v0.64.0

CLI and output-system overhaul. The pre-0.64 boolean verbose toggle
and the all-or-nothing .quiet suffix are replaced by a single
monotonic dial -- silent < quiet < normal < verbose --
that works the same way at three scopes (session default, per-call
suffix, per-call flag). termapy --ports gains a stable JSON shape
with multi-axis filters, and the new vendor / location /
driver fields make port identification practical when you have
identical adapters or unrecognized chips. --watch is much
lighter on CPU (3-4% during a session, was ~50% on multi-port hosts)
thanks to a fast-gather path that skips the per-port in-use probe;
user-observable reaction time is bounded by Windows USB-enumeration
latency, which polling can't move. Old command
names continue to work as hidden forwarders, with /run.legacy
extended to rewrite them.

0.64.0 New Features

• Four-level output dial -- /term.output {silent|quiet|normal| verbose} replaces the boolean /term.verbose toggle. Each level
  adds a channel: silent shows nothing (script consumers read
  CmdResult.value), quiet shows the answer, normal adds bulk
  data output, verbose adds progress chatter. The same vocabulary
  works as a per-call flag (cmd --quiet) or suffix (cmd.quiet);
  the universal level dispatch means every command accepts them
  without per-handler setup. CLI startup flags --silent /
  --quiet / --verbose set the default before the REPL boots,
  which matters most for --run script invocations.

• --ports --json with stable schema -- one JSON object per port
  with snake_case keys, null for unknown values (not omitted),
  numeric vid / pid plus the formatted lowercase-hex vid_pid
  string, and a boolean in_use. Schema is documented in
  help/cli.md and treated as API for scripts. --chips --json
  similarly emits the bundled chip lookup as structured records.

• Multi-axis port filters -- --vid / --pid / --mfg /
  --sn AND-compose with each other and with the existing
  --ports <name> filter. Hex flags accept 0x0403 or 0403;
  --mfg is a case-insensitive substring; --sn is exact.
  Distinct exit codes for "bad input" (2) and "no match" (1) so CI
  pipelines can distinguish typo from missing-device.

• Vendor / location / driver columns -- three new fields on every
  port record, surfaced in --ports, the JSON output, both port
  pickers (PortPicker and QuickSetup), and the title-bar port hover
  tooltip.

  • vendor is the silicon-vendor name resolved from the VID via a
    new curated usb_vendor table (~30 entries covering FTDI,
    Silicon Labs, WCH, Microchip, Microsoft, Espressif, ST, NXP, ...).
    Independent of the descriptor / driver-INF manufacturer string,
    so a Microchip USB-CDC chip running on Microsoft's usbser.sys
    correctly reports Microchip as the silicon vendor while
    manufacturer_raw still preserves the literal Microsoft.

  • location is the bus path (1-2.3 on Linux,
    Hub_#0009.Port_#0004 on Windows after registry fallback for
    FTDI, hex location ID on macOS). Disambiguates two physically
    distinct adapters that share VID/PID/SN, which cheap clones and
    duplicate-of-the-same-product scenarios both produce.

  • driver is the bound kernel module (Linux) or service name
    (Windows): ftdi_sio, cdc_acm, cp210x, FTSER2K,
    usbser, etc. Surfaces driver-binding problems at a glance.

• DEMO synthesis for hardware-free CI -- termapy --ports DEMO --json and termapy --info DEMO now return synthetic records
  for the reserved virtual port names so CI pipelines can exercise
  the CLI without plugging in real hardware. Bare --ports (no
  filter) does NOT include DEMO -- it appears only when explicitly
  named, the same way pyserial's loop:// URL handler is reachable
  but not enumerated.

• --watch lighter on CPU -- the watch loop previously called a
  per-port _check_in_use probe that opens each port via
  serial.Serial() to detect contention. On Windows this is
  ~250 ms / port (driver init on each CreateFile), so gather
  scaled linearly with port count and consumed ~50% CPU during a
  watch session on a multi-port host. A new fast-gather path skips
  the in-use probe for the watch loop only -- --ports and
  --info keep the full check -- so gather drops from 250+ ms to
  ~7 ms regardless of port count, and CPU during watch falls to
  ~3-4%.

