1.8.0
Repository files become downloadable from the details page, external Stars get their own alerts, and an experimental decision engine joins Labs.New
- Repository file download: Browse the file tree from repository details, preview source and images, then download selected files including Git LFS
- External Star alerts: While Starcat is active, Stars added through GitHub, a browser, or other tools surface as an avatar alert in All Repositories, syncing with one click
- Labs decision engine: An optional, off-by-default TypeSafe Jev experiment; manual GitHub Lists grouping and tag generation reuse existing categories first, with the configured LLM filling the gap when new tags are allowed and needed
- System screensaver (Direct only): Install the Owner avatar wall as a macOS screensaver, managed in Settings
- App Store data import (Direct only): On first launch, Direct can copy the official App Store library, notes, and caches on this Mac, or start fresh
Improvements
- GitHub Lists grouping: Organization repos blocked by OAuth restrictions keep their grouping locally with a clear status and retry after re-authorization; batch updates run concurrently for shorter waits
- Star history motion: Insight charts and README star-history cards animate the first time they enter view, with the total Star count in sync; Reduce Motion and image exports stay static
Fixes
- README image loading: Works around intermittent GitHub camo proxy failures, falls back to the native star-history card, and keeps a visible fallback for other failed images
1.7.0
Local AI leads this release: on-device models with no API key, free and enabled by default. Anthropic and CC Switch import join the provider list, alongside search, translation, contributors, insights, and fork upgrades.New
- Local AI: Built-in on-device models for summaries, tagging, and chat — no API key, free, on by default; manage models by category with Hugging Face / ModelScope downloads, local reranking for Knowledge Base, and viewable run logs — AI features
- Anthropic & CC Switch: Anthropic (Messages API) as an AI provider, with one-click import of existing CC Switch configurations — AI services
- README translation: System and Google translation services, with per-notification engine selection — README translation
- Contributors row: Top-3 overlapping avatars on repository details, with the full list one click away
- Insights redesign: New My Insights and activity overview cards, opened from Explore, Trending, Weekly, and Activity details
- Own forks: Forks grouped by ownership; your fork shows its upstream with one-click sync
- Private group badge: Sidebar private groups keep a persistent green shield
Improvements
- Semantic search footer shows retrieval progress, match scores, and vector coverage; README content joins semantic recall — Semantic search
- Settings reorganized by frequency, with Notifications and Keyboard Shortcuts as separate pages — Shortcuts
- Stars badges replace the green checkmark; the language menu uses native names
1.6.1
Follow-up release fixing layout, filtering, search, and authorization issues found after 1.6.0, and applying native macOS 26 Liquid Glass across the app.Improvements
- Native macOS 26 Liquid Glass appearance across the main window, search, repository details, and AI / Knowledge Base workspaces
- Star history unified on GitHub’s official data as the single source, removing mixed estimates
- Unified Search Center combining keyword and semantic retrieval in one entry, with visible index status
- Local search covers every repository cached locally, including unstarred My Projects and private repos
Fixes
- Private repository access, AI organization result handling, model-list freezes with large catalogs, and batch tagging reliability
1.6.0
Performance and polish release: lower background load at launch, smoother scrolling and long lists, plus a privacy settings page, Owner profile card, README Star history, and new providers.New
- README Star history: full-history star chart starting at repository creation, with totals, compact labels, and light / dark themes
- Star Journey: timeline of creation, first record, milestones, and growth events
- Owner profile card: avatar, bio, social links, and stats on repository details; follow / unfollow directly
- OrcaRouter provider and Firecrawl web search: new AI provider and web search provider with domain filtering
- Privacy settings page: sign-in scope disclosure and public data contribution controls in one place — Privacy
- Language distribution bar: per-language share on repository details; click to filter by language
- Tag auto-creation: AI auto-apply can create missing tags on the spot (off by default)
- Cache usage overview: cache grouped into Content / Discover / AI / Code categories
Improvements
- Native Settings experience with a macOS-style sidebar, search, and back / forward navigation — Settings
- Unified RAG configuration in the main Settings window with automatic saving
1.5.0
These capabilities are available in the current Direct / development build. Mac App Store follows the version that is actually listed.New
- Awesome lists: browse Starcat curated and custom public Awesome sources in Explore, with background parsing and refresh — Awesome
- Multiple Agent runtimes (Direct): switch built-in Loop, Codex App Server, and DeepSeek Harness — Runtime setup
- In-house similar-repo recommendations (Direct): new recommendation pipeline behind the same entry — Similar repos
- Public Star data contribution: off by default; optionally contribute public repo IDs and Star times anonymously — Privacy
- Open repository docs in the app: README Markdown links to the same repo can open in a separate window — Repository detail
- README video: play GitHub README videos with native controls on the detail page
- Security advisories and Release assets: Insights shows advisories, GHSA / CVE, and the latest Release assets — Insights
