2026-08-24 · NextClaw v0.42.3

Published: 2026-08-24 Tags: release npm desktop patch

NextClaw v0.42.3 keeps long sessions moving when summary output is truncated, and adds continuous attention, more reliable session history, and native SQLite support for Desktop.

Features

• Continuous attention: Agents can bind refreshing Context, subscribe to external events, and receive visible event cards in the session timeline. Subscriptions, cursors, and pending deliveries survive restarts.
• Headless execution: The experimental nextclaw exec command and Harness SDK can start Agents, Sessions, and Runs from scripts.
• Copy session IDs: Session IDs can be copied from the overflow menu in session headers, lists, child-session lists, and workspace tabs.

Enhancements

• Smaller baseline context: Skill and tool catalogs remove repeated content, delaying compaction in otherwise empty sessions.
• Clearer mid-run steering: Messages inserted with Cmd/Ctrl+Enter immediately show whether they are waiting for the next step or queued.
• Windows external links: Web links from Desktop now open in the system default browser.

Fixes

• Compaction no longer dead-ends on truncated summaries: NextClaw first checks whether the generated essential prefix is usable, then retries with bounded, progressively smaller input. If no valid summary can be produced, it preserves recent source messages as a deterministic recovery path.
• More reliable session history: The session catalog moves to SQLite and can rebuild from legacy journals, metadata, and JSON indexes. Recovery also covers temporary file locks, history projections, and multiple runtimes using the same home directory.
• Accurate Desktop startup readiness: Installers include an Electron-compatible native SQLite module, and startup is reported as successful only after the NCP Agent is ready.
• Windows host diagnostics: Desktop records local diagnostics and recovery evidence after unexpected host exits.

Compatibility

This is a patch update. Legacy session catalogs migrate on use, while the original session journals remain unchanged.

Learn more: How long-session compaction recovers from truncated output