  Note: this does not lower user-observable hot-plug reaction
  time meaningfully on Windows. comports() itself returns stale
  data for 1-3 seconds after a USB event (longer for FTDI, whose
  driver does an EEPROM-read handshake on every connect), so the
  floor is OS USB-enumeration latency, not termapy's polling loop.
  Reaching that floor would require event-driven APIs (WMI Win32_DeviceChangeEvent, RegisterDeviceNotification), and
  even those fire only after the driver finishes init -- so the
  practical improvement on Windows would be small. Linux with
  udev events would benefit more; future work.

• /port.connect and /port.disconnect -- /port.open and
  /port.close are renamed to match the user-facing language already
  used in status messages (Connected: / Disconnected.). Old
  names keep working as hidden forwarders.

• Three-field manufacturer breadcrumbs -- the --ports --json
  record now exposes manufacturer_raw (literal descriptor / INF
  string), manufacturer (column-friendly aliased short form), and
  vendor (silicon vendor by VID). These often agree; when they
  diverge -- typically because a device uses a generic class driver --
  all three are visible so engineers can spot the layering instead of
  having one source silently override the others.

0.64.0 Improvements

• Faster CLI startup -- the import-discipline guard for
  termapy.cli_flags is now mechanically enforced by a test that
  fails if Textual / Rich / prompt_toolkit ever sneak into the
  termapy --ports import path. Cold-start under 50 ms is
  preserved.

• Migration forwarders and /run.legacy updates --
  /verbose on|off continues to work, translating to
  /term.output verbose|normal. /term.verbose similarly.
  The old "set silently" idiom (echo.quiet on, term.echo.quiet on) is now recognized by /run.legacy --fix, which rewrites it
  to the .silent form. Existing .run scripts continue to
  work; migrate at your own pace with /run.legacy *.

• Port pickers widened to 130 columns -- the QuickSetup ("New
  Config") and PortPicker dialogs gain horizontal space for the new
  vendor/location columns. DROP_ORDER reprioritized so vendor
  outranks chip / vid_pid / driver when narrow -- Microchip in
  9 characters beats 04D8:9036 or a 32-character chip name when
  the row is squeezed.

• FTDI Windows location recovery -- pyserial returns None for
  location on FTDI ports because the FTDIBUS driver hides bus-
  location info from SetupAPI. termapy now falls back to the registry:
  reads the FTDI device's ContainerID, walks HKLM\\SYSTEM\\ CurrentControlSet\\Enum\\USB for the matching USB partner node,
  and reads LocationInformation from there. Strings are
  normalized so hub appears before port (Hub_#0009.Port_#0004,
  not Port_#0004.Hub_#0009) to match natural reading order.

v0.63.1

Documentation-only patch release. Sync of the bundled in-app help
with the v0.63.0 UI changes -- title-bar button labels (Help, no
longer ?, plus the relocated Exit X), the new Ctrl+Shift+1..5
hotkey aliases, the /term.* namespace, and one-line entries for
the new commands (/run.legacy, /credits, /var.list, plus
the chip-aware /port.list table). No code changes.

v0.63.0

REPL UX overhaul. Termapy's title-bar buttons, pickers, and command
popup are now reachable from typed commands, with parity between TUI
and CLI. Display and session toggles consolidate under a new
/term.* namespace, session logs gain a /log.* family for
inspection, and /proto.crc.find identifies an unknown CRC algorithm
from a captured packet. Old command names keep working as hidden
forwarders, with a /run.legacy tool to find and rewrite them in
existing scripts.

0.63.0 New Features

• /term.* namespace -- display and session toggles consolidate
  under one namespace, matching /port.* and /cfg.*. Nine
  subcommands cover the ground that used to be scattered across
  top-level commands: echo, line_no, line_endings,
  verbose, timestamps, hex, encoding,
  send_bare_enter, info. The old names (/echo,
  /line_no, /show_line_endings, /verbose) keep working as
  hidden forwarders -- they redirect transparently to the /term.*
  equivalents and emit a one-time dim note suggesting the new spelling.