- Richer notification threads: Issue / PR state, library filters, pasted images, labels, and event stream — Activity
Improvements
- Agent Workspace timeline shows thinking summaries, tool calls, errors, and artifacts
- Empty notification pane, local Issue comment / event cache, and per-thread drafts
- Toolbar can show official GitHub status
1.4.0
GitHub notifications in Activity, plus knowledge-base indexing and Explore refinements. Online services were upgraded: update to 1.4.0; older builds can still show local cache, but live refresh, recommendations, Discovery, Wiki, and sharing no longer work.New
- GitHub notification inbox: mentions, review requests, assignments, discussions, releases, and security alerts in Activity, with Unread / Mentions / Reviews / Issues / PRs filters — Activity
- Issue / PR threads: read the opening post and comments, write or preview a reply, mark Done without closing the issue, and jump to GitHub or the repository in Starcat
- AI comment drafts: generate a reply from the thread, or polish text you already typed; the reply follows the thread language
- Thread translation: segmented or full translation of the opening post and comments; titles, repository names, and the composer stay original
- Local CLI inference (Direct): knowledge-base RAG can use Codex CLI or Claude Code CLI — RAG workspace
Improvements
- Long thinking stays responsive in knowledge Q&A and repository chat — RAG workspace, AI chat
- Semantic search and knowledge-base index status, prefetch, pause, Meilisearch / Qdrant test, and Chinese infix matching — Index management, Semantic search
- README translation can follow the app UI language and skip same-language paragraphs — README translation
- Explore offline cache and first-launch category counts — Explore overview
- Direct: CodebaseMemory detects a local official install instead of bundling a large executable — Integrations
Fixes
- Query planning timeline waits until planning finishes
- Embedding cancel no longer reports a network error
- Global filter panel opens without a noticeable delay
1.3.0
My Projects, library-wide and repository insights, macOS desktop widgets, reusable insight context for AI / RAG, and desktop launcher integrations.New
- My Projects: browse personal, organization, and collaborator repositories; GitHub App unlocks authorized private / Internal projects alongside public ones — My Projects
- App Store update check: detects a new version on launch or re-activation; Check for Updates opens the Mac App Store — Install
- My Insights: organization progress, tech distribution, status, and action items across Stars or Knowledge Base, with drill-down lists — Insights
- Repository Insights: Star growth, collaboration, commits, contributors, releases, health, community, and security signals
- Insight context: reuse generated insights in AI summary, repo chat, and RAG as removable read-only XML context
- macOS widgets: Starcat Focus, Rediscovery, Release Watch, Collection Trend — Desktop widgets
- Desktop launchers: Alfred, uTools, and Raycast search local Stars and GitHub — Desktop launchers
Improvements
- Insight aggregates feed RAG knowledge-base answers — Insights
- RAG prompt settings: compare / copy read-only defaults; clearer Markdown templates — AI configuration
- Custom prompt diagnostics for supported placeholders (no silent rewriting)
- First-run onboarding polish (screenshots, welcome audio, card hierarchy) — Quickstart
Fixes
- Share card theme controls use full click targets
- RAG citations show real snippets for keyword-hit metadata and library stats without requiring vectors — Citations
1.2.0
Stability, usability, and visual polish: 18 UI languages, pinning, share links, shortcuts, and richer README features.New
- 18 UI languages: English, Simplified / Traditional Chinese, Japanese, Korean, German, French, Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese, Italian, Russian, Dutch, Polish, Ukrainian, Turkish, Vietnamese, Indonesian, Arabic — General settings
- Repository pinning in Manage (Pin / Unpin, most-recently-pinned first, corner badge) — Repository list
- Share links that open Starcat and locate the repository — Share links
- Customizable shortcuts: Search Center, list search, refresh, RAG workspace, current-repo AI (master + per-action toggles) — Shortcuts
- README Mermaid diagrams with local rendering and source fallback
- README translation modes: segmented bilingual by default; full mode replaces visible text while keeping structure — README translation
Improvements
- Tag popover, Pro sidebar username gradient, Starred / Explore navigation hierarchy
- Faster README translation (smaller first batch, concurrency, segment cache, resume)
- Personal notes: AI generate / refine from README with Markdown preview
- AI sharing reuses existing summaries; cancel / regenerate links
- Knowledge-base chunk cards show update time and approximate token counts
Fixes
- Knowledge Base entry reliability (no-response, restore after minimize, empty-library gate timing)
1.1.0
Local-first, explainable RAG knowledge base plus performance and macOS UX work.Highlights
- Full RAG workspace: multi-repo context, streaming answers, citations, groups / pins, history and drafts
- Hybrid retrieval: vectors, bilingual keywords, metadata, Wiki, RepoContext; optional rerank, live GitHub context, external search
- Index management: batch Star ingest, README fill, chunk edit / exclude, rebuild, health checks
- Explainable execution UI and local AI usage dashboard (no prompt/answer body stored)
- Global Star-status filters and AI-summary indicators
1.0.0
Initial public release: native three-column Stars manager, sync, tags/notes/status, search, Explore/Weekly/Activity, Release tracking, BYOK AI, health signals, share cards, App Store + Direct.How updates arrive
See Install. Feedback: Support.