v0.13.0

What's new in v0.13.0

Rapid-MLX 0.13.0 makes first setup clearer, expands local model support, keeps
chat and speech workloads available together, and improves long-prompt
responsiveness and cache correctness.

Highlights

More capable local models — Run supported Qwen3-Next checkpoints larger
than available memory with disk streaming, serve Nemotron-Labs-Diffusion 3B as
a standard text model, and choose verified Ornith 1.5 9B and 35B-A3B models
from the Desktop catalog. (#2192,
#2194,
#2197)

Faster, safer long conversations — Hybrid models reuse compatible prefix
caches, cutting verified repeat-turn prefill from tens of seconds to sub-second
latency. MLX 0.32.1 and measured per-model prefill defaults also improve
throughput while preserving explicit server overrides. (#2321,
#2199,
#2210)

Runtime model changes keep the same identity — Models loaded after startup
use the same serving-lane resolution as the initial model, and performance
reloads preserve the names and aliases clients already use. (#2339)

Clearer setup and model switching — First setup uses live RAM-based
recommendations, groups cached variants, and reports download progress. Chat
receives authoritative local date and time, active-request model switches ask
before interrupting work, and complete cached Qwen3.5 checkpoints route through
the correct runtime automatically. (#2331,
#2334,
#2335,
#2336)

Chat, vision, audio, and images work together more naturally — Desktop
adds a dedicated photo flow, separates Speech to Text from Text to Speech, and
keeps ordinary dictation from evicting the active conversation model. Relaunch
also restores chat before the enabled dictation lane, so speech cannot replace
the selected conversation model. Image generation starts at a lower-memory
512×512 default and shows a stable remaining-time estimate. (#2201,
#2188,
#2307,
#2302,
#2339)

More reliable tools and reasoning — Tool selection is schema-driven,
malformed tool attempts stay inside the correction loop, reasoning scratch
work stays out of final answers, and supported web-search providers recover
from rejected saved keys without dropping the original request. (#2244,
#2278,
#2284,
#2304)

Upgrade notes

• From 0.13.0-rc2, quit the existing app, replace it in Applications with the
  final DMG, and reopen it. Conversations, downloaded models, and preferences
  remain in place.
• Existing cached dictation selections are preserved. Incompatible old prefix
  caches remain on disk but are not reused.
• Standalone servers opt into the shared audio lane with --enable-audio;
  Desktop enables it automatically.

Known issues

• If both a resident model's performance reload and its rollback fail,
  residency status and request routing can disagree until the server is
  relaunched. This recovery edge case is planned for 0.13.1.
  (#2360)
• Loading a secondary model can leave the reported resident primary model
  returning errors until Rapid-MLX Desktop is relaunched.
  (#2333)
• Run setup again currently overstates what it resets; conversations,
  downloaded models, preferences, and telemetry consent are preserved.
  (#2239)
• Low-memory coexistence does not yet provide complete cross-role capacity
  guidance for every chat, vision, speech-input, and speech-output combination.
  (#2305)

All changes

• docs: add 0.13.0 changelog (#2368) (4f9f916)
• chore: bump version to 0.13.0 (2890fab)
• release: integrate final 0.13.0 fixes (#2337) (a8f507a)
• fix(mac): onboarding 'Before loading' memory verdict re-evaluates live (ONBOARD-MEM-LIVE) (#2331) (240a6d7)
• test(ci): cover hybrid cache admission on Linux (22b999f)
• fix(server): keep hybrid entry type explicit (4fd032b)
• fix(cache): align exact recurrent prefix reuse (d4b81e8)
• test(cli): isolate port preflight after rebase (b74820e)
• fix(config): preserve strict detection failures (c726840)
• fix(server): align standalone hybrid cache admission (f3bea45)
• test(cli): isolate serve metadata wiring (eccad9e)
• fix(cli): preserve explicit startup overrides (5e62429)
• fix(config): preserve checkpoint architecture precedence (6f5ef99)
• fix(cache): honor detected hybrid metadata (2098d58)
• fix: preserve release notes artifact path (a45feb8)
• fix(mac): make bad-descriptor drain deterministic under parallel suite (#2318) (#2323) (5bef1ea)
• chore: bump version to 0.13.0-rc2 (33dd7a3)
• fix(release): gate reruns before updater mutation (33cf880)
• fix(release): no-op identical tagged reruns (a6c3b8c)
• test(release): follow shared desktop cap contract (7b0e961)
• fix(release): align tagged publication lifecycle (ea23047)
• fix(release): make desktop publication immutable (4e89fde)
• fix(release): compare DMG growth in bytes (dfc2a19)
• fix(release): bind desktop publish to run artifact (417f60b)
• fix(release): fail closed on DMG baseline lookup (e449043)
• fix(release): wait for Desktop publication before engine release (109481c)
• fix(release): require admin bypass disabled + honest cutoff-guard docs (#2301) (b869d3d)
• feat(release): add normal workflow_dispatch retry_version after main drift (#2301) (672f091)
• style(release): satisfy ruff check/format for new release contracts (#2301) (dbd95df)
• fix(release): claim Desktop RC tag only at a validated commit (#2301) (eae5875)
• test(mac): settle approval observers once (bf2ff33)
• test(mac): synchronize declined-tool approval observation (b4e3c3f)
• test(desktop): cover first-poll lifecycle contract (cb317ec)
• test(mac): synchronize HF cache monitor polling (e82e3aa)
• fix(mac): invalidate stale memory refresh on activation (8cba9d9)
• fix(mac): stop hidden memory warning refreshes (f6cd8d3)
• fix(mac): preserve memory confirmation through alert dismissal (f639006)
• fix(mac): recheck memory before resolving load (bd539fa)
• fix(mac): resolve latest memory warning facts (4389635)
• fix(mac): cancel foreground memory probes (7193f5f)
• refactor(mac): resolve memory decision before launch (d0b6c86)
• fix(mac): bind foreground refresh to onboarding (3000a03)
• fix(mac): cancel parked memory refreshes (88d4c76)
• test(mac): pin blocking memory verdict (759ff20)
• fix(mac): order live memory refreshes (cfca404)
• fix(mac): treat tight memory as normal load (c0f9e5f)
• fix(mac): refresh onboarding memory safety live (d40e607)
• test(mac): make startDownload re-resolve reliable under parallel suite (#2237) (#2312) (f984de2)
• fix(desktop): keep conversation model resident during dictation (#2307) (21dee04)
• test: bind image recovery alias to registry capability (ac471e3)
• fix: recommend valid image model alias (226e6e0)
• fix(mac): stabilize image generation ETA (#2302) (16bccaa)
• feat(server): own audio lifecycle on the model worker (#2282) (1629a51)
• feat(mac): make Connect your agents useful before an engine starts (#2308) (896e3ab)
• fix(mac): recover rejected web-search keys (#2304) (cbaa801)
• fix(mac): preserve dictation checkpoint across rc1 upgrade (#2303) (dee72f2)
• ci(mac): raise raw bundle cap to 550 MB (b42b029)
• test(mac): cover attachment retry and relaunch [skip-version-bump] (#2289) (ad79fd4)

Install: brew upgrade rapid-mlx or pip install -U rapid-mlx==0.13.0 (or just rapid-mlx upgrade).