• /run.legacy migration tool -- scans a .run script for
  old command names and either reports or (with --fix) rewrites
  in place. /run.legacy * scans every script in the config's
  run/ directory in one pass, so a project full of pre-0.63
  scripts can be migrated with a single command.

• Bare command opens a picker -- /cfg /run /proto
/port (no args) open the matching picker dialog in TUI mode and
  fall through to /help <name> in CLI mode, with parity across
  all four. Each command gains a .help subcommand that prints
  the same long help plus an AVAILABLE FILES tree of what's
  actually in the relevant folder. /cfg.show is new, opening the
  loaded config in the system viewer for symmetry with
  /run.show / /proto.show / /ss.show.

• /log.* namespace for session-log inspection -- alongside
  the existing /log.clear:

  /log.show         opens the session log in the system viewer
  /log.dump {N}     prints the entire log (or last N lines) to terminal
  /log.fingerprint  writes OS, terminal, Python, termapy, config,
                    and serial port state to the log so old logs
                    are unambiguous when read back later
  

  Plus /term.log <text> for annotating the log without echoing
  to screen -- useful for markers, timestamps, and notes that are
  only interesting on later review.

• /proto.crc.find -- identify an unknown CRC algorithm from
  a captured packet. Accepts bin=<hex> (tries trailing 1/2/4
  bytes as CRC, both endians) or asc=<text> (trailing 2/4/8
  chars as hex-ASCII CRC). Iterates all 64 catalogue algorithms,
  collapses catalogue aliases to one canonical line, and prints the
  source-code generation command when exactly one algorithm matches.

• Title-bar Exit, config-gated buttons -- the Exit button moves
  out of the bottom bar and into the title bar as a red X,
  positioned by OS convention (top-left on mac/linux, top-right on
  Windows). The ? help button is renamed to Help and moves
  after the Cfg / Run / Proto trio. New config booleans
  cfg_enabled / run_enabled / proto_enabled (default
  true) hide the corresponding title-bar buttons for projects that
  don't use them.

• /proto.crc.find attribution & /credits -- a new
  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS.md page (bundled into help) names the projects
  Termapy depends on: Greg Cook (reveng CRC catalogue), Will McGugan
  / Textualize (Textual + Rich), Jonathan Slenders (prompt_toolkit),
  Chris Liechti (pyserial). /credits prints it in-terminal.
  The Help button tooltip is restructured into a colored Rich table
  with author attribution.

0.63.0 Improvements

• Animated /delay progress bar in TUI -- the CLI has had
  [####....] 3s/10s for a while; the TUI now shows the same bar.
  Interactive /delay renders into the status bar; script
  /delay appends to the script overlay so
  delay.run [1/4] [bar] stays in one line.

• Escape dismisses every modal -- ConfigEditor,
  MarkdownViewer, QuickSetup, NamePicker, and the proto
  debug screen now accept Escape as an alternate dismiss key
  alongside Ctrl+Q.

• Filtered command popup -- clicking the / button with
  po typed in the input now shows only commands containing po
  (/port, /proto, /stop, ...) instead of the full list
  from the top. /po and po behave identically; arguments
  past the first token are ignored.

• Ctrl+Shift+1..5 hotkeys replace the unreliable Alt+F*
  aliases for Help/Cfg/Run/Proto/Edit-Config. F-keys remain primary;
  the Ctrl+Shift+digit aliases survive VS Code's terminal capture
  via modifyOtherKeys / csi-u. The VS Code detected banner now
  labels each shortcut so users know what Alt+P / Alt+S /
  Alt+T actually do.

• Richer /port.list -- now uses the picker-style table
  (PORT / MFG / DESCRIPTION / CHIP / SPEED / VID:PID / SN, with
  terminal-width-aware column drop) -- same format as bare /port
  and the --ports CLI flag. The zero-config welcome screen
  picks up the richer output for free.

• cli_intellisense -> cli_completion rename --
  IntelliSense is a Microsoft trademark, and "completion" is the
  accurate name anyway (tab completion + auto-suggest + help
  toolbar). Migration v13 -> v14 handles the rename for existing
  configs.

• /proto.crc.help -> /proto.crc.info -- the command
  shows algorithm parameters, not command help, so the name was
  misleading.

