CowAgent Files

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📁 Artifacts

A new Artifacts page brings together the files created in your conversations, in both the Web console and the desktop client:

• Automatic collection: documents, web pages, images, and videos your Agents create show up in Artifacts automatically, on one timeline across all Agents.
• Preview and trace back: filter by type or Agent, search, preview in place, and jump back to the conversation that produced a file (Thanks @rudycelekli [#3732]).
• Pin and manage: pin, rename, or remove artifacts; a file card in a conversation takes you straight to it in Artifacts. The Artifacts page is hidden by default and can be turned on in the menu editor.

Related docs: Web Console - Artifacts

🧭 Custom Menu & Console Improvements

• Custom menu: customize the groups, order, names, icons, and visibility of menu entries in the Web console and desktop client, with one shared configuration; artifacts and web links can be added as menu entries. See Custom Menu.
• Token usage: each reply shows the tokens actually used in that turn, including cache hits. Thanks @Harbor404 (#3440)
• Mermaid diagrams: Mermaid code blocks can switch to a rendered diagram, with zoom and full screen. Thanks @akushonkamen (#3620)
• Faster long sessions: long sessions with many tool calls open faster.
• Fixes: new session titles are no longer lost, and session actions on the default Agent no longer fail (Thanks @6vision [#3625], [#3617]); settings saved together now all take effect, and workspace files are saved under the Agent they belong to (Thanks @aniruddhaadak80 [#3454], [#3488]).
• Collapsible sidebar: the Web console sidebar can collapse into an icon rail.

🔌 Open Agent Chat API

Agents are now available through a standard chat API, so you can connect third-party clients or call an Agent directly from your own systems:

• Switch and key: turn the API on and generate an API key in one click on the Config page; the key is kept when the API is turned off. It can also be enabled through the config file or environment variables (Thanks @AaronZ345 [#3068], @Bdysj [#3342]).
• Agent and model selection: choose the Agent with agent_id and the model with model; without a model, the Agent's default model is used.
• Multi-turn conversations: by default the caller sends the full message history; with a conversation_id, the server keeps the history and only the latest message needs to be sent.
• Complete output: streaming and non-streaming responses, including reasoning, token usage, and the tool call trace (Thanks @AaronZ345 [#3068], @c020627 [#3545], [#3588]).

Related docs: Chat API

📐 Prompt Caching & Context Cost

• Claude prompt caching: the system prompt, tool definitions, and conversation prefix are cached, greatly improving cache hit rates and cutting token cost and latency. The cache lifetime is configurable via claude_cache_ttl.
• Headroom after trimming: trimming the context now leaves headroom, so the prefix stays unchanged for the next several turns and long sessions keep hitting the cache.
• Budget changes apply immediately: changes to the context budget and maximum steps apply to running Agents right away, without clearing the session.
• Tool records kept in compaction: compacted turns keep a summary of their tool calls, so the model does not make up results (Thanks @tsumon [#3634]).
• Fixes: messages arriving during compaction are no longer lost, and orphaned tool results are cleaned up more accurately (Thanks @c020627 [#3518], @rudycelekli [#3652], [#3653]).

🤖 Model Capabilities

• Claude extended thinking: the connection stays open during long thinking, and when output stalls the request is retried at a lower thinking effort.
• Custom headers: custom model providers support headers, with support for OpenCode Go.
• Model discovery: when editing a model list, available models can be fetched from the provider automatically. Thanks @Harbor404 (#3441)
• Reasoning content: both reasoning and thinking fields are supported, and an unclosed <think> tag no longer cuts off the reply (Thanks @a1094174619 [#3601], @fly0sheep-1734 [#3538]).
• Fallback models: the fallback model is reset at the start of each turn instead of staying in use.
• OpenAI: improved handling of the Responses API and streaming responses (Thanks @rudycelekli [#3659], [#3660], [#3661], [#3663], @aniruddhaadak80 [#3486]).
• Model list: fixed concurrent edits overwriting each other, custom primary models not taking effect, and capability tag matching (Thanks @rudycelekli [#3577], [#3662], [#3666], @aniruddhaadak80 [#3501]).
• Other providers: fixed compatibility issues with MiniMax, ModelScope, Baidu ERNIE, and Azure DALL·E (Thanks @aniruddhaadak80 [#3464], [#3476], [#3479], [#3507], [#3512], @rudycelekli [#3678]).
• Error handling: rejected requests are no longer resent, errors are recognized more accurately, and context usage shows real token counts (Thanks @c020627 [#3442], [#3443], [#3445], @aniruddhaadak80 [#3505], @6vision [#3624]).
• Images: image generation keeps the original format and prompt, and image understanding on macOS no longer upscales images (Thanks @aniruddhaadak80 [#3503], [#3504], @rudycelekli [#3568]).

