Vanish - Release Notes
Version: 1.0.0
Date: 2026-05-06
1. Release Overview
This release provides the finalized production baseline for Vanish with full hide/restore orchestration, trigger configuration, licensing integration, tray operations, and release packaging automation.
2. Delivered Capabilities
2.1 Core Concealment
- process-targeted hide list workflow
- hide/restore through orchestrator-managed flows
- taskbar and Alt+Tab concealment through extended style management
2.2 Triggering and Interaction
- global shortcut capture via low-level hook
- 8-zone cursor edge monitor with debounce/tolerance controls
- UI and tray command parity for operational controls
2.3 Audio Behavior
- optional mute on vanish
- optional restore on restore
- warning-only failure handling to preserve core flow continuity
2.4 UI and Configuration
- General, Triggers, Shortcuts, About pages
- process selector, language picker, close dialog, trial-expired dialog
- theme and language runtime persistence
2.5 Licensing and Trial
- 7-day trial management with file + registry backup resolution
- Lemon Squeezy activation path
- local HMAC verification after activation
2.6 Telemetry and Logging
- asynchronous local file logging with retention cleanup
- Sentry bridge integration where configured
2.7 Packaging and Delivery
- CI quality gates for build/tests/coverage
- release workflow producing Velopack packages and MSI installer
- installer custom actions for install hint and user-data cleanup path
3. Notable Engineering Characteristics
- explicit layered architecture with interface-first contracts
- session-volatile reset of hide list and active flag on load by design
- UI-thread orchestrator startup requirement for keyboard hook behavior
4. Known Limitations
- Windows-only support
- no hidden-window recovery after crash
- third-party window and audio session behavior may vary
5. Operational Notes
- settings path:
%APPDATA%\Vanish\settings.json - license path:
%APPDATA%\Vanish\license.dat - logs path:
%APPDATA%\Vanish\logs
6. Upgrade and Uninstall Notes
- upgrades follow MSI major-upgrade strategy in release process
- full uninstall triggers cleanup custom action for user data paths under defined conditions
7. Validation Summary
Release pipeline requires:
- successful build
- passing unit/integration/end-to-end test suites
- passing coverage threshold gate
8. Architectural Release Narrative
This release formalizes the production baseline architecture around four layer boundaries:
- Domain contracts and models.
- Application orchestration and persistence services.
- Windows integration for hooks, Win32 window mutation, audio, and startup registry integration.
- UI composition and interaction surfaces.
Operational benefit:
- clearer contract boundaries for maintenance and testing.
9. Runtime Behavior Clarifications
9.1 Activation and Gating
- Vanishing start behavior is capability-gated by active trial/license state.
- Activation uses remote validation and local verification material persistence.
9.2 Session-Volatile Fields
HideListandIsVanishingEnabledreset at load boundary by design.- This is intentional safety behavior, not data-loss regression.
9.3 Trigger Routing
- Shortcut routing is based on canonical string matching.
- Zone routing uses debounce and tolerance semantics with active-state gating.
10. Operator Impact Summary
- Release procedures must continue enforcing test and coverage gates before packaging.
- Support teams should treat hide-list reset behavior as expected baseline behavior.
- Incident triage should prioritize startup, concealment, restoration, and activation paths as critical domains.
11. User Impact Summary
- Users can control core operations from main UI and tray paths.
- Trial and activation outcomes are reflected in About page workflows.
- Runtime language/theme changes remain available through settings.
12. Known-Risk Watchlist for Next Releases
- third-party app variance in style/placement restoration.
- audio session continuity limitations for restarted processes.
- shortcut/zone configuration complexity for first-time users.
13. Post-Release Verification Recommendations
After deployment, validate:
- startup behavior on clean profile and upgrade profile.
- trigger responsiveness for shortcut and zone paths.
- stop/exit restore behavior with hidden windows present.
- activation flow and failure messaging paths.
- uninstall cleanup behavior under expected conditions.