• Command and error-message consistency audit -- {on|off}
  spellings are uniform (no inner spaces, all toggles optional).
  Error messages adopt sentence case and a small set of standard
  phrasings (Unknown X / Invalid X / X not found /
  No X loaded. / Usage: /cmd ...). /var.list added as
  an explicit alias for bare /var listing.

• New Environment & compatibility help page -- one place
  for OS support, terminal emulators, VS Code quirks, macOS
  Option-as-Meta, KVM cross-platform keyboards, and SSH/WSL/container
  notes. Replaces the inline VS Code block that used to live in
  getting-started.md.

• FileTree extracted to tree_render.py -- single source
  of truth for box-drawing connectors, dim/cyan/blue style triplet,
  and child-indent pattern that used to be duplicated between
  cfg._build_tree and help.append_files_section. Pure
  module, no Textual or serial deps; 14 new unit tests.

• Loopback integration tests -- 7 new tests using pyserial's
  loop:// URL exercise the termapy <-> pyserial send path:
  line-ending config, /raw bypass, CRC append via
  /proto.send, latin-1 encoding on the wire, plain round-trip.
  /cap.bin with exact byte-count targets so captures close on
  target-hit (reliable) rather than timeout.

v0.62.0

CLI-mode release. Termapy's --cli frontend gained a lot of
polish: it now runs without a config file, knows how to switch
configs in a live session, keeps long device responses from
colliding with the next prompt, and got one bug fix that was
actively breaking help-style commands on firmware. The
cfg["port"] field learned to take USB serial numbers with
pipe-separated fallback chains, and every folder-owning command now
exposes the same list / explore / show / dump / clear subcommand
family.

0.62.0 New Features

• USB serial numbers in the port field -- cfg["port"] now
  accepts a USB serial number ("A1B2C3D4") in addition to a
  device name, with a |-separated fallback chain:

  "port": "A1B2C3D4|COM3"
  

  "Prefer serial number A1B2C3D4; if it's not connected, fall back
  to COM3." Stable across replugs, stable across machines, stable
  across reboots. Resolution happens at every connect, so
  unplug/replug events automatically find the device's new COM
  number when the SN survives. Composes cleanly with environment
  expansion: "$(env.DEVICE_SN)|COM3" works. Ambiguous serial
  numbers (two devices sharing "0001" from cheap CH340 clones)
  are a hard error naming both colliding devices, not a silent
  guess.

• Zero-config --cli mode -- termapy --cli with no config
  file used to print "no config found" and exit. Now it shows
  a welcome banner listing available ports, names the built-in
  defaults (115200 N81 cr noecho), and hints at /port.open <name>. You can talk to a serial device without ever writing a
  .cfg file.

• /cfg.load <name> -- switch configs inside a live CLI
  session. Pairs with zero-config mode: termapy --cli ->
  /cfg.load myproj -> you're in the project. No more exiting
  and re-running to change configs.

• /port.open line-ending + echo tokens --
  /port.open COM4 9600 N81 crlf echo sets baud + frame mode +
  line ending + echo in one command. New tokens: cr / lf /
  crlf for line ending, echo / noecho for echo. Port
  name must come first; everything else is order-independent.

• Uniform folder subcommand family -- every folder-owning
  command (/ss, /run, /proto, /cap, /cfg,
  /plugin, /app) now exposes the same shape:

  /<folder>.list       list files
  /<folder>.explore    open folder in file manager
  /<folder>.show       open newest file in system viewer
  /<folder>.dump       print newest (or named) file to terminal
  /<folder>.clear      delete all files (only on ss, cap, prof)
  

  Which of show/dump/clear is exposed follows the folder's nature:
  user-authored folders (run/, proto/, plugin/) don't get a
  .clear; machine-generated folders (ss/, cap/, prof/) do. No
  more guessing whether it's .configs or .dir or .list.

0.62.0 Improvements

• Long device responses no longer chop the next prompt -- a
  device streaming 40+ lines of help output in --cli mode
  used to race with prompt_toolkit's prompt redraw and leave the
  prompt overlaid mid-stream. The interactive loop now runs under
  prompt_toolkit's patch_stdout so reader-thread output gets
  buffered and inserted above the active prompt instead of
  colliding with it. The TUI was never affected (it has a
  separate input widget); only --cli had this bug.