🧠 Memory & Knowledge Base

• Knowledge editing and skill authoring: edit knowledge base pages directly in the console with the index updated automatically, write skills from scratch, and edit the files in a skill's directory. Thanks @zkjqd (#3377)
• Hit-based ranking: a new optional memory.hit_boost ranks frequently retrieved memories slightly higher. Off by default. Thanks @foreverjix (#3621)
• Time decay: applies only to daily memory files, so dated knowledge base pages are no longer ranked down (Thanks @fly0sheep-1734 [#3376]).
• Indexing: fixed content lost on very long lines, chunks exceeding the budget, and stale index entries after clearing notes (Thanks @fly0sheep-1734 [#3585], @rudycelekli [#3426], [#3578], [#3616]).
• Retrieval: improved full-text search fallback, Unicode keywords, and handling of invalid parameters and vectors (Thanks @aniruddhaadak80 [#3480], [#3481], [#3482], [#3483], @rudycelekli [#3559], [#3656], [#3658]).
• Memory writes: failed writes can be retried, and session data from older versions can be imported (Thanks @aniruddhaadak80 [#3406], @c020627 [#3590], @rudycelekli [#3387]).
• Knowledge base: fixed graph paths on Windows and documents with upper-case extensions not showing, and tightened import path validation (Thanks @Lesereingrape [#3332], @rudycelekli [#3612], [#3649], [#3651]).

🤝 Multi-Agent Collaboration

• Permissions and delegation: delegation and handoff keep the initiator's permission mode, and the receiving Agent re-checks the delegation allowlist, depth, and wait time (Thanks @c020627 [#3541], [#3546], [#3547], [#3548], [#3552]).
• Default Agent aliases: always resolved to the default Agent's real ID (Thanks @c020627 [#3553], [#3554]).
• Team sessions: deleting a team session now removes it for every participant; fixed the model setting display and follow-up message delivery (Thanks @c020627 [#3519], [#3537], [#3549], [#3550], [#3613]).
• Sub-agents: stopping a task also stops its sub-agents; fixed prompt parsing (Thanks @rudycelekli [#3637], [#3638], [#3639]).
• Sessions and projects: fixed error handling for session settings and project paths (Thanks @c020627 [#3551], @rudycelekli [#3640], [#3654]).

