SlotForge Paddock v1.4.0 — Paddock Portal

Paddock Portal

Add cars and photographs straight from your phone or tablet on the same local network.

• Turn on Connections → Paddock Portal, then scan the QR code or enter the displayed address and short access code.
• Add Car: enter the manufacturer and model, optionally add a product reference, and take or select a main photo. A visible confirmation prepares the next entry.
• Existing Car: search your collection and upload up to five additional gallery photos at once. Preview or remove photos before sending; the main photo stays unchanged. Success returns you to the Portal home page.
• Supported originals retain their resolution. Oversized photos offer an explicit smaller-copy option; HEIC needs conversion to a supported format.
• Upload batches save together, and retry protection prevents duplicates after a lost response. Turn the Portal off when finished; it starts off on each Paddock launch.

Build from Scratch

Updated the chassis, motor pod and assembly guides to the new v7 artwork, preserving theme backgrounds and shape-following selection highlights.

Downloads

• Windows: download and run the portable EXE.
• Linux/macOS: native builds run on GitHub and attach their downloads when successful. macOS availability depends on the native build result.
• Source: the source ZIP includes the project and build instructions, without local databases, test output, handoffs or working folders.

Verification

The full automated suite passed (1,210 tests), along with Portal desktop/mobile-browser checks and 21 targeted build tests. The packaged Windows app passed isolated startup, Portal asset serving and shutdown checks. Build artwork was checked in light and dark themes. Existing Timing and Telemetry interfaces are unchanged.

SlotForge Paddock 1.3.0

SlotForge Paddock 1.3.0

A major update to the collection, workshop and shared racing library.

Highlights

• Shared local library with compatible SlotForge Timing: both apps can use the same local SQLite collection, including cars and racing history. Existing collections are preserved during adoption; this is separate from LAN sharing and Dealership Mode.
• Car merging: review the fields, photos, history and supported settings to include, choose the main car, and retain the retired car's original information in the archive. Late old-car history receives its own review.
• Rebuilds and planned builds: link an original car to its rebuild, preserve the original history, and plan catalogue parts with shopping items tied to the build.
• Racing history and comparisons: richer session views, lane records, historical evidence and pace comparisons, with safer corrections, withdrawals and recovery.
• Workshop and collection tools: job types, Manuals and Part Guides, catalogue management, expanded sorting, UI zoom and improved car comparisons.
• Easier reviews: Select all / Clear selection and selection counts throughout reviews with selectable fields, including merge sections and catalogue imports.
• Slotcar product research: the AI import kit includes product category and racing class. Ownership details remain manual; the prompt asks for at least five sources and three agreeing sources for verified values, without mandatory source URLs.
• Storage and responsiveness: incremental SQLite reads and writes, background result processing, durable operation receipts and more precise refreshes.

Updating and downloads

Create a backup in Paddock before updating. Shared-library features require a compatible Timing build; updating Paddock does not update Timing.

• Windows: download the portable Windows x64 executable.
• Linux: native x64 and ARM64 AppImage / Debian packages are attached as their GitHub builds complete.
• macOS: universal downloads are attached if the native build succeeds.
• Source: the source ZIP contains the app, build tooling, documentation and tests. Internal handoffs, design drafts, review reports, local test output and databases are excluded.

Checksums accompany the downloads. App packages contain only runtime files and required licences.

SlotForge Paddock v1.2.1 - Smoother result imports and safer saves

SlotForge Paddock v1.2.1

Smoother result imports, quieter connected-car updates and safer save retries.

Improvements

• Background race-result processing. Timing uploads are parsed, validated, calculated and saved in a worker so the main app can keep responding. Checking a delivered result reads only that session.
• Refresh only affected cars. Renaming a fitted part or changing an installation refreshes the relevant cars. Spare-stock quantities, locations and unused parts no longer trigger a full catalogue refresh. Large stock imports also leave unrelated result caches alone.
• Durable save receipts. Personal-database saves retain an identity and result atomically with their changes. Retrying the same save after a lost acknowledgement cannot duplicate stock installations or history. Restore generations and conflicting retries are checked explicitly.
• Safer background work. Bounded queues, timeout/crash recovery, lazy photo transport and compressed bulk-operation receipts protect responsiveness and existing editing workflows.