• /port <SN> status line names the actual device -- when
  you typed /port A1B2C3D4, the status said Port changed to A1B2C3D4 (session) even though you were actually on COM4.
  Now says Port changed to COM4 (session), matching the
  already-correct connect banner.

• termapy> prompt in zero-config -- previously the CLI
  prompt read none> when no config was loaded (the $(CFG)
  variable fell back to the literal "none"). The zero-config
  fallback is now "termapy", so you see termapy> instead.

• Bottom toolbar removed -- prompt_toolkit was reserving a
  full-width row below the prompt for a help tooltip that never
  populated. The completion dropdown (still there, via Tab) is
  scaled to terminal height: 8 rows of dropdown on a 40+-line
  terminal, 4 rows on smaller, 0 (no dropdown) below 10 rows.

• Empty "port": "" in configs now warns -- a valid port is
  any of: literal device name, USB serial number, reserved name
  ("DEMO", "DEMO_FAIL"), or pyserial URL. Empty string is
  invalid and now produces a validation warning on config load.
  The zero-config CLI path is the only legitimate place port=""
  appears; it synthesizes in memory and never persists.

• CI publish workflow handles PyPI double-upload --
  release_publish.py publishes to PyPI from the dev machine,
  then GitHub's release:published event triggers the Actions
  workflow which tries to upload again. Previously the second
  upload failed with "file already exists" and the workflow showed
  red on every release. Now uses uv publish --check-url which
  detects the already-published file and exits 0.

Breaking changes

• /cfg.configs renamed to /cfg.list.
• /ss.dir removed; use /ss.list (which actually lists files,
  not just the folder path).
• The /cfg.<folder> listing subtree is gone --
  /cfg.run, /cfg.ss, /cfg.proto, /cfg.cap,
  /cfg.prof, /cfg.plugin, /cfg.viz and their
  .dump/.show/.explore/.clear children. Use top-level
  /run.list, /ss.list, /proto.list, /cap.list,
  /plugin.list, etc. instead.

v0.61.0

Quality-of-life release. Termapy now tells you when a new version is
available on PyPI, consolidates its own app-level state (update checks,
recent configs, window geometry) into a single state.json that you
can inspect with the new /app command, names the process holding a
locked port on Unix, and makes the command palette a little smarter on
non-Linux platforms. Under the hood, the cmd_prefix override is now
fully plumbed so users with a non-/ prefix see it everywhere in help
output.

0.61.0 New Features

• PyPI update check + Update title-bar button -- termapy quietly
  checks PyPI on startup (no network call blocks the UI) and, when a
  newer release is available, lights up an Update button in the
  title bar. Clicking it jumps straight to the installation docs so
  you can see how to upgrade for your install method. The check runs
  at most once a day and is fully opt-out via update_check: false.
• /app command + state.json -- app-wide state (last-seen
  version, recent configs, update-check timestamp, window geometry,
  custom buttons) now lives in a single state.json under the
  user-level app directory instead of scattered files. The new
  /app REPL command lets you query or edit any field interactively:
  /app, /app recent, /app.set custom_button_4 "/port.info", etc.
• Friendlier "port in use" errors -- when the OS refuses to open
  a port because another process has it, termapy now reports which
  process on Linux / macOS (via lsof). Instead of a bare
  PermissionError, you get Cannot open /dev/ttyUSB0: permission denied (held by arduino, PID 12847).
• Smarter / palette -- the command palette hides Linux-only
  commands (/port.latency_timer, /port.permissions) on macOS and
  Windows so they don't clutter the view with never-applicable rows.
  Help text is column-aligned at position 50 for a tidier two-column
  look at wider terminal widths.
• Plugin-source labels in startup status -- the green startup
  banner now annotates each plugin with its origin (builtin,
  global, config) so you can see at a glance where a custom
  command came from when a config pulls plugins from multiple
  sources.
• TERMAPY_DEMO_FLEET environment variable -- set this and
  --ports, --watch, --info, and /port.list enumerate a
  fixed three-port synthetic fleet (FTDI FT232R on COM3, Silicon
  Labs CP2102 on COM4, Microsoft USB Serial on COM7) instead of
  real hardware. Handy for docs, screenshots, bug reports, or
  trying the tool before you own an adapter. Sibling to the
  existing port: DEMO (fake open) config value.

