WebCodex 0.4.2

WebCodex 0.4.2 continues the 0.4.x line with a stronger single-window workflow, faster model-facing runtime paths, a more complete Desktop/Runtime experience, and broader native release coverage.

What changed since 0.4.1

• Single-window Goal and continuity are much more complete. Goal context, dropped-turn recovery, Job continuation, validation freshness, and long-running task handoff were tightened so one ChatGPT window can carry substantially longer coding workflows with less recovery ceremony.
• Runtime, Desktop, and WebUI workflows were consolidated. The task-oriented Runtime workspace, project/session activity views, shared-runtime Connections, persistent MCP Providers, safer Desktop lifecycle handling, and clearer diagnostics make local and remote operation easier to understand.
• Model execution got faster and more compact. Code Mode, adaptive tool surfaces, batched search, compact validation/results, project-read caching, serialization work, snapshot-fenced reads, and bounded continuations reduce tool-call overhead while preserving safety fences.
• Browser, MCP, and release coverage expanded. Browser/CDP controls and adaptive snapshots matured; MCP 2026 conformance and structured-failure handling were hardened; the 0.4.2 release matrix now includes Windows ARM64 Desktop alongside Windows x64 and both macOS architectures.

Community contributions

A large part of this release was shaped by external contributors. Selected highlights:

• @youxiaohou improved Windows search and compound inspection (#523), host-safe Job waits (#540), batched coding workflows (#561), project-read performance (#591), Browser diagnostics (#595), shell stdin isolation (#607), compact validation/search output (#609), and adaptive browser snapshots (#618).
• @ITSGJY added MCP text/JSON compatibility (#457) and the MCP 2026 conformance baseline (#483), hardened instruction/path behavior (#529, #535), and contributed several Runtime/Runner cleanup and test fixes (#582, #589, #593, #605).
• @franksong2702 contributed Runtime Console/test hardening and performance fixes (#394, #406, #407, #410), Job receipt durability (#628, #629), and local Codex/continuity handoff support (#634, #636, #638).
• @poiuntwl improved MCP host-file import (#480), workflow recovery efficiency (#492), and Skill loading/resource execution (#490, #491).
• @Corden404 improved Desktop startup diagnostics (#606), duplicate insert-anchor warnings (#630), and long-task recovery documentation (#660).
• @hiro-nikaitou clarified response-handoff semantics (#649) and fixed Desktop timeout/readiness error presentation (#654, #655).
• @Xiiiing unified the Runtime, Desktop, and Admin workbench experience (#627).
• @Maqbool61 added the compact observation_ref continuation selector for observe_jobs (#624).
• @rainhuang0220 added multi-package Cargo check support (#639).
• @gekamok added Runner-global forced ACP configuration (#648).
• @lumpinif added the local Agent Browser control plugin (#613).
• @CQMHV improved the Desktop and ChatGPT Web quick-start documentation (#623).
• @Solaris-star documented ChatGPT-host MCP error behavior (#640, #651).
• @xf22001 added dynamic OAuth redirect URI management (#522).
• @deefery fixed Skill YAML frontmatter handling (#586).

Thank you to everyone who tested, reported issues, reviewed changes, or contributed code and documentation.

Full changelog: v0.4.1...v0.4.2