napari/napari/commits?author=jules-vanaret) - @jules-vanaret
- [Lorenzo Gaifas](https://github.com/napari/napari/commits?author=brisvag) ([docs](https://github.com/napari/docs/commits?author=brisvag)) - @brisvag
- [Melissa Weber Mendonça](https://github.com/napari/docs/commits?author=melissawm) - @melissawm
- [Peter Sobolewski](https://github.com/napari/napari/commits?author=psobolewskiPhD) ([docs](https://github.com/napari/docs/commits?author=psobolewskiPhD)) - @psobolewskiPhD
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