0.61.0 Improvements

• cmd_prefix override is now complete -- users with a non-/
  prefix in their config (cmd_prefix: "!") previously saw stray
  / literals in help output, search hits, subcommand listings,
  and CRC error messages. Every help-rendering site now runs the
  live prefix through the same interpolation helper, and the plugin
  source strings use a {prefix} sentinel that's substituted at
  render time. A new end-to-end test proves dispatch + output
  both honor the override.
• Friendlier CRC error messages -- /proto.crc.c,
  /proto.crc.python, /proto.crc.rust, /proto.crc.calc, and
  /proto.crc.help now fail gracefully and point you at
  /proto.crc.list when you pass an unknown algorithm name
  (previously some paths crashed or leaked the {prefix}
  placeholder to the screen).
• proto_frame_gap_ms now has a default -- previously a fresh
  config was missing this key and /proto.send would complain;
  it now defaults to 50 ms so the first thing you try works.
• Better shutdown hygiene -- race conditions between the reader
  thread firing a final callback and the Textual widget tree
  tearing down are now caught by a dedicated SHUTDOWN_RACE tuple
  instead of a broad except Exception; and open /
  xdg-open child processes are reaped by a daemon thread so they
  don't leak zombies when you close help or a capture file from
  the TUI.
• Deprecated vs. mistyped config keys -- the config validator
  now distinguishes keys that used to be real (deprecated --
  silently dropped with a yellow hint) from keys that are likely
  typos (flagged in red with a did-you-mean suggestion).
• Release-tooling improvements -- the release script now
  asserts HTML help freshness after rebuild so stale *.html can't
  slip into a tag, and a new scripts/check_dep_updates.py surfaces
  outdated dependencies for pre-release review.

v0.60.0

Command-line release. Termapy now has a set of one-shot shell flags --
--ports, --watch, --info, --chips, --check -- that skip the TUI
entirely and print plain text to stdout, so you can answer "what's plugged
in?" from a shell or script without waiting on Textual. The flags pay
only pyserial's import cost and start fast.

0.60.0 New Features

• termapy --ports -- one-line-per-port table matching the in-app
  port picker. Filter to a single port with --ports=COM4. Row width
  adapts to the terminal so narrow windows drop low-priority columns
  (speed / chip / vid_pid) before wrapping. Physical ports only --
  pyserial URL handlers remain a config-side concern.
• termapy --watch -- live log of port events; start watching,
  plug the cable in, see which COM number it got. One-character
  event markers (+ plug, - unplug, ~ chip re-EEPROM, blank for
  baseline and open/close transitions) make plug events punch out
  of the stream visually. Ctrl+C to exit.
• termapy --info -- full per-port chip dump (same data as
  /port.chip), identifies chip model, USB speed class, serial
  number, and VID:PID. Unknown chips print the VID:PID so you can
  identify them manually and nudge you to file an issue so the
  lookup table can grow.
• termapy --chips -- dump the USB-serial chip lookup table;
  --chips=ftdi filters to substring matches.
• termapy --check -- validate your config and print a JSON
  status line without launching the TUI.
• USB manufacturer / serial-number columns in the picker --
  the port picker and /port.chip.list now show USB serial numbers
  and an aliased manufacturer column (FTDI / MSFT / SiLabs) for
  faster disambiguation between identical cables.

0.60.0 Improvements

• Command-Line Flags help page -- a new page in the docs
  walks through --ports, --watch, and --info with real
  captures and an annotated marker-column legend.
• Faster CLI startup -- the entry point and all print-and-exit
  flags have been split into Textual-free modules, so termapy --ports
  no longer pays the ~300 ms / 40 MB cost of importing Textual.
  python -m termapy --help now answers in stdlib+pyserial time.
• Cleaner config-path resolution -- find_config, resolve_config,
  and infer_config_from_run_file moved to their own Textual-free
  module, eliminating a previously-duplicated copy in the CLI.

v0.59.0

Help-system release. Every built-in command's /help page now opens with a one-line live status, device commands brought in by /include become first-class citizens in both /help and /search, and the device JSON schema picks up an optional version field so firmware updates automatically refresh the cache.

