feat: v1.2.0 release — changelog modal, version indicator, and release notes (#186)

Add in-app changelog modal with version indicator that highlights new updates.
Bump version to 1.2.0 and add comprehensive release notes covering external
asset packs, bypass permissions, improved seating, diagnostics, and more.

Co-authored-by: Pablo De Lucca <pablo@Pablos-Mac-mini.local>
Co-authored-by: Claude Opus 4.6 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>

Author: 3 people

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -1,5 +1,41 @@
 # Changelog
 
+## v1.2.0
+
+### Features
+
+- **External asset packs** ([#169](https://github.com/pablodelucca/pixel-agents/pull/169)) — Load furniture assets from user-defined directories outside the extension, enabling third-party asset packs alongside built-in furniture. Add/remove directories via Settings modal with live palette refresh.
+- **Bypass permissions mode** ([#170](https://github.com/pablodelucca/pixel-agents/pull/170)) — Right-click the "+ Agent" button to launch with `--dangerously-skip-permissions`, skipping all tool-call approval prompts.
+- **Improved seating, sub-agent spawning, and background agents** ([#180](https://github.com/pablodelucca/pixel-agents/pull/180)) — Agents prefer seats facing electronics (PCs, monitors). Sub-agents spawn on the closest walkable tile to their parent instead of claiming seats. Background agents stay alive until their queue-operation completes.
+- **Agent connection diagnostics and JSONL parser resilience** ([#183](https://github.com/pablodelucca/pixel-agents/pull/183)) — Debug View shows agent connection state with diagnostic info. JSONL parser handles malformed/partial records gracefully. Simplified file watching to single poll for reliability.
+- **Browser preview mode** ([#143](https://github.com/pablodelucca/pixel-agents/pull/143)) — Preview the Pixel Agents webview in a browser for development and review.
+- **Always show overlay setting** — Option to keep agent overlay labels visible at all times, with reduced opacity for non-focused agents.
+
+### Fixes
+
+- **Agents not appearing on Linux Mint and macOS without a folder open** ([#70](https://github.com/pablodelucca/pixel-agents/pull/70)) — Falls back to `os.homedir()` when no workspace folder is open, matching Claude Code's own behavior.
+
+### Testing
+
+- **Playwright e2e tests** ([#161](https://github.com/pablodelucca/pixel-agents/pull/161)) — End-to-end test infrastructure using Playwright's Electron API with a mock Claude CLI, validating agent spawn flow in a real VS Code instance.
+
+### Maintenance
+
+- Add feature request template and update community docs ([#164](https://github.com/pablodelucca/pixel-agents/pull/164))
+- Bump Vite 8.0, ESLint 10, and various dependency updates
+- CI improvements: skip PR title check for Dependabot, restrict badge updates to main repo ([#181](https://github.com/pablodelucca/pixel-agents/pull/181))
+
+### Contributors
+
+Thank you to the contributors who made this release possible:
+
+- [@marctebo](https://github.com/marctebo) — External asset packs support
+- [@dankadr](https://github.com/dankadr) — Bypass permissions mode
+- [@d4rkd0s](https://github.com/d4rkd0s) — Linux/macOS fix for no-folder workspaces
+- [@daniel-dallimore](https://github.com/daniel-dallimore) — Always show overlay setting
+- [@NNTin](https://github.com/NNTin) — Playwright e2e tests, browser preview mode
+- [@florintimbuc](https://github.com/florintimbuc) — Agent diagnostics, JSONL resilience, CI improvements, code review
+
 ## v1.1.1
 