Timing, Telemetry and Dealership Mode retain their existing APIs, credentials, captured configurations and review behavior. No companion-app update or new connection setting is required.

Performance

In a local synthetic 10,000-lap test, the longest main-thread timer gap fell from approximately 564 ms to 19 ms. Total processing time was similar: the improvement is responsiveness while results are processed. Results vary by computer and collection.

Updating and downloads

Close Paddock before replacing the app and retain a current backup of your collection. Existing SQLite data continues to work; there is no new storage-format migration.

• Windows: SlotForge.Paddock.1.2.1.exe — portable app.
• Linux x64/ARM64: AppImage and Debian packages are available; both native build/test jobs passed.
• macOS: skipped for this release because the GitHub macOS runner remained queued. No macOS installer was produced.
• Timing, Telemetry and scalable API handoff ZIPs, plus SHA-256 checksums.

Windows is unsigned. SHA-256 checksums are included for the Windows and Linux downloads.

Validation

• 670 Paddock regression tests, 122 Timing integration tests and 23 Telemetry client/interoperability tests passed.
• 210 Electron desktop checks passed with zero captured renderer errors.
• Packaged Windows workers passed result processing, receipt replay after restart, corrections, withdrawals and exact backup restoration checks.
• A real worker-exit test verifies that a save committed before its acknowledgement is not repeated when retried.

Testing used artificial collections and local servers. Native build outcomes are shown in GitHub Actions; these checks do not replace installation testing or a new test across two physical computers.

Detailed review

SlotForge Paddock v1.2.0 - SQLite storage and faster collections

SlotForge Paddock v1.2.0

Paddock now uses SQLite, with faster everyday saves, on-demand screen loading and storage designed for larger collections. Your cars, stock, setups, history and existing Timing, Telemetry and Dealership connections carry forward.

What's improved

• Automatic database migration. Existing JSON collections are validated and migrated locally. The original JSON remains as a migration-time recovery copy.
• Load what you need. Startup opens the first screen without reconstructing every car, part and race session. Galleries, lists, histories and lap details use paged SQLite queries.
• Smaller saves. Ordinary edits load and validate the affected records and their dependencies. Changed records, stock accounting, review decisions and recovery information commit atomically.
• Quieter Dealership updates. Compatible Paddock peers exchange durable incremental changes, fetch original media separately and recover missed updates after reconnecting. Existing reviewed-change workflows remain supported.
• Original photographs. New imports retain their original bytes within the per-file limits; lightweight thumbnails serve galleries. The former 200 MiB total collection limit is removed, with a separate metadata safeguard and individual operation limits retained.
• Portable backups. Complete .sfpbackup files include original attachments, progress reporting and verified restore staging. Existing JSON backups can still be restored.
• Integration compatibility. Existing Timing results and Telemetry reads remain supported. An optional versioned scalable read API and updated handoff fixtures are included for companion-app developers.
• SlotForge wordmarks in the header and page footers, with light/dark theme artwork.

Updating

Close Paddock before replacing the app. Keep a backup before upgrading a collection. The first migration or index upgrade can take longer than subsequent starts.

After migration, SQLite is the live database: the retained JSON is not updated with later edits. Do not delete SQLite or reopen the old JSON as a downgrade method. Use a compatible exported backup. Timing and Telemetry do not need a client change to keep using their existing APIs; new scalable features require client support.

Full exports, migrations, restores and some compatibility operations still perform complete validation. This release does not promise constant-time operations or unlimited storage. See storage limits.

Downloads

• Windows: SlotForge.Paddock.1.2.0.exe — portable app.
• Native Linux x64/ARM64 packages are built by GitHub after publication. A universal macOS build will also be attempted; if it fails, this release will proceed without it.
• Timing, Telemetry and scalable API handoff ZIPs, plus SHA-256 checksums.

