Neural Junkie v1.2.0-beta.20 is the open-beta release where the desktop finally gets out of your way — from first install to day-two updates to shipping artifacts agents can actually revise.

If beta.6 gave the workstation a memory of its own code, the betas since then closed the other half of the loop: install local AI without a terminal fight, update without hunting GitHub assets, route turns by meaning, and land Mermaid, maps, and canvas work that stays grounded in your workspace.

Download: macOS, Windows, Linux — same local-first desktop app, same MIT-licensed hub. Prefer Homebrew? brew tap camronwood/tap then install the cask (macOS) or formula (Linux).

The headline in one paragraph

You get one-click Ollama install that works on Windows, macOS, and Linux with real password/UAC dialogs (not a silent GUI failure), signed Tauri v2 auto-updates on macOS and Windows, Neural Canvas with trusted Mermaid/Markdown/code/table/chart renderers plus Maps (nj.map), semantic turn routing and durable SQLite orchestration, Share Agent / tool-grant / runbook export, a setup wizard that no longer skips itself, and the chat/IDE polish that makes packaged soaks survivable.

1. Install-and-go Ollama — password dialogs that actually appear

Beta users on Linux and Windows kept hitting the same wall: “Install Ollama” from the app looked like it did nothing, because a GUI process cannot own a sudo TTY.

Beta.19–20 fix that end-to-end:

The setup wizard also stops skipping itself when default config seeds an Ollama provider — first launch finally means first launch.

2. Automatic updates that respect your work

Beta.10 migrated the desktop to Tauri v2. macOS and Windows check and download eligible updates in the background, then install on a clean restart — with draft protection for unsaved editor, runbook, pack, and chat state, plus active streams, collabs, and terminals.

Release policy controls land in the manifests: beta/stable channels, staged rollout, critical deadlines, minimum versions. Linux .deb stays manual while installed-package upgrade behavior is validated.

You should not need a release notes scavenger hunt to stay current.

3. Neural Canvas and Maps — artifacts agents can revise

Beta.17–18 ship Neural Canvas: app-managed, revisioned agent artifacts with trusted Markdown, Mermaid, code, table, chart, timeline, image, and graph renderers — chat cards, workspace tabs, provenance, history, and approved export.

Mermaid creates stay workspace-grounded (tree-first, no meta bleed, hard deny of npx mermaid on canvas turns). Zoom resizes SVG display size instead of CSS scale(), so diagrams stay sharp. Maps land as nj.map with markers and route polylines.

Packs can declare declarative artifact renderers without executing pack UI code. Canvas asks no longer fall through into FILE_CHANGE / implement sessions.

4. Meaning over phrases — semantic routing and durable collab

Beta.11 cut over semantic turn routing: one server-authoritative decision per turn — local structured classification for meaning, deterministic policy for writes, recipients, retrieval, and Ask/Plan safety. Deep dive: semantic turn routing article.

Durable SQLite orchestration makes collab claims and HITL gates restart-safe. Agent questions coalesce, pause peers, and continue the original turn after one answer instead of looping the same prompt.

5. Composition you can take with you

Beta.18 packages the composition story: Share Agent bundles, MCP tool grants scoped to one agent by name, and runbook definition export/import with provenance. See the Composition Model article.

Plus the reliability path in between: hub login hotfix for large SQLite archives (beta.12), Knowledge Graph / explorer freeze caps (beta.16), Assistant meeting-notes chat routing, and Gemini CLI cwd safety.

What we are still honest about

Open beta means we ship progress and name the gaps. Linux auto-update for .deb is still manual. Multi-turn user-flow journeys exist under scenarios/user-flows/ but stay opted out of the default suite until they stabilize. Known issues stays the source of truth for what is still wrong on purpose.

Get it

Star the repo if this is useful. File issues if something breaks. Beta.20 is for people who want a local multi-agent workstation that installs cleanly, updates itself, and ships artifacts you can keep revising — not just another chat window with a model picker.