Other

/whats-new

Compare Claude/Codex/Cursor/Wispr changelogs to local setup. Triggers: whats new, changelog, updates.

$ golems-cli skills install whats-new

87% best pass rate

31 assertions

8 evals

Updated 2 weeks ago

Inspired by Brad Feld's whats-new plugin. Our version tracks FOUR products and cross-references against the full golems ecosystem.

What This Skill Does

Fetches the latest release notes for tools you depend on, diffs them against your actual configuration, and produces a structured report of:

BREAKING / AFFECTS YOU -- changes that directly touch something in your setup
NEW CAPABILITY -- features you should consider adopting given what you already use
FYI -- everything else, collapsed to one-liners

CRITICAL: Changelog Size Limits

NEVER fetch a full changelog page via crawling_exa with maxCharacters > 3000. The Anthropic changelog alone is 200K+ characters. Fetching it causes "result exceeds maximum" errors and the skill fails. Always use: GitHub API (preferred), freshness-scoped search, OR crawling with maxCharacters: 3000 (gets only the most recent entries at the top of the page). This applies to ALL products — Claude Code, Codex CLI, Cursor CLI, and Wispr Flow release pages all grow over time.

Products Tracked

1. Claude Code

Changelog source: GitHub Releases API (primary), Anthropic docs (fallback)

How to fetch (tiered approach):

# Step 0: Check installed version
claude --version

# Step 1 (PRIMARY — GitHub API): Last 5 releases with full release notes
curl -s "https://api.github.com/repos/anthropics/claude-code/releases?per_page=5"

This returns structured JSON with tag_name, body (release notes), and published_at. Most reliable for recent releases.

# Step 2 (FALLBACK — exa search with freshness cascade):
# Try last week first:
mcp__exa__web_search_exa(query: "Claude Code changelog [INSTALLED_VERSION]", freshness: "week", includeDomains: ["docs.anthropic.com", "github.com/anthropics"])
 
# If no results, expand to last month:
mcp__exa__web_search_exa(query: "Claude Code changelog latest release", freshness: "month", includeDomains: ["docs.anthropic.com", "github.com/anthropics"])

# Step 3 (LAST RESORT — crawl only the top of the page):
# maxCharacters: 3000 gets only the most recent entries at the top
mcp__exa__crawling_exa(urls: ["https://docs.anthropic.com/en/docs/claude-code/changelog"], maxCharacters: 3000)

2. Wispr Flow

Changelog source: https://releasebot.io/updates/wispr-flow or https://wisprflow.ai/changelog

How to fetch:

mcp__exa__crawling_exa(urls: ["https://releasebot.io/updates/wispr-flow"], maxCharacters: 3000)

Alternative:

mcp__exa__web_search_exa(query: "Wispr Flow changelog release notes latest", freshness: "month", includeDomains: ["wisprflow.ai", "releasebot.io"])

3. Codex CLI (OpenAI)

Changelog source: https://developers.openai.com/codex/changelog

How to fetch (tiered approach):

# Check installed version
codex --version 2>/dev/null || npx @openai/codex --version

# Step 1 (PRIMARY — exa search with freshness cascade):
# Try last week first:
mcp__exa__web_search_exa(query: "OpenAI Codex CLI changelog latest release", freshness: "week", includeDomains: ["developers.openai.com", "github.com/openai"])
 
# If no results, expand to last month:
mcp__exa__web_search_exa(query: "OpenAI Codex CLI changelog latest release", freshness: "month", includeDomains: ["developers.openai.com", "github.com/openai"])

# Step 2 (FALLBACK — crawl only the top of the page):
mcp__exa__crawling_exa(urls: ["https://developers.openai.com/codex/changelog"], maxCharacters: 3000)

4. Cursor CLI

Changelog source: https://cursor.sh/changelog or https://www.cursor.com/changelog

How to fetch (tiered approach):

# Check installed version
cursor --version 2>/dev/null

# Step 1 (PRIMARY — exa search with freshness cascade):
# Try last week first:
mcp__exa__web_search_exa(query: "Cursor IDE CLI changelog latest release agent mode", freshness: "week", includeDomains: ["cursor.com", "cursor.sh"])
 
# If no results, expand to last month:
mcp__exa__web_search_exa(query: "Cursor IDE CLI changelog latest release agent mode", freshness: "month", includeDomains: ["cursor.com", "cursor.sh"])

# Step 2 (FALLBACK — crawl only the top of the page):
mcp__exa__crawling_exa(urls: ["https://www.cursor.com/changelog"], maxCharacters: 3000)

Full SKILL.md source — includes LLM directives, anti-patterns, and technical instructions stripped from the Overview tab.

Inspired by Brad Feld's whats-new plugin. Our version tracks FOUR products and cross-references against the full golems ecosystem.

What This Skill Does

Fetches the latest release notes for tools you depend on, diffs them against your actual configuration, and produces a structured report of:

BREAKING / AFFECTS YOU -- changes that directly touch something in your setup
NEW CAPABILITY -- features you should consider adopting given what you already use
FYI -- everything else, collapsed to one-liners

CRITICAL: Changelog Size Limits

NEVER fetch a full changelog page via crawling_exa with maxCharacters > 3000. The Anthropic changelog alone is 200K+ characters. Fetching it causes "result exceeds maximum" errors and the skill fails. Always use: GitHub API (preferred), freshness-scoped search, OR crawling with maxCharacters: 3000 (gets only the most recent entries at the top of the page). This applies to ALL products — Claude Code, Codex CLI, Cursor CLI, and Wispr Flow release pages all grow over time.

Products Tracked

1. Claude Code

Changelog source: GitHub Releases API (primary), Anthropic docs (fallback)

How to fetch (tiered approach):

# Step 0: Check installed version
claude --version

# Step 1 (PRIMARY — GitHub API): Last 5 releases with full release notes
curl -s "https://api.github.com/repos/anthropics/claude-code/releases?per_page=5"

This returns structured JSON with tag_name, body (release notes), and published_at. Most reliable for recent releases.

# Step 2 (FALLBACK — exa search with freshness cascade):
# Try last week first:
mcp__exa__web_search_exa(query: "Claude Code changelog [INSTALLED_VERSION]", freshness: "week", includeDomains: ["docs.anthropic.com", "github.com/anthropics"])
 
# If no results, expand to last month:
mcp__exa__web_search_exa(query: "Claude Code changelog latest release", freshness: "month", includeDomains: ["docs.anthropic.com", "github.com/anthropics"])

# Step 3 (LAST RESORT — crawl only the top of the page):
# maxCharacters: 3000 gets only the most recent entries at the top
mcp__exa__crawling_exa(urls: ["https://docs.anthropic.com/en/docs/claude-code/changelog"], maxCharacters: 3000)

2. Wispr Flow

Changelog source: https://releasebot.io/updates/wispr-flow or https://wisprflow.ai/changelog

How to fetch:

mcp__exa__crawling_exa(urls: ["https://releasebot.io/updates/wispr-flow"], maxCharacters: 3000)

Alternative:

mcp__exa__web_search_exa(query: "Wispr Flow changelog release notes latest", freshness: "month", includeDomains: ["wisprflow.ai", "releasebot.io"])

3. Codex CLI (OpenAI)

Changelog source: https://developers.openai.com/codex/changelog

How to fetch (tiered approach):

# Check installed version
codex --version 2>/dev/null || npx @openai/codex --version

# Step 1 (PRIMARY — exa search with freshness cascade):
# Try last week first:
mcp__exa__web_search_exa(query: "OpenAI Codex CLI changelog latest release", freshness: "week", includeDomains: ["developers.openai.com", "github.com/openai"])
 
# If no results, expand to last month:
mcp__exa__web_search_exa(query: "OpenAI Codex CLI changelog latest release", freshness: "month", includeDomains: ["developers.openai.com", "github.com/openai"])

# Step 2 (FALLBACK — crawl only the top of the page):
mcp__exa__crawling_exa(urls: ["https://developers.openai.com/codex/changelog"], maxCharacters: 3000)

4. Cursor CLI

Changelog source: https://cursor.sh/changelog or https://www.cursor.com/changelog

How to fetch (tiered approach):

# Check installed version
cursor --version 2>/dev/null

# Step 1 (PRIMARY — exa search with freshness cascade):
# Try last week first:
mcp__exa__web_search_exa(query: "Cursor IDE CLI changelog latest release agent mode", freshness: "week", includeDomains: ["cursor.com", "cursor.sh"])
 
# If no results, expand to last month:
mcp__exa__web_search_exa(query: "Cursor IDE CLI changelog latest release agent mode", freshness: "month", includeDomains: ["cursor.com", "cursor.sh"])

# Step 2 (FALLBACK — crawl only the top of the page):
mcp__exa__crawling_exa(urls: ["https://www.cursor.com/changelog"], maxCharacters: 3000)

Cross-Reference Targets

For each changelog entry, check it against these configuration surfaces:

A. Claude Code Settings (`~/.claude/settings.json`)

cat ~/.claude/settings.json

Cross-reference against:

hooks -- SessionStart, UserPromptSubmit, PreToolUse, PostToolUse, SubagentStart/Stop, SessionEnd, Stop. Any changelog mentioning hook lifecycle, timing, or new hook types.
permissions.allow -- Tool permission patterns. Any changelog mentioning permission syntax, new tools, or security changes.
enabledPlugins -- Installed plugins. Any changelog about plugin system, marketplace, or specific plugins.
mcpServers -- MCP server configs. Any changelog about MCP protocol, OAuth, dedup, or server handling.
statusLine -- Status line config. Any changelog about status display or terminal rendering.
Other settings -- alwaysThinkingEnabled, effortLevel, voiceEnabled, autoUpdatesChannel, etc.

B. Skills (`~/.claude/commands/`)

ls ~/.claude/commands/

Cross-reference against:

Skill loading, frontmatter parsing (paths:, if:, description length caps)
Slash command changes
Conditional skill activation changes

C. Hooks (`~/.claude/hooks/`)

ls ~/.claude/hooks/

Cross-reference against:

Hook execution model changes (timeout, async, ordering)
New hook types (e.g., TaskCreated, WorktreeCreate)
Hook matching syntax changes
New fields (e.g., if conditional field, updatedInput in PreToolUse)

D. MCP Servers Across Repos

# Global MCP config
cat ~/.claude/.mcp.json 2>/dev/null || echo "No global .mcp.json"
 
# Find all repo-level MCP configs
find ~/Gits -maxdepth 2 -name ".mcp.json" -type f 2>/dev/null

Cross-reference against:

MCP protocol changes (OAuth, tool description caps, dedup rules)
New MCP environment variables (CLAUDE_CODE_MCP_SERVER_NAME, etc.)
MCP server instruction handling changes
Server connection timeout or caching changes

E. VoiceBar Competitive Intel (`~/Gits/voicelayer/`)

For Wispr Flow changes specifically:

New voice features that VoiceBar should match or differentiate from
Platform expansions (Android, iOS, Windows) -- competitive positioning
Developer-focused features (variable recognition, file tagging) -- overlap with VoiceBar's target
Team/enterprise features -- future roadmap consideration

F. repoGolem Launchers (Codex + Cursor routing)

cat ~/.golems/config.yaml 2>/dev/null | head -50
# Or check registry
cat ~/Gits/orchestrator/repoGolem/registry.json 2>/dev/null | python3 -c "import json,sys; [print(k) for k in json.load(sys.stdin).keys()]"

Cross-reference against:

Codex CLI flags -- --model, --approval-mode, --quiet, --full-auto. Any new flags = update launchers.
Cursor CLI flags -- --model, --output-format text, --trust. Any new flags = update audit scripts.
Model availability -- new models (e.g., gpt-5.5 / gpt-5.5-codex rolling out from 2026-04-23, claude-opus-4-7, etc.) affect routing in standards/agents.md and /agent-routing SKILL.md. Refresh stale model-name strings when a new tier becomes the recommended default.
Agent mode changes -- Cursor background agents, Codex sandbox mode, new permission models
Rate limits / quotas -- Codex hit OpenAI usage limit (confirmed Mar 30). Track quota changes.

G. Plugins (`enabledPlugins` in settings.json)

cat ~/.claude/settings.json | python3 -c "import json,sys; d=json.load(sys.stdin); [print(k) for k in d.get('enabledPlugins', {}).keys()]"

Cross-reference against:

Plugin API changes, marketplace changes
Specific plugin updates (superpowers, coderabbit, skill-creator, etc.)
Organization policy changes affecting plugins

Execution Procedure

Step 0: Schema Snapshot & Diff (reverse-engineering undocumented changes)

Save a snapshot of the current Claude Code CLI surface and diff against the previous version:

# Save current snapshot
ver=$(claude --version | head -1 | awk '{print $1}')
snapshot_dir=~/.claude/schema-snapshots
mkdir -p "${snapshot_dir}"
 
version_sort() {
  if command -v gsort >/dev/null 2>&1; then
    gsort -V
  else
    python3 -c 'import re, sys
def key(value):
    return [int(part) if part.isdigit() else part.lower() for part in re.split(r"([0-9]+)", value.rstrip())]
for line in sorted((line.rstrip("\n") for line in sys.stdin if line.strip()), key=key):
    print(line)'
  fi
}
 
find_previous_snapshot() {
  pattern="$1"
  current_file="$2"
  find "${snapshot_dir}" -maxdepth 1 -name "${pattern}" -type f 2>/dev/null \
    | version_sort \
    | grep -F -v "${current_file}" \
    | tail -1
}
 
# CLI help (all flags)
claude --help > "${snapshot_dir}/help-${ver}.txt" 2>&1
 
# Environment variables (from installed package)
pkg_path=""
if npm_root=$(npm root -g); then
  candidate="${npm_root}/@anthropic-ai/claude-code"
  if [ -f "${candidate}/cli.mjs" ]; then
    pkg_path="${candidate}"
  fi
fi
if [ -z "${pkg_path}" ]; then
  claude_bin=$(command -v claude)
  claude_real=$(python3 -c 'import os, sys; print(os.path.realpath(sys.argv[1]))' "${claude_bin}")
  if candidate=$(cd "$(dirname "${claude_real}")/../lib/node_modules/@anthropic-ai/claude-code" 2>/dev/null && pwd); then
    if [ -f "${candidate}/cli.mjs" ]; then
      pkg_path="${candidate}"
    fi
  fi
fi
if [ -z "${pkg_path}" ]; then
  echo "Error: could not locate @anthropic-ai/claude-code via npm root -g or the claude binary layout" >&2
  exit 1
fi
grep -rohE "CLAUDE_CODE_[A-Z_]+" "${pkg_path}/cli.mjs" | sort -u > "${snapshot_dir}/envvars-${ver}.txt"
 
