Updates and Releases

The KubeStellar Console follows a regular release schedule with two update channels.

Release Channels

Stable (Weekly)

The stable channel receives tested releases every week:

Version format: v0.x.y-weekly.YYYYMMDD
Release day: Every Monday
Recommended for: Production environments

Weekly releases include:

Bug fixes from the previous week
Performance improvements
Security patches
Tested new features

Nightly

The nightly channel provides the latest development builds:

Version format: v0.x.y-nightly.YYYYMMDD
Release frequency: Daily at midnight UTC
Recommended for: Testing and development

Nightly releases include:

Latest features and improvements
Experimental functionality
May contain bugs or incomplete features

Developer

The developer channel tracks the main branch by commit SHA:

Version format: Tracks latest commit SHA on main
Release frequency: Every commit to main
Recommended for: Console developers and contributors

Developer channel features:

Environment prerequisites checklist (kc-agent, coding agent, OAuth, install mode, git status)
Collapsible list of recent commits between your build and latest main HEAD
Commit list items link to their GitHub PRs
2-step manual update instructions (Pull & Build, then Restart)

Auto-Update System

The console includes a built-in auto-update system:

Automatic Updates toggle: Enable/disable in Settings > System Updates
Update Now button: Manually trigger an update check and apply
Real-time progress: WebSocket-powered progress banner during updates
Safety features:
- Uncommitted changes detection before updating
- Health check after restart with configurable timeout
- Automatic rollback on failure
- Graceful shutdown of running processes before update
- Progress reporting via WebSocket with percentage steps
Resilience (New in March 2026):
- Retry logic with exponential backoff for git pull and build steps
- Process cleanup ensures no orphan Go or npm processes after update
- Health check verifies the backend responds on the expected port before declaring success
- Detailed error messages when updates fail, with instructions to recover manually
Install method detection: dev (source), binary (downloaded), helm (in-cluster — auto-update disabled)

kc-agent Self-Update

The local agent (kc-agent) can self-update:

Pulls latest source from GitHub
Rebuilds itself
exec()s into the new binary seamlessly
No manual restart required

Checking for Updates

From the Settings Page

Navigate to Settings in the sidebar
Scroll to the System Updates section
View current version and latest available
Click Check Now to manually check for updates

The settings page displays:

Update Channel: Current release channel
Current Version: Installed version with commit hash
Latest Available: Newest version in your channel
Status: Whether you’re up to date
Last Checked: When updates were last checked

Automatic Checks

The console automatically checks for updates:

On startup
Every 6 hours while running
When switching release channels

Switching Channels

To switch between stable and nightly:

Go to Settings > System Updates
Click the Update Channel button
Select your preferred channel
The console will check for the latest version in that channel

Note: Switching from stable to nightly may introduce newer (potentially unstable) features. Switching from nightly to stable may require waiting for the next weekly release.

Version Information

The version is displayed in multiple locations:

Settings page: Full version with commit hash
Footer: Abbreviated version
About dialog: Complete version details

Example version: v0.3.6-nightly.20260127 (71e4039)

v0.3.6: Semantic version
nightly: Release channel
20260127: Release date (January 27, 2026)
71e4039: Git commit hash

Update Notifications

When a new version is available:

A notification badge appears in the header
The settings page shows “Update Available”
Release notes are displayed for major changes

Manual Installation

To manually update or install a specific version:

Using npm

Quick Start (Frontend Only)

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/kubestellar/console.git
cd console/web
 
# Install dependencies
npm install
 
# Start in development mode
npm run dev -- --port 5174

Note: This starts only the frontend. For full functionality, you also need to run the backend (see below).

Complete Setup (Frontend + Backend + Agent)

Terminal 1 - Backend API Server:

# From the repository root
cd console
go build -o bin/console ./cmd/console
./bin/console

The backend will start on http://localhost:8080.

Terminal 2 - kc-agent (MCP + WebSocket):

# From the repository root
cd console
go build -o bin/kc-agent ./cmd/kc-agent
./bin/kc-agent

The agent will start on http://localhost:8585.

Terminal 3 - Frontend Dev Server:

# From the repository root
cd console/web
npm install
npm run dev -- --port 5174

Open http://localhost:5174 in your browser.

💡 Tip: For simplified startup, use the provided startup scripts:

./start-dev.sh for development mode (no OAuth)

./startup-oauth.sh for GitHub OAuth mode

See the Local Setup Guide for details.

Using Docker

# Pull the latest image
docker pull ghcr.io/kubestellar/console:latest
 
# Or a specific version
docker pull ghcr.io/kubestellar/console:v0.3.6-weekly.20260127

Recent Changes (Apr 23–29, 2026)

New Features

One-Click GitHub OAuth Setup (PR #10931, #10980) — Set up GitHub authentication in a single click using GitHub’s App Manifest flow. No manual client ID/secret configuration needed. See Authentication.
Microphone & File Attachment in AI Missions (PR #10732) — The AI Missions chat input now includes microphone (speech-to-text) and file attachment buttons for richer interaction.
Recently Deleted Drafts with Restore (PR #10701) — Accidentally deleted mission drafts can now be recovered from a “recently deleted” list.
Empty State Handling for Dashboard Cards (PR #10827) — Dashboard cards display a meaningful empty state instead of blank layouts when no data is available.
Confirmation Dialogs for Destructive Actions (PR #10707) — Delete actions now prompt for confirmation before proceeding.

Bug Fixes (User-Facing)

SSE Streams No Longer Cut Off at 60s (PR #10868) — Live log tailing and mission updates via server-sent events now persist beyond the previous 60-second write deadline.
Compliance Page Header Fixed (PR #10690) — The Compliance page now correctly shows “Compliance” instead of “Security Posture”.
Namespace Selector in Logs & Events (PR #10846) — The namespace dropdown now correctly populates and filters log output.
Kagenti Error Messages (PR #10847) — Agent connection failures now show actionable guidance instead of raw error strings.
Marketplace Grid Responsiveness (PR #10730) — The marketplace card grid no longer overflows when the sidebar panel is open.
Settings Token Save Race Condition (PR #10744, #10834) — Saving API keys or tokens no longer clobbers other settings changed in the same session.
Feature Request Cross-Repo Routing (PR #10819) — Feature requests now correctly route to the intended target repository.
Navbar Overflow Labels (PR #10697) — Navigation items in the overflow menu now display text labels, not just icons.
Chat History Navigation (PR #10789) — Improved keyboard navigation through previous AI Missions messages.

Security

Namespace API Admin Guard (PR #10839) — Namespace access endpoints are now restricted to admin-role users.
Axios CVE-2026-42035 Patched (PR #10821) — Upgraded axios to 1.15.1+ to address a known vulnerability.
12 Missing Netlify API Redirects (PR #10856) — Production API routes that were returning 404 now correctly proxy to backend handlers.

Configuration

42+ Environment Variables Documented (PR #10881) — The .env.example file now documents over 40 previously undocumented environment variables for self-hosted deployments.

Screenshots

Release Notes

Release notes are published:

In the console’s update notification
On the GitHub Releases page
In the KubeStellar blog

Rollback

If you encounter issues with a new version:

Note your current version
Check out the previous tag from Git
Rebuild and restart the console

# List available versions
git tag -l
 
# Checkout a specific version
git checkout v0.3.5-weekly.20260120
 
# Rebuild
npm install && npm run build

Support

For update-related issues: