v0.17.0

What's new in v0.17.0

Status rail + message queue (visual redesign)

The status area above the composer is completely redesigned. The old flat italic text is replaced with a typed card system that handles multiple simultaneous states without visual collisions:

• Active-work card — a compact card with a pulsing spinner appears while Claude is doing background work (context compaction, API retry). It disappears the moment the operation completes, so it never clutters idle threads.
• Rate-limit card — a persistent warning or error card appears when the API returns a rate limit response. Warning style = request was allowed through with a delay; error style = request was rejected.
• Model escalation tooltip — when a turn is routed to the escalation model (e.g. via /escalate), a brief popover fades in from the model button and self-dismisses rather than reshuffling the layout. Zero layout shift.

Message queue: sending a message while Claude is already processing now queues it instead of blocking. Queued messages appear as stacked removable rows above the composer, each with:

• A text preview
• An × delete button
• Click-to-pull-back: click the row to restore it into the input box (with an inline "Replace current draft?" confirm)

The queue drains automatically turn by turn and survives thread switches and plugin reloads.

Inline workflow progress block

When an agent uses the Workflow tool (multi-agent orchestration), a live progress block appears inline in the conversation — pinned just above the streaming output — showing the workflow name, current phase, and a row per spawned sub-agent. Each row has a live status dot (pulsing while running, filled when done, ✗ on failure) and the agent's task description.

The block updates in real time from the SDK event stream with no extra API calls. When the workflow completes or fails, it locks into a final "Done" or "Failed" state so you can see the full run history at a glance. Non-workflow threads are completely unaffected.

Project MCP tools (obsidian_create_project, obsidian_set_thread_project)

Two new MCP tools let agents create and manage projects without leaving the conversation:

• obsidian_create_project — creates a new project (name, vault folder, optional description and cwd override), persists it immediately, and returns the project snapshot including its id. Capture the id to use it in subsequent calls.
• obsidian_set_thread_project — assigns any thread to a project. Pass projectId: null to detach. Useful for release agents that need to group threads by the codebase they're working on.

Both tools work alongside the existing obsidian_list_projects and thread coordination APIs. Typical pattern: obsidian_list_projects → pick or obsidian_create_project → obsidian_set_thread_project on each relevant thread.

Fix: kanban scroll position preserved across updates

The Kanban board no longer jumps to the top when thread status changes cause a re-render. The scroll position is saved before each DOM update and restored afterward — the board stays put while cards update in place.

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Upgrade notes

• No breaking changes. All existing threads, settings, and projects work as before.
• The ct-status-bar CSS class is removed; the new classes are ct-status-rail, ct-status-card, ct-status-card-active, ct-status-card-warning, ct-status-card-error. If you have custom CSS targeting the old class, update it.
• BRAT users will auto-update within a few minutes of this release publishing.