# Find previous snapshot
prev=$(find_previous_snapshot "help-[0-9]*.txt" "${snapshot_dir}/help-${ver}.txt")
 
# Codex CLI snapshot
prev_codex=""
if command -v codex >/dev/null 2>&1; then
  codex_bin=$(command -v codex)
  codex_ver=$(codex --version 2>/dev/null || echo unknown)
  codex --help > "${snapshot_dir}/help-codex-${codex_ver}.txt" 2>&1
  if [ -n "${codex_bin}" ]; then
    grep -aohE "CODEX_[A-Z_]+" "${codex_bin}" 2>/dev/null | sort -u > "${snapshot_dir}/envvars-codex-${codex_ver}.txt"
  fi
  prev_codex=$(find_previous_snapshot "help-codex-*.txt" "${snapshot_dir}/help-codex-${codex_ver}.txt")
fi
 
# Gemini CLI snapshot
prev_gemini=""
if command -v gemini >/dev/null 2>&1; then
  gemini_bin=$(command -v gemini)
  gemini_ver=$(gemini --version 2>/dev/null | head -1)
  [ -n "${gemini_ver}" ] || gemini_ver=unknown
  gemini --help > "${snapshot_dir}/help-gemini-${gemini_ver}.txt" 2>&1
  if [ -n "${gemini_bin}" ]; then
    grep -aohE "GEMINI_[A-Z_]+" "${gemini_bin}" 2>/dev/null | sort -u > "${snapshot_dir}/envvars-gemini-${gemini_ver}.txt"
  fi
  prev_gemini=$(find_previous_snapshot "help-gemini-*.txt" "${snapshot_dir}/help-gemini-${gemini_ver}.txt")
fi
 
# Cursor CLI snapshot
prev_cursor=""
if command -v cursor >/dev/null 2>&1; then
  cursor_bin=$(command -v cursor)
  cursor_ver=$(cursor --version 2>/dev/null || echo unknown)
  cursor --help > "${snapshot_dir}/help-cursor-${cursor_ver}.txt" 2>&1
  if [ -n "${cursor_bin}" ]; then
    grep -aohE "CURSOR_[A-Z_]+" "${cursor_bin}" 2>/dev/null | sort -u > "${snapshot_dir}/envvars-cursor-${cursor_ver}.txt"
  fi
  prev_cursor=$(find_previous_snapshot "help-cursor-*.txt" "${snapshot_dir}/help-cursor-${cursor_ver}.txt")
fi

If a previous snapshot exists, diff:

if [ -n "$prev" ]; then
  prev_ver=$(basename "$prev" | sed 's/help-//;s/.txt//')
  echo "=== Diffing v${prev_ver} \u2192 v${ver} ==="
 
  # New CLI flags
  diff <(grep '^\s*--' "${snapshot_dir}/help-${prev_ver}.txt" | sort) \
       <(grep '^\s*--' "${snapshot_dir}/help-${ver}.txt" | sort) | grep '^>'
 
  # New env vars
  diff "${snapshot_dir}/envvars-${prev_ver}.txt" \
       "${snapshot_dir}/envvars-${ver}.txt" | grep '^>'
fi
 
if [ -n "$prev_codex" ] && [ -n "${codex_ver:-}" ]; then
  prev_codex_ver=$(basename "$prev_codex" | sed 's/help-codex-//;s/.txt//')
  echo "=== Diffing Codex ${prev_codex_ver} -> ${codex_ver} ==="
 
  diff <(grep '^\s*--' "${snapshot_dir}/help-codex-${prev_codex_ver}.txt" | sort) \
       <(grep '^\s*--' "${snapshot_dir}/help-codex-${codex_ver}.txt" | sort) | grep '^>'
 
  diff "${snapshot_dir}/envvars-codex-${prev_codex_ver}.txt" \
       "${snapshot_dir}/envvars-codex-${codex_ver}.txt" | grep '^>'
fi
 
if [ -n "$prev_gemini" ] && [ -n "${gemini_ver:-}" ]; then
  prev_gemini_ver=$(basename "$prev_gemini" | sed 's/help-gemini-//;s/.txt//')
  echo "=== Diffing Gemini ${prev_gemini_ver} -> ${gemini_ver} ==="
 