🧩 Tools & Skills

• File read/write: the original file is kept when a write fails; fixed line ending detection, concurrent edits overwriting each other, and argument parsing (Thanks @aniruddhaadak80 [#3365], [#3404], [#3413], @rudycelekli [#3525], [#3531], [#3563], [#3566], [#3567], [#3667]).
• Document parsing: Word tables, Excel formulas, and PowerPoint tables are preserved in full (Thanks @rudycelekli [#3393], [#3394], [#3560], [#3629], [#3631]).
• File search: falls back automatically when the external search command fails; fixed filter rules, case handling, and special files (Thanks @aniruddhaadak80 [#3400], @rudycelekli [#3391], [#3533], [#3534], [#3558], [#3570], [#3571], [#3630], [#3675], [#3679]).
• Web fetch: detects charsets and document types correctly, and limits transfer time and size (Thanks @aniruddhaadak80 [#3401], [#3478], @rudycelekli [#3392], [#3569], [#3574], [#3632], [#3669], [#3670], [#3671]).
• Browser: pages follow the window size (Thanks @zkjqd [#3623]); the bundled Chromium is detected correctly in Docker, and installation no longer needs sudo (Thanks @handoing [#3743], [#3744]); fixed cleanup after failed launches, scrolling, and element interactions (Thanks @c020627 [#3524], @aniruddhaadak80 [#3490], @rudycelekli [#3562], [#3573]).
• Terminal: fixed truncated multi-byte characters, misreported exit codes, and .env parsing (Thanks @rudycelekli [#3530], [#3564], [#3668]).
• MCP: commands such as npx and uvx start correctly on Windows (Thanks @6vision [#3408]); tools can be fetched with pagination, and structured results and errors are passed through (Thanks @rudycelekli [#3672], [#3673], [#3674], @aniruddhaadak80 [#3425]); connection timeouts and config saving are more reliable (Thanks @aniruddhaadak80 [#3414], [#3452], [#3466], [#3469], @c020627 [#3438], [#3523], [#3542], [#3610], [#3615]).
• Skills: more GitHub directory layouts are supported; fixed install paths, directory loops, and YAML parsing (Thanks @aniruddhaadak80 [#3379], @rudycelekli [#3389], [#3594], [#3597], [#3598], @c020627 [#3516], [#3682]).
• Scheduled tasks: one-time tasks set in the past are rejected; fixed daylight saving time, task type validation, task file recovery, and delivery targets; compatible with Python versions below 3.9 (Thanks @aniruddhaadak80 [#3359], [#3374], [#3375], [#3429], @c020627 [#3540], [#3604], [#3683], @rudycelekli [#3390], [#3526], [#3532], [#3575], [#3576], [#3593], [#3636]).

📡 Channels

• WeChat: more stable login; credentials are removed when an instance is deleted; fixed attachments with the same name overwriting each other and leftover temporary files (Thanks @c020627 [#3277], [#3544], [#3581], [#3589], [#3622], @6vision [#3609], @aniruddhaadak80 [#3498], @rudycelekli [#3635]).
• WeCom: recovers automatically after a failed token refresh; fixed the WeCom Bot reply stream, image conversion, and duplicate callbacks; temporary files are cleaned up promptly (Thanks @c020627 [#3345], [#3435], [#3529], [#3611], [#3614], @aniruddhaadak80 [#3397], [#3497], @rudycelekli [#3645]).
• WeChat Customer Service: retries automatically when saving the message cursor fails (Thanks @rudycelekli [#3677]).
• WeChat Official Account: fixed video replies being dropped and users getting no response after a passive reply (Thanks @aniruddhaadak80 [#3360], [#3411], @c020627 [#3536], [#3543], [#3606]).
• Feishu: Markdown image syntax inside code is kept as is (Thanks @huiq777 [#3434]); fixed token request timeouts and app re-registration (Thanks @aniruddhaadak80 [#3358], @c020627 [#3539]).
• DingTalk: code blocks in card replies are kept as is (Thanks @huiq777 [#3420]); fixed send result checks and image captions being sent twice (Thanks @aniruddhaadak80 [#3396], [#3496], @c020627 [#3432], [#3517], [#3586]).
• QQ: sends files larger than 5 MB (Thanks @HnBigVolibear [#3647]); supports image replies; fixed reconnecting after a disconnect (Thanks @c020627 [#3341], @aniruddhaadak80 [#3405]).
• Telegram: fixed formatted message handling stopping midway and link rendering (Thanks @fly0sheep-1734 [#3522], @rudycelekli [#3665], @aniruddhaadak80 [#3416]).
• Slack / Discord: retries automatically when sending fails (Thanks @aniruddhaadak80 [#3415]).
• General:
• Expired attachments are no longer sent with the next message (Thanks @SEVEN-us [#3407]); fixed attachment concurrency, cache cleanup, and file extensions (Thanks @c020627 [#3437], @rudycelekli [#3561], [#3644]).
• The deduplication cache is cleaned up periodically, so memory no longer keeps growing on long-running instances (Thanks @Bdysj [#3340]).
• Fixed interrupted message handling, cancellation deadlocks, channel shutdown, and credentials being overwritten (Thanks @c020627 [#3348], [#3515], @aniruddhaadak80 [#3373], [#3395], [#3410], @rudycelekli [#3384], [#3648], [#3655]).