Windows is unsigned. macOS builds, when available, are ad-hoc signed and not Apple-notarised.

Validation

651 automated tests and 210 desktop checks passed, with no captured renderer errors in the final desktop run. Windows packaged SQLite workers and portable backup restoration were checked. Synthetic large-collection tests covered edits, stock, reviews, localhost replication, Timing corrections/withdrawals, exact original-photo preservation and backup round trips.

In a three-run synthetic 5,000-car benchmark, the first edit fell from approximately 3.8–4.1 seconds to 0.67–0.69 seconds, reading nine deferred records instead of 20,107. These are local backend measurements with warm OS caches, not guarantees for every machine or network.

Native build results appear in GitHub Actions. Automated localhost tests do not replace interactive platform installation or testing between two physical computers.

SlotForge Paddock v1.1.2 - New Collection app icon

SlotForge Paddock v1.1.2

Paddock has a new Collection icon: a top-down slotcar framed by three display
cards, representing your collection and the cars you build and maintain.

• Updated desktop icons for Windows, macOS and Linux.
• Matching in-app header symbol that follows the selected theme.
• Updated README icon and version information, alongside the SlotForge App
  Collection branding, introductory text and links to the other apps.
• Added editable vector artwork and a repeatable desktop-icon build command.

This is a visual update. Collection storage, Dealership connections, passwords,
Timing and Telemetry APIs are unchanged. Close the previous app before updating.

Downloads

• Windows: SlotForge.Paddock.1.1.2.exe — portable app.
• Linux: x64 and ARM64 AppImage/deb packages.
• macOS: universal DMG/ZIP for Intel and Apple Silicon.
• Timing and Telemetry integration handoff ZIPs and SHA-256 manifests.

GitHub builds and attaches the Linux and macOS downloads after publication.
Windows is unsigned; macOS is ad-hoc signed and not Apple-notarised.

Validation

418 automated tests passed, alongside syntax checks, icon format and size
verification, and an isolated Windows packaged-app startup. The new header was
checked in dark and Ocean light themes with no captured renderer errors. Native
build results are available in GitHub Actions; they do not replace interactive
testing on each operating system.

SlotForge Paddock v1.1.1 - Clearer reviews and faster saves

SlotForge Paddock v1.1.1

Clearer reviews, control over individual incoming fields, and faster Dealership proposal saves.

Improvements

• Recognisable reviews: Dealership cards identify the car and the work being proposed, including jobs started from setups and checklist changes.
• Choose individual technical fields: compare incoming values with the current car and select which changes to accept. Unselected fields remain unchanged.
• Override fitted parts: explicitly return a conflicting fitted component to stock when accepting its replacement specification. Partial assemblies retain their other fitted components; returning the final component dismantles the assembly. A replacement text value does not automatically install another inventory part.
• Distinct livery classifications: clearer, themed labels make classifications easier to recognise.
• Faster history proposals: send only changed history fields, reuse photo encoding, avoid repeated validation, and save proposal receipts asynchronously. Review lists no longer repeatedly embed full-size photographs.

Reliability fixes

• Serialize competing writes safely and recheck permissions and database identity after waiting.
• Keep Timing configuration capture working while a proposal is being saved.
• Persist proposals before acknowledging delivery and wait for an outstanding save during normal shutdown.
• Preserve unrelated history fields and photos; remove outdated research evidence when its value changes.
• Strengthen stock-return, assembly, stale-review and failed-write handling.

Updating and downloads

Close Paddock before opening the new version. Existing collections and remembered Dealership passwords remain in place. Database schema 11 and the Timing and Telemetry API versions are unchanged. Use matching Paddock versions across Dealership computers for the updated review and sparse-history behaviour.

• Windows: SlotForge.Paddock.1.1.1.exe — portable app; Node.js is not required.
• Linux: x64 and ARM64 AppImage/deb packages.
• macOS: universal DMG/ZIP for Intel and Apple Silicon.
• Timing and Telemetry integration handoff ZIPs are included.