  diff <(grep '^\s*--' "${snapshot_dir}/help-gemini-${prev_gemini_ver}.txt" | sort) \
       <(grep '^\s*--' "${snapshot_dir}/help-gemini-${gemini_ver}.txt" | sort) | grep '^>'
 
  diff "${snapshot_dir}/envvars-gemini-${prev_gemini_ver}.txt" \
       "${snapshot_dir}/envvars-gemini-${gemini_ver}.txt" | grep '^>'
fi
 
if [ -n "$prev_cursor" ] && [ -n "${cursor_ver:-}" ]; then
  prev_cursor_ver=$(basename "$prev_cursor" | sed 's/help-cursor-//;s/.txt//')
  echo "=== Diffing Cursor ${prev_cursor_ver} -> ${cursor_ver} ==="
 
  diff <(grep '^\s*--' "${snapshot_dir}/help-cursor-${prev_cursor_ver}.txt" | sort) \
       <(grep '^\s*--' "${snapshot_dir}/help-cursor-${cursor_ver}.txt" | sort) | grep '^>'
 
  diff "${snapshot_dir}/envvars-cursor-${prev_cursor_ver}.txt" \
       "${snapshot_dir}/envvars-cursor-${cursor_ver}.txt" | grep '^>'
fi

Any new flags or env vars found = classify as "AFFECTS YOU" automatically, even if no changelog mentions them. These are undocumented changes that the changelog fetch in Step 3 might miss.

Why this matters: Claude Code publishes to npm faster than changelogs update. Versions 2.1.102-104 had zero release notes but contained actual new flags (--bare, --tmux, --brief, CLAUDE_CODE_AGENT_COST_STEER, CLAUDE_CODE_AUTO_COMPACT_WINDOW) discoverable only through binary introspection.

Step 1: Gather Current State

Run ALL of these in parallel (independent data gathering):

# Current versions
claude --version
codex --version 2>/dev/null || echo "codex: check npx @openai/codex --version"
cursor --version 2>/dev/null || echo "cursor: not installed or not in PATH"
 
# Settings
cat ~/.claude/settings.json
 
# Skills count
ls ~/.claude/commands/ | wc -l
 
# Hooks
ls ~/.claude/hooks/
 
# Plugins list
cat ~/.claude/settings.json | python3 -c "import json,sys; d=json.load(sys.stdin); [print(k) for k in d.get('enabledPlugins', {}).keys()]"
 
# repoGolem registry (launcher configs)
cat ~/Gits/orchestrator/repoGolem/registry.json 2>/dev/null | python3 -c "import json,sys; d=json.load(sys.stdin); print(f'{len(d)} launchers registered')"

Step 2: Check BrainLayer for Last Review

brain_search("whats-new changelog review last version")

If a prior review exists, note the last-reviewed versions. Only analyze entries AFTER those versions.

Step 3: Fetch Changelogs

Use the last-reviewed version from Step 2 (BrainLayer) to scope what you fetch. For each product, follow the tiered fetch strategy — try each step in order, stop when you get useful results.

Claude Code (3-tier):

# Tier 1 (PRIMARY): GitHub Releases API — structured, reliable, always current
curl -s "https://api.github.com/repos/anthropics/claude-code/releases?per_page=5"

# Tier 2 (FALLBACK): exa search with freshness cascade
mcp__exa__web_search_exa(query: "Claude Code changelog [INSTALLED_VERSION]", freshness: "week", includeDomains: ["docs.anthropic.com", "github.com/anthropics"])
# If empty, try freshness: "month"
mcp__exa__web_search_exa(query: "Claude Code changelog latest release", freshness: "month", includeDomains: ["docs.anthropic.com", "github.com/anthropics"])

# Tier 3 (LAST RESORT): Crawl only the top of the changelog page
mcp__exa__crawling_exa(urls: ["https://docs.anthropic.com/en/docs/claude-code/changelog"], maxCharacters: 3000)