🛡 Security Hardening

• Permissions: read-only mode now blocks git write operations it previously missed (Thanks @aniruddhaadak80 [#3352], @drakeo338 [#3357]); dangerous operations such as command substitution, writes through arguments, and deleting the root directory are detected (Thanks @c020627 [#3579], [#3602], @aniruddhaadak80 [#3506]); outside full-access mode, the MCP config and session permissions cannot be changed.
• Path access: stricter path checks for uploads, static assets, skill uninstall, backup restore, and more, and credential files are blocked (Thanks @aniruddhaadak80 [#3409], [#3460], [#3461], [#3463], @c020627 [#3446], @rudycelekli [#3527], [#3528], @Harbor404 [#3436]).
• External resources: a unified download size limit, with media URLs and certificates validated (Thanks @c020627 [#3327], [#3328], [#3329], [#3336], [#3555], [#3556], [#3557], @rudycelekli [#3428], @aniruddhaadak80 [#3457], [#3477]).
• Log redaction: access tokens and secrets are no longer written to logs in plain text (Thanks @c020627 [#3356], [#3444], @aniruddhaadak80 [#3369], [#3399], [#3511]).
• Robust config: .env rejects values containing line breaks (Thanks @Lesereingrape [#3344]); config files with a BOM are supported, with stricter type checks and atomic writes (Thanks @c020627 [#3412], [#3433], [#3447], [#3448], @aniruddhaadak80 [#3431], [#3499], @rudycelekli [#3641]).

🛠 Other Improvements & Fixes

• Artifacts: fixed upgrades from older databases, Windows paths, and locating earlier messages (Thanks @Lesereingrape [#3450], [#3514], @aniruddhaadak80 [#3402]).
• Agent execution: fixed tool exceptions, the step limit overriding the answer, cancellation, and concurrency issues (Thanks @aniruddhaadak80 [#3383], [#3403], [#3424], @c020627 [#3582], [#3583], [#3587], @rudycelekli [#3388], [#3643], [#3650]).
• Voice: the text reply is still sent when text-to-speech fails; fixed timeouts and error handling in several voice services (Thanks @c020627 [#3684], @aniruddhaadak80 [#3330], [#3363], [#3491]).
• Plugins: fixed plugin reloading, duplicate registration, empty messages, and the keyword and role plugins (Thanks @aniruddhaadak80 [#3367], [#3398], @c020627 [#3520], [#3521], [#3584], @rudycelekli [#3664], [#3728]).
• Self-evolution: snapshot restore and backups are more reliable (Thanks @rudycelekli [#3385], [#3657], @c020627 [#3600]).
• Agent management: deleting an Agent also removes its avatar and sessions (Thanks @c020627 [#3580], [#3603]).
• CLI and backup: /status shows loaded MCP servers (Thanks @HnBigVolibear [#3474]); fixed backups, config loading, knowledge base listing, and updates in Git worktrees (Thanks @rudycelekli [#3592], [#3595], [#3596], [#3599], [#3607]).
• Logs: the Logs page loads more reliably, and live logs no longer drop lines (Thanks @c020627 [#3349], @rudycelekli [#3642]).
• Chinese conversion: corrected the Simplified–Traditional Chinese mapping table (Thanks @aniruddhaadak80 [#3347]).
• Docker: the Compose template enables the Web console by default, so models can be configured in the console after the first start.
• Desktop client: shortcuts are restored after reinstalling, and the update channel is kept when using a custom update source.
• Docs:
• Documented the data directory for Docker upgrades (Thanks @Frank-zhu2000 [#3680]).
• Fixed links on the Japanese models page (Thanks @pratikgx [#3681]).
• Aligned the MCP docs with the console wording (Thanks @c020627 [#3418]).

📦 How to Upgrade

• Source deployment: run cow update for a one-click upgrade, update from the version menu in the Web console sidebar, or pull the latest code and restart. See the upgrade guide.
• Desktop client: check for updates and update with one click inside the client, or get the latest version from the download page.

Release date: 2026.10.14 | Full Changelog