 ### Fixes

package-lock.json

@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
   "name": "pixel-agents",
   "displayName": "Pixel Agents",
   "description": "Pixel art office where your Claude Code agents come to life as animated characters",
-  "version": "1.1.1",
+  "version": "1.2.0",
   "publisher": "pablodelucca",
   "repository": {
     "type": "git",

package.json

@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ import {
 } from './assetLoader.js';
 import { readConfig, writeConfig } from './configPersistence.js';
 import {
+  GLOBAL_KEY_LAST_SEEN_VERSION,
   GLOBAL_KEY_SOUND_ENABLED,
   LAYOUT_REVISION_KEY,
   WORKSPACE_KEY_AGENT_SEATS,
@@ -120,6 +121,8 @@ export class PixelAgentsViewProvider implements vscode.WebviewViewProvider {
         writeLayoutToFile(message.layout as Record<string, unknown>);
       } else if (message.type === 'setSoundEnabled') {
         this.context.globalState.update(GLOBAL_KEY_SOUND_ENABLED, message.enabled);
+      } else if (message.type === 'setLastSeenVersion') {
+        this.context.globalState.update(GLOBAL_KEY_LAST_SEEN_VERSION, message.version as string);
       } else if (message.type === 'webviewReady') {
         restoreAgents(
           this.context,
@@ -139,10 +142,18 @@ export class PixelAgentsViewProvider implements vscode.WebviewViewProvider {
         );
         // Send persisted settings to webview
         const soundEnabled = this.context.globalState.get<boolean>(GLOBAL_KEY_SOUND_ENABLED, true);
+        const lastSeenVersion = this.context.globalState.get<string>(
+          GLOBAL_KEY_LAST_SEEN_VERSION,
+          '',
+        );
+        const extensionVersion =
+          (this.context.extension.packageJSON as { version?: string }).version ?? '';
         const config = readConfig();
         this.webview?.postMessage({
           type: 'settingsLoaded',
           soundEnabled,
+          lastSeenVersion,
+          extensionVersion,
           externalAssetDirectories: config.externalAssetDirectories,
         });
 

src/PixelAgentsViewProvider.ts

@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ export const LAYOUT_REVISION_KEY = 'layoutRevision';
 
 // ── Settings Persistence ────────────────────────────────────
 export const GLOBAL_KEY_SOUND_ENABLED = 'pixel-agents.soundEnabled';
+export const GLOBAL_KEY_LAST_SEEN_VERSION = 'pixel-agents.lastSeenVersion';
 
 // ── VS Code Identifiers ─────────────────────────────────────
 export const VIEW_ID = 'pixel-agents.panelView';

src/constants.ts

@@ -1,7 +1,10 @@
 import { useCallback, useEffect, useRef, useState } from 'react';
 
+import { toMajorMinor } from './changelogData.js';
 import { BottomToolbar } from './components/BottomToolbar.js';
+import { ChangelogModal } from './components/ChangelogModal.js';
 import { DebugView } from './components/DebugView.js';
+import { VersionIndicator } from './components/VersionIndicator.js';
 import { ZoomControls } from './components/ZoomControls.js';
 import { PULSE_ANIMATION_DURATION_SEC } from './constants.js';
 import { useEditorActions } from './hooks/useEditorActions.js';
@@ -148,15 +151,29 @@ function App() {
     loadedAssets,
     workspaceFolders,
     externalAssetDirectories,
+    lastSeenVersion,
+    extensionVersion,
   } = useExtensionMessages(getOfficeState, editor.setLastSavedLayout, isEditDirty);
 
   // Show migration notice once layout reset is detected
   const [migrationNoticeDismissed, setMigrationNoticeDismissed] = useState(false);
   const showMigrationNotice = layoutWasReset && !migrationNoticeDismissed;
 
+  const [isChangelogOpen, setIsChangelogOpen] = useState(false);
   const [isDebugMode, setIsDebugMode] = useState(false);
   const [alwaysShowOverlay, setAlwaysShowOverlay] = useState(false);
 
+  const currentMajorMinor = toMajorMinor(extensionVersion);
+
+  const handleWhatsNewDismiss = useCallback(() => {
+    vscode.postMessage({ type: 'setLastSeenVersion', version: currentMajorMinor });
+  }, [currentMajorMinor]);
+
+  const handleOpenChangelog = useCallback(() => {
+    setIsChangelogOpen(true);
+    vscode.postMessage({ type: 'setLastSeenVersion', version: currentMajorMinor });
+  }, [currentMajorMinor]);
+
   const handleToggleDebugMode = useCallback(() => setIsDebugMode((prev) => !prev), []);
   const handleToggleAlwaysShowOverlay = useCallback(
     () => setAlwaysShowOverlay((prev) => !prev),
@@ -291,6 +308,19 @@ function App() {
         externalAssetDirectories={externalAssetDirectories}
       />
 
