Where we go next
| Direction | Status | What completion looks like |
|---|---|---|
| First-use journey | In progress | A supported Mac can install an actual release, connect a model, create a file, and follow matching troubleshooting |
| Explain the default composition | In progress | Users can identify plugin sources, optional capabilities, installation failures, and update relationships |
| Repeatable improvement | Candidate | A sanitized real case links historical diagnosis to reviewed failures, a fixed baseline, and a comparable regression report |
| Wider platform support | Exploring | Real installation, runtime, plugin, update, and uninstall journeys pass on each advertised platform |
| Richer personalization and team use | Exploring | Concrete users and repeatable tasks justify each feature and its maintenance cost |
| Plugin development guidance | In progress | Professionals complete a small plugin with explicit environment prerequisites and find the tutorial through Help |
| Team reuse examples | Candidate | A non-author uses the same plugin version and acceptance example without the author’s account or directory |
Existing foundations
YourBuddy 0.3.7 is public for Apple Silicon. Better Sidebar supplies the primary workbench beside a resizable DSH conversation, and its files, tasks, terminals, previews, floating windows, bottom workbench, and plugin pages remain available. The product records the DSH and Better Sidebar compatibility changes as replayable patches so later upstream refreshes do not silently erase them. Model choice, workspace tasks, output inspection, context audits, and controlled Harbor evaluation are represented in the product, while native startup for this release, updater installation, and the complete real-account first-use journey remain unverified. Current availability and verification scope follow the release record.
What is not promised
No delivery dates are committed for Windows, Linux, mobile clients, cloud synchronization, team permissions, full themes, or unattended self-deployment. Apple signing and notarization need separate distribution work. Image workspace export also depends on policy-aware binary file support.
Share a concrete task or obstacle to help prioritize. Completed directions will link to a release and verifiable user outcome.
Further development tools depend on observed blockers: improve guidance and examples first, then decide whether a tool is needed. Separate development instances, project managers, and automatic packaging are not default commitments. See Extend Y8 for the current path.