Native Linux and macOS build jobs attach their downloads after publication. SHA-256 manifests accompany the downloads. Windows is unsigned; macOS is ad-hoc signed and not Apple-notarised. AppImages need executable permission.

Validation

418 automated tests passed, plus syntax checks, isolated Electron interface checks and a shutdown-during-save check. Tests cover selected-field approval, stock conservation, assemblies, concurrent requests, permissions, duplicate deliveries, disk failures and restart persistence.

On a synthetic 112 MiB collection, proposal processing fell from 2,202 ms to 473 ms, with a 950-byte proposal. Results vary by machine. Short integrity-hashing pauses remain; the JSON database still rewrites the full file, and asynchronous persistence currently covers proposal receipts rather than every save path.

Local server/client tests do not replace a physical two-computer Wi-Fi test. See the full review and performance review.

SlotForge Paddock v1.1.0 - Car research, pace comparisons and clearer approvals

SlotForge Paddock v1.1.0

Research the full-size car behind your slotcar, compare recorded pace, and find each car's lane records. Dealership reviews now have unmistakable approval and rejection buttons.

What's new

• Real Car History: record livery classification, team, drivers, event, year, race number, qualifying and finishing results, notes, sources and reference photographs.
• Research tools without built-in AI: read labelled information from a public webpage, or export an English research template for your own AI and import the completed JSON. Review and select individual suggestions before saving; source links and uncertainty stay with the research.
• Pace comparison: compare cars using recorded results, track and conditions, with lane and driver filters. Inspect eligible best laps, typical pace and sustained runs where measured laps are available.
• Lane records: see each car's best eligible lap by track and lane, with its driver, date, session and captured configuration. Manual reported records remain distinct from measured Timing results.
• Manual test conditions: record track direction and magnet status alongside existing test information.

Fixes and review

• Replaced the Dealership review dialog's rejection-default dropdown and ambiguous confirmation button with Approve changes and Reject proposal actions.
• Fixed reference-photo duplication after a failed save and preserved photographs during text-only edits without resending them unnecessarily.
• Strengthened stale-edit protection, research evidence cleanup and incoming-car research previews.
• Added bounded JSON reads, earlier HTML complexity limits and more reliable webpage-request cleanup.
• Reduced unnecessary work in lane-record summaries and excluded non-finite manual lap times.

The generic webpage reader does not use AI, translate pages, run website JavaScript or guarantee a match on every website. Suggestions always require review. Slow laps alone cannot establish a deslot or mechanical problem, and theoretical calculations remain estimates.

Updating

Close the running app before opening this version. Existing collections and remembered Dealership passwords remain in place. Database schema 11 and Timing integration v1 are unchanged.

If a previous Dealership change was accidentally rejected through the old dialog, submit it again and choose Approve changes. This update does not automatically apply rejected proposals. Use matching Paddock versions when sharing the new research fields.

Downloads

• Windows: SlotForge.Paddock.1.1.0.exe — portable app; Node.js is not required.
• Linux: x64 and ARM64 AppImage/deb packages.
• macOS: universal DMG/ZIP for Intel and Apple Silicon.
• Timing and Telemetry integration handoff ZIPs are also included.

Native Linux and macOS jobs attach their downloads after publication. SHA-256 manifests accompany the downloads. Windows is unsigned; macOS is ad-hoc signed and not Apple-notarised. AppImages need executable permission.

Validation

394 automated tests passed, plus syntax checks, isolated Electron interface checks and Windows packaging. Checks include Dealership approval persistence and local replication, ordinary car edits, research imports, source cleanup, photo retries, manual conditions, comparisons and lane-record edge cases.

Local server/client tests are not a physical two-computer Wi-Fi acceptance test. Webpage extraction tests use fixtures. Native build results are available in GitHub Actions.

See the review report and feature guide.

SlotForge Paddock v1.0.1 - Telemetry lap-history integration

SlotForge Paddock v1.0.1

SlotForge Telemetry can now read the race sessions delivered to Paddock by Timing, including individual laps and the configuration each car raced with.