+      <VersionIndicator
+        currentVersion={extensionVersion}
+        lastSeenVersion={lastSeenVersion}
+        onDismiss={handleWhatsNewDismiss}
+        onOpenChangelog={handleOpenChangelog}
+      />
+
+      <ChangelogModal
+        isOpen={isChangelogOpen}
+        onClose={() => setIsChangelogOpen(false)}
+        currentVersion={extensionVersion}
+      />
+
       {editor.isEditMode && editor.isDirty && (
         <EditActionBar editor={editor} editorState={editorState} />
       )}

webview-ui/src/App.tsx

@@ -264,7 +264,12 @@ export function dispatchMockMessages(): void {
   dispatch({ type: 'wallTilesLoaded', sets: wallSets });
   dispatch({ type: 'furnitureAssetsLoaded', catalog: furnitureCatalog, sprites: furnitureSprites });
   dispatch({ type: 'layoutLoaded', layout });
-  dispatch({ type: 'settingsLoaded', soundEnabled: false });
+  dispatch({
+    type: 'settingsLoaded',
+    soundEnabled: false,
+    extensionVersion: '1.2.0',
+    lastSeenVersion: '1.1',
+  });
 
   console.log('[BrowserMock] Messages dispatched');
 }

webview-ui/src/browserMock.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,90 @@
+export interface ChangelogSection {
+  title: string;
+  items: string[];
+}
+
+export interface ChangelogContributor {
+  name: string;
+  url: string;
+  description: string;
+}
+
+export interface ChangelogEntry {
+  version: string;
+  sections: ChangelogSection[];
+  contributors: ChangelogContributor[];
+}
+
+/** Extract "major.minor" from a semver string (e.g. "1.1.1" → "1.1") */
+export function toMajorMinor(version: string): string {
+  const parts = version.split('.');
+  return parts.length >= 2 ? `${parts[0]}.${parts[1]}` : version;
+}
+
+export const CHANGELOG_REPO_URL = 'https://github.com/pablodelucca/pixel-agents';
+
+export const changelogEntries: ChangelogEntry[] = [
+  {
+    version: '1.2',
+    sections: [
+      {
+        title: 'Features',
+        items: [
+          'Bypass permissions mode — right-click "+ Agent" to skip tool approvals',
+          'External asset packs — load furniture from user-defined directories',
+          'Improved seating, sub-agent spawning, and background agent support',
+          'Always show overlay setting for agent labels',
+          'Agent connection diagnostics and JSONL parser resilience',
+          'Browser preview mode for development and review',
+        ],
+      },
+      {
+        title: 'Fixes',
+        items: ['Agents not appearing on Linux Mint/macOS when no folder is open'],
+      },
+      {
+        title: 'Testing',
+        items: ['Playwright e2e tests with mock Claude CLI'],
+      },
+      {
+        title: 'Maintenance',
+        items: [
+          'Bump Vite 8.0, ESLint 10, and various dependency updates',
+          'CI improvements for Dependabot and badge updates',
+        ],
+      },
+    ],
+    contributors: [
+      {
+        name: '@marctebo',
+        url: 'https://github.com/marctebo',
+        description: 'External asset packs support',
+      },
+      {
+        name: '@dankadr',
+        url: 'https://github.com/dankadr',
+        description: 'Bypass permissions mode',
+      },
+      {
+        name: '@d4rkd0s',
+        url: 'https://github.com/d4rkd0s',
+        description: 'Linux/macOS fix for no-folder workspaces',
+      },
+      {
+        name: '@daniel-dallimore',
+        url: 'https://github.com/daniel-dallimore',
+        description: 'Always show overlay setting',
+      },
+      {
+        name: '@NNTin',
+        url: 'https://github.com/NNTin',
+        description: 'Playwright e2e tests, browser preview mode',
+      },
+      {
+        name: '@florintimbuc',
+        url: 'https://github.com/florintimbuc',
+        description: 'Agent diagnostics, JSONL resilience, CI improvements',
+      },
+    ],
+  },
+];