0.59.0 New Features

• Dynamic help -- Command.long_help (and PluginInfo.long_help) now accepts a callable (PluginContext) -> str as well as a static string. Callables are invoked at render time so a command's DESCRIPTION section can reflect live runtime state (loaded files, current connection, cached counts). Existing static-string declarations are unchanged. See writing-plugins.md for the pattern.
• Dynamic help on built-in commands -- /help for /cfg, /port and each port subcommand, /include, /cap.*, /ss, /run.edit, /proto (+ subcommands), /edit.run|proto|plugin, /var, /env, and /seq now opens with a green single-line status reflecting the current state (active cfg name, connected port, counter count, file counts in the relevant folder, etc.). Single-value commands show only the state line; multi-option commands keep their existing prose.
• Dynamic-help helpers -- new termapy.help_dynamic module supplies small reusable building blocks (state_line, folder_line, port_status, cfg_status, ns_count, compose, green) so plugin authors can wire dynamic DESCRIPTION content in one or two lines. See writing-plugins.md.
• Target-command parity -- /include'd device commands now support optional long_help and flags fields in their JSON. /help <target> renders a full man page (NAME, SYNOPSIS, DESCRIPTION, FLAGS, source marker) when those fields are present. /search indexes target commands alongside REPL plugins, tagging device-command hits with (target) so they're visually distinct. The demo device's AT+HELP.JSON uses the new fields on AT+INFO, AT+TEMP, AT+LED, and AT+BINDUMP so the feature is live out of the box in --demo.
• Device schema versioning -- /include JSON may carry an optional top-level version string (device's own schema version, not termapy's). On fetch, if the device's version is strictly newer than the cached one (PEP 440 compare), the cache is overwritten; otherwise the cache is kept. First-time fetches with no cache always apply. /include.reload still bypasses the gate for manual refresh. The demo device advertises "version": "1.0.0" so the round-trip is exercised end-to-end.

0.59.0 Changes

• /help is now case-sensitive on exact match -- the argument is no longer lowercased before lookup. Plugin names (conventionally lowercase) and device AT commands (conventionally upper) both match exactly. Typing /help INCLUDE used to silently lowercase and hit /include; it now falls through to the forgiving candidate list (which is still case-insensitive internally), where /include surfaces as a candidate. This is the change that makes /help AT+INFO work for included device commands.

v0.58.0

0.58.0 New Features

• Forgiving /help -- /help now does substring matching across command names, flags, args, and help text when there is no exact match. /help crc surfaces every CRC-related command; /help dev finds /help.dev and /help.search --dev. Results group under headings (Command Name, Flags, Help String, Arguments, Long Help) so you can see why each command matched, and the matched terms are underlined throughout.

• Multi-term /help search -- combine terms to narrow down in a sea of commands:

  • /help table crc -- commands matching both words
  • /help crc -table -- CRC commands, excluding the --table codegen ones
  • /help --table -- literal flag lookup

  Long-help hits render the full long_help inline so you don't need a second command.

• /help.search <pattern> -- regex search across every command. Pass --dev to also search handler docstrings. Returns matching command names as CmdResult.value so scripts can capture the list with $(VAR) <- /help.search ....

• First-class flags -- plugin commands now declare their flags on a Command(flags={...}) dict. The dispatcher parses and strips declared flags before the handler runs; handlers read them via ctx.flag("--name"). Benefits you will notice:

  • Flags appear under their own Flags: section in /help <cmd> output
  • /help table finds --table directly
  • Typos like --talbe get a did you mean --table? suggestion instead of being silently ignored
  • Short aliases work uniformly: /run foo.run -v and /run foo.run --verbose both set the same flag

• /cap.poll -- new command for polling one or more device commands on a schedule, streaming the responses to a CSV or JSONL file. Supports count=, delay=, file=, labels=, regex= extraction, and --overwrite / --notime flags.