What's new

• One familiar connection: use the existing Dealership address and remembered password. No extra permission toggle or password.
• Complete race evidence: original laps, drivers, lanes, heats, endurance stints, validity/pit flags, standings and adjustments remain linked to the captured configuration.
• Session browsing: filter by car, track, Timing source and date, with bounded pagination.
• Quiet updates: small change notifications through long-polling or optional SSE; clients can download only changed sessions. Private edits do not trigger result notifications.
• Reliable offline refresh: consistent snapshots, corrections, withdrawals and restored databases can be reconciled without duplicating performance records.
• Integration handoff: exact API contract, JSON Schema and artificial fixtures are included for Telemetry developers.

The review aligned the API with Telemetry's completed contract, corrected date-range boundaries and strengthened cleanup when connections close or passwords change. Existing Timing uploads, Dealership sharing, reviewed car submissions and manual performance records remain independent.

Updating

Close the running app before opening the updated version. Your collection and remembered Dealership password remain in place. Database schema 11 and Timing integration v1 are unchanged; no migration is required.

Start Dealership Mode and give Telemetry the displayed address, actual port and existing password. Telemetry provides the analysis UI and offline cache; its client must support this connection. This API exposes delivered Timing sessions, not every historic Timing session or manual Paddock performance entry.

Downloads

• Windows: SlotForge.Paddock.1.0.1.exe — portable app; Node.js is not required.
• Linux: x64 and ARM64 AppImage/deb packages.
• macOS: universal DMG/ZIP for Intel and Apple Silicon.
• Telemetry handoff: SlotForge-Paddock-Telemetry-v1.zip.
• Timing handoff: SlotForge-Paddock-Timing-v1.zip.

Native Linux and macOS jobs attach their downloads after publication. SHA-256 manifests accompany the downloads. Windows is unsigned; macOS is ad-hoc signed and not Apple-notarised. AppImages need executable permission.

Validation

360 automated tests passed, including 18 Telemetry API tests, plus syntax checks. The existing Telemetry client also passed local connection, import, unchanged-refresh, correction, withdrawal and removal-reconciliation checks using a disposable host and cache.

Tests cover authentication, database identity, private-field exclusion, pagination, restored snapshots, notification cancellation and revocation, failed persistence, and compatibility with existing Timing and Dealership functionality. These are automated local tests, not a physical two-computer Wi-Fi acceptance test.

See the review and Telemetry integration handoff.

SlotForge Paddock v1.0.0 - Your collection, your workshop

SlotForge Paddock v1.0.0

Your collection, your workshop. SlotForge Paddock reaches its first 1.0 release!

Keep a virtual showroom of your slotcars, or go deeper with parts inventory,
assemblies, scratch builds, setups, workshop jobs and performance history.
Dealership Mode connects your collection across trusted computers, while
SlotForge Timing can select your cars for racing and return finalised results.

What's improved since v0.20.0

• Reliable shared updates: corrected Timing results with reordered JSON fields no longer cause false verification failures or mark connected copies out of date.
• Safer connection recovery: failed disk writes cannot leave a new pairing pointing at an unrelated saved copy. Failed reconnect settings saves preserve the existing working connection.
• Clear hosting retries: if Dealership setup succeeds but hosting cannot start, the saved password and setup remain available with a Start Dealership retry.
• Lower save memory use: JSON output is assembled in batches. A synthetic 50,000-record catalogue used approximately 330 MiB peak process memory instead of 801 MiB in local comparison runs, with identical saved output.
• Removed an obsolete legacy password-dialog entry and strengthened regression coverage for privacy and password revocation.

Updating

Close the running app before opening the new version. Your existing collection
and remembered Dealership password stay in place. Database schema 11 and
Timing integration v1 are unchanged; this version does not require a new
collection or a Timing protocol change.

Dealership Mode uses one remembered password for both Paddock and Timing. If
upgrading an older Dealership installation that has no saved password, use
Set password… and then Start Dealership in Connections. Use the displayed
address and port; the port may change when hosting restarts. For compatibility
with Timing versions that require eight characters, choose an 8+ character
password.

