SUPPORTING KNOWLEDGE · 0015
Berd moves fast: reading a release¶
Five releases in four weeks: v0.6.0 on 14 August 2026, v0.6.1 three days later, v0.6.2 the day after, v0.6.3 on 5 September (published on the 8th), and v0.6.4 two days after that. Berd's own help skill is built around this pace: it tells the help agent to name where to look rather than labels, sections and flags, because those are the details most likely to move, and to treat its own reference files as hints, not guarantees.
The Coach inherits that discipline. Every page carries a version and a date, and until a task has been walked in the app the stamp says so. When a page and the app disagree, the app is right and the page is due a check.
How updates reach you depends on the platform. The public macOS build updates itself from a rolling, signed release feed: Berd checks in the background, downloads, and waits for you to restart. Windows and Linux builds exist on each versioned release with the updater switched off; you install the next version by hand. A rollback is never a downgrade: it ships as a new, higher patch release.
Why it matters to you¶
A release can change your morning. v0.6.3 moved About into System settings, made search cover every session, added voice engines and a Buzz bridge, and removed Block-internal skill discovery from public builds. Reading the notes takes five minutes; discovering the changes one by one takes an afternoon.
Each changelog entry has a bold lead and one sentence. Sort them into three piles:
- Things you will notice. A moved setting, a new picker, a changed confirmation. These are the ones that touch a Coach page.
- Things marked Experimental. Opt-in on your device only, off by default in production builds; the settings text says they can change, break or disappear. Not for engagement work.
- Build plumbing. Backend bumps, CI, packaging. Skip them.
Two lines to watch for. Public builds or Consumer builds means something Block-internal has been removed; if a Coach page still describes it as available, the page is stale. (At v0.6.4 the list is already long: automations, in-app feedback, company-managed connections, skill discovery, dictation and the security ML thresholds are all compiled off the public release, and the Coach marks each with a Not in the public build banner.) And any line naming Goose is a harness change surfacing in the app; see App vs harness.
How to apply it¶
Read the changelog before you restart, not after. The Coach's What changed page keeps a plain-words digest per release with the pages each one touched.
Check the stamp on the page you are following. If its version is behind the app, look for the thing rather than the label.
Report an app bug through a GitHub issue you file yourself: at v0.6.4 the public release compiles the other two documented routes off (berdctl feedback and the in-app Send feedback action; VITE_FEEDBACK=0 in the release workflow), and Berd's own help checks for the command before suggesting it. In distributions that enable feedback, those two come first, in that order. Outside pull requests are closed automatically.
Run Doctor when something is off after an update, if your build has it — it is a distribution-supplied section, and the sources do not say whether the public release ships it. Where it exists, it checks Berd, agents and tools and shows any fix command before running it.
Do not chase a beta. Strings for Main and Beta channels exist; whether a public build offers the switch is not verified.
Outlook
The cadence and mechanics above are as of the stated version, not a promise about future release frequency, platform auto-update or channel availability. Block's release document says Windows and Linux auto-update will be enabled only when their installer behaviour is approved, with no date. Last checked: Berd v0.6.4, 2026-09-11.
If you ignore this¶
You update on a Monday morning, the setting you needed has moved, and you spend the session hunting. Or you follow a page verified two releases ago, quote its label to a colleague, and neither of you can find it.
Examples¶
A building still being built. The rooms are there; the signs change weekly. You learn the layout, not the signs.
v0.6.4 lands. The notes say artifact actions are restored, an MCP app now asks before sending a message as you, and Pi is offered at onboarding. You note the second because it changes what you tell people about approvals, and flag the Coach's artifact and onboarding pages for a re-check.
Enabling every experiment because the notes make them sound useful, then running a client review through a voice mode the settings text says can change, break or disappear.
Do it: Keep Berd current and report problems
Last checked: Berd v0.6.4, 2026-09-11.
Reference¶
- block/berd — CHANGELOG.md
- block/berd — docs/release-and-updates.md — the rolling feed, platform posture, rollback as a new patch
- block/berd — distro/skills/berd-help/SKILL.md — "Berd changes fast": name where to look
- block/berd — distro/skills/berd-help/references/reporting-problems.md — the three reporting routes
- block/berd — README.md — experiments off by default in production builds; no outside pull requests
- block/berd — src/shared/i18n/locales/en/settings.json — updates, release channel, Doctor, experiments
- block/berd — .github/workflows/release.yml — the public build's feature flags
- Verified
- Berd v0.6.4 · 2026-09-11