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Updates Aug 25, 2026

Skales v12.9.0 - Fable

Every version so far handed you an empty message box and wished you luck. This one does not. Skales opens by asking who you are, a newcomer or someone who has done this before, and reshapes the whole first run around the answer: plain language and a guided provider choice for the one, dense screens and skippable blocks for the other. Theme, accent, city, weather, voice, notifications and safety are settled while you are already there, your phone pairs from inside the run, and the last button plays fifteen seconds of what you just set up instead of dropping you into silence. Docs became Guide, one page that shows what your machine is actually ready to do and puts a real prompt in the composer for you to press send on. Memory gained a search box over everything it holds, and Skales itself gained the same search, so it can find a note it wrote months ago without guessing the name. An idle window is finally idle again, around sixty background timers now stop while you are looking at something else and refresh the instant you come back, and Skales says out loud when it healed itself rather than returning as if nothing had happened.

We've just released Skales v12.9.0, bringing a number of thoughtful improvements to your desktop AI experience.

Self-Healing and Stability

Skales now lets you know if its background engine needs to restart. If this happens, all open windows will briefly show what occurred and why, confirming when it's back online. This ensures you're always aware of the system's status, even if you didn't notice any interruption.

A Smoother First Run

New installations now begin with Claude Sonnet 5 as the default model. We've also updated the setup process to include a brief, engaging introduction to Skales' core features, rather than an empty chat window. This short, visual tour highlights what Studio can do, agents working autonomously, Iris answering questions, and the Guide as your entry point to everything.

Enhanced Memory and Search

You can now search your entire Skales Memory. A new search box at the top of the Memory page lets you find information across all stored topics and text. Skales itself has also gained this search capability as a tool, allowing it to find past notes without you needing to remember specific topic names.

Personalised Setup

The initial setup now asks about your experience level – whether you're new to AI or an experienced user. This helps tailor the setup process, offering clearer explanations for newcomers and a more streamlined experience for those familiar with AI concepts. Many everyday settings, like themes, notifications, and voice preferences, are also now configured during this initial run.

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New here? Skales is the private AI agent you install like an app - free for personal use, any model, everything stays on your machine.

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Updates Sep 6, 2026 Skales v12.9.26 - Grip Grip is the release where Skales stops when you say stop, and tells you what it costs before it spends. Under every reply sits the price of the session, read from the provider or from the price table, with the sub-agents' bill included; a ceiling you set in Goals stops a run before the next paid step and asks you three things - continue, take a cheaper model, or stop - in the chat, in the Code window, in Iris and on the phone. A typed "stop" is honoured before the first request leaves the machine, and a stopped run says so in its own bubble instead of pretending it finished. Credentials are locked away from the file, shell and search tools; a bulk action or a publish asks first, in every mode, and a yes never covers more than the card names. Updates Sep 4, 2026 Skales v12.9.25 - Backbone Backbone is the release where Skales got one engine. A chat you type, a task you scheduled, a job on a timer, a plugin, a webhook, a Discord message, a Telegram or WhatsApp turn and the desktop Buddy used to run on different loops with different rules; now they all run on the same one, with the same guards, the same budget and the same record of what happened. Close Skales in the middle of a run, update it, let it crash: the run comes back as an unfinished run, says how far it got, and one Continue picks it up at that step. Ask for something big and Skales can hand parts of it to sub-agents, each in its own checkout of your repository, and collect the results. Under every reply sits a context meter that names what filled the window: the system prompt, the tool definitions, your skills, your memory and the conversation itself. Updates Sep 2, 2026 Skales v12.9.21 - Cockpit 2.0 Cockpit 2.0 is named for the screen it replaces. What used to be two stacked tab bars, a second title and a row of icon chips is now one board: everything that stands, in four columns, with goals, your own tasks, Autopilot tasks and schedules as cards you can filter, drag and act on. One head, one action. The phone got the same board in 2.9.21, and a computer on an older version still fills it from what it can tell rather than showing an empty screen.

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