Downloads

• Windows: SlotForge.Paddock.1.0.0.exe — portable app; Node.js is not required.
• Linux: x64 and ARM64 AppImage/deb packages.
• macOS: universal DMG/ZIP for Intel and Apple Silicon.
• Integration: SlotForge-Paddock-Timing-v1.zip — contract, guide and example fixtures.

Native Linux and macOS jobs attach their downloads after publication. SHA-256
manifests accompany the downloads. Windows is unsigned; macOS is ad-hoc signed
and not Apple-notarised. AppImages need executable permission.

Validation

342 automated tests and 189 isolated desktop checks passed, with no captured
renderer errors. An additional 2,000 deterministic JSON/patch/hash round trips
passed. Coverage includes connection recovery, password persistence and
revocation, in-flight Timing uploads, corrected results and exact replication.

Tests use temporary collections and local HTTP connections on Windows. They do
not constitute a new physical multi-computer Wi-Fi test. Memory measurements
are synthetic single-run process peaks; large transfers and durable saves can
still take time.

See the full review,
Dealership guide
and Timing handoff.

SlotForge Paddock v0.20.0 - One remembered Dealership password and faster saves

SlotForge Paddock v0.20.0

One remembered Dealership password, simpler connections, and faster saves.

Dealership Mode

• One password for Paddock and Timing. Choose a password of 4–128 characters. It grants browsing, submissions for review, private Paddock replication and Timing results access. No separate Timing password or results-enable switch is needed in Dealership Mode.
• Remembered connections. The dealership computer keeps its password across hosting and app restarts. Connected Paddock copies remember their password too. Changing it revokes the old password.
• Independent controls. The Dealership card has its own setup, start, stop and password controls. Legacy sharing controls are hidden and legacy credentials are inactive while hosting a Dealership.
• Review stays in place. Proposed car and parts edits still need approval on the dealership computer. Results finalized in Timing are stored directly, then distributed to connected copies.

Faster saves and submissions

Unchanged photos reuse their validated JSON encodings, and small saves send only changed data back to the interface. In three alternating local benchmark runs with a 27 MiB collection, median workshop saves fell from 151 to 84 ms, submissions from 487 to 185 ms, and approvals from 388 to 147 ms. Desktop save responses were around 15 KB instead of resending the photo collection. Actual speed depends on the computer, storage and collection; initial downloads and large writes can still take time.

Updating and Timing compatibility

Existing Dealership installations first need to choose Set password… in Connections, then Start Dealership. Use that same password and the displayed address/port in both apps. The password survives restarts; the host may still choose a different port.

Timing currently accepts passwords of 8–128 characters. Use at least eight characters until Timing updates its minimum to four. Its existing car browsing and results protocol already works with the unified Dealership password. The included handoff explains the small validation and wording update. Timing source is not changed by this release.

Database schema 11 and Timing integration v1 are unchanged. Keep a complete backup before updating; v0.18.x and older cannot read schema-11 saves. Passwords are local device settings and are not included in collection backups or replication. Legacy sharing outside Dealership Mode retains its separate temporary credentials.

Downloads

• Windows: SlotForge.Paddock.0.20.0.exe — close the previous copy, then run this portable app. Node.js is not required.
• Linux: x64 and ARM64 AppImage/deb packages, attached by the native build jobs.
• macOS: universal DMG/ZIP for Intel and Apple Silicon, attached by the native build job.
• Integration: SlotForge-Paddock-Timing-v1.zip contains the updated contract, guide and fixtures.

SHA-256 manifests accompany the downloads. Windows is unsigned; macOS is ad-hoc signed and not Apple-notarised. AppImages need executable permission.

Validation

335 automated tests and 188 isolated desktop checks passed, with no captured renderer errors. Tests cover password persistence, revocation, failed-save rollback, unified Timing access, queued retries, review, corrections and withdrawals. Testing used temporary collections and local HTTP connections, not user data or a new physical two-computer Wi-Fi test.

See the Dealership guide and Timing handoff.