• Network serial ports -- pyserial URL-style ports (loop://, socket://<host>:<port>, rfc2217://...) are now accepted wherever a port name would go.

• CmdResult.value for scripting -- plugin handlers can now return a captured value that scripts read back with $(VAR) <- /command. Enables composing command output into variables without parsing terminal text.

• /cap.poll --table CRC codegen -- /proto.crc.{c,python,rust} now ship a worked bit-by-bit vs table-driven example in the help pages, so you can see what the generated code looks like for either form.

0.58.0 Improvements

• Getting Started page gains a concise "finding commands" section listing the /help search forms.
• /cfg.info --display, /cap.poll --overwrite / --notime, /help.search --dev, /run --verbose all converted to first-class flags. Behavior unchanged; discoverability improved.
• long_help text added for /cap.text, /cap.bin, /ping, /ping.quiet, /repeat so /help <cmd> actually explains what they do.
• Config help examples validated -- README and config.md examples are now checked at release time to make sure they match the real config schema.

0.58.0 Bug Fixes

• /cap.poll JSONL output -- fixed two type-checker errors that could surface when writing JSON Lines capture output with the --notime flag. No behavior change.

v0.57.0

0.57.0 New Features

• Custom baud rates -- new custom_baud config option unlocks non-standard baud rates (>= 300) for hardware that needs them. By default only standard rates are accepted to catch typos that silently break connections. QuickSetup dialog adds a toggle button to switch between standard list and custom entry. Config editor blocks save on non-standard rates unless custom_baud is enabled.
• TUI-only command warnings -- CLI now shows "Only available in /tui mode" for commands that require the TUI (screenshots, line numbers, proto debug) instead of silently doing nothing.

0.57.0 Improvements

• Serial engine decoupling -- DTR/RTS/break toggle, reconnect loop, and hardware signal queries moved from the TUI into SerialEngine. All serial operations now go through the engine rather than touching pyserial directly.
• TerminalHost base class -- connect/disconnect lifecycle, serial helpers, capture proto_active handling, port switching, and context callbacks consolidated in the shared base class, removing duplication between TUI and CLI.
• New Config dialog -- first serial port selected by default, Connect button disabled with "No Ports" label when no ports are available, title case labels.
• PyPI publish -- release_publish.py now builds and uploads to PyPI as part of the release flow.

v0.56.0

Architecture and CLI experience release. Extracts a shared TerminalHost base class from the TUI and CLI frontends, replaces pyreadline3 with prompt_toolkit for cross-platform CLI intellisense, and adds serial observer hooks, plugin config persistence, and status bar APIs for plugin authors.

0.56.0 New Features

• CLI intellisense -- tab completion, fish-style auto-suggest from history, and a help toolbar that shows command docs as you type. Toggle with /cli.intellisense on|off or the cli_intellisense config key.
• Serial observers -- plugins can register RX/TX observer callbacks to monitor serial traffic without disrupting the display pipeline.
• Status bar API -- ctx.status_bar(text) shows transient text in the TUI bottom bar (no-op in CLI).
• PluginConfig API -- persistent per-config key-value storage for plugins (ctx.plugin_cfg("name")), backed by JSON files in the plugin/ folder.
• PIC map plugin -- parse Microchip PIC memory map files and look up symbols by address.
• Port mode command -- /port.open accepts baud+mode args, /port.mode sets serial parameters inline.
• Lifecycle hooks -- new on_app_start, on_app_stop hooks for plugin initialization and cleanup.

0.56.0 Improvements

• TerminalHost extraction -- shared base class for TUI and CLI consolidates serial I/O, dispatch, capture, context wiring, and hook handlers. ~240 lines of duplicated code removed, 27 callbacks written once.
• CLI scrolling fixed -- terminal output now scrolls correctly at the bottom of the window on all Windows console hosts.
• Shared history -- TUI and CLI modes use the same history file per config.
• Test coverage boost -- 68 new tests covering terminal_host.py (92%), repl.py (89%), overall 66% to 70%.
• Type checker clean -- all ty check overrides resolved.
• Port in-use detection -- correctly identifies when termapy itself has a port open vs another process.