Wispr Flow:

mcp__exa__crawling_exa(urls: ["https://releasebot.io/updates/wispr-flow"], maxCharacters: 3000)

Codex CLI (2-tier):

# Tier 1: exa search with freshness cascade
mcp__exa__web_search_exa(query: "OpenAI Codex CLI changelog latest release", freshness: "week", includeDomains: ["developers.openai.com", "github.com/openai"])
# If empty, try freshness: "month"
mcp__exa__web_search_exa(query: "OpenAI Codex CLI changelog latest release", freshness: "month", includeDomains: ["developers.openai.com", "github.com/openai"])

# Tier 2: Crawl only the top of the changelog page
mcp__exa__crawling_exa(urls: ["https://developers.openai.com/codex/changelog"], maxCharacters: 3000)

Cursor CLI (2-tier):

# Tier 1: exa search with freshness cascade
mcp__exa__web_search_exa(query: "Cursor IDE CLI changelog latest release agent mode", freshness: "week", includeDomains: ["cursor.com", "cursor.sh"])
# If empty, try freshness: "month"
mcp__exa__web_search_exa(query: "Cursor IDE CLI changelog latest release agent mode", freshness: "month", includeDomains: ["cursor.com", "cursor.sh"])

# Tier 2: Crawl only the top of the changelog page
mcp__exa__crawling_exa(urls: ["https://www.cursor.com/changelog"], maxCharacters: 3000)

Step 4: Cross-Reference and Classify

Step 0 schema diffs are pre-classified as AFFECTS YOU. Merge them with changelog findings -- if a flag appears in BOTH the schema diff AND the changelog, prefer the changelog description.

For EACH changelog entry, classify into exactly one category:

AFFECTS YOU (priority: critical) The change touches a specific config you have. Examples:

"Fixed PreToolUse hooks..." -- you have 4 PreToolUse hooks
"MCP tool descriptions capped at 2KB" -- you have 5 MCP servers
"Skill descriptions capped at 250 chars" -- you have 50+ skills
"Fixed hooks on macOS" -- you're on macOS
"Voice push-to-talk fix" -- you have voiceEnabled: true

NEW CAPABILITY (priority: medium) The change adds something you don't use yet but should consider. Examples:

"Added conditional if field for hooks" -- you could optimize your PreToolUse hooks
"Added TaskCreated hook" -- you have subagent workflows that could benefit
"New env var for MCP headers" -- you manage multiple MCP servers

FYI (priority: low) Everything else. Windows fixes, VSCode-only changes, features for plans you don't have, etc.

Step 5: Generate Report

Use this exact format:

# What's New -- YYYY-MM-DD
 
## Versions Checked
- **Claude Code:** vX.Y.Z (installed) | changelog up to vA.B.C
- **Codex CLI:** vX.Y.Z (installed) | changelog up to vA.B.C
- **Cursor CLI:** vX.Y.Z (installed) | changelog up to vA.B.C
- **Wispr Flow:** latest release (YYYY-MM-DD)
- **Last reviewed:** vX.Y.Z (Claude Code) / YYYY-MM-DD (others)
 
---
 
## AFFECTS YOU
 
### [Claude Code / Wispr Flow] -- Short description
**What changed:** One-line summary
**Your config:** Which specific file/setting is affected
**Action needed:** What to check, change, or test
**Risk:** HIGH / MEDIUM / LOW
 
---
 
## NEW CAPABILITIES
 
### [Claude Code / Wispr Flow] -- Short description
**What's new:** One-line summary
**Why it matters for you:** How this intersects with your current setup
**Adoption effort:** TRIVIAL / SMALL / MEDIUM
**Suggested action:** Concrete next step
 
---
 
## FYI
- [CC] Fixed VSCode extension showing "Not responding" during long ops
- [CC] Improved PowerShell dangerous command detection
- [WF] Android early access launched
- ...
 
---
 
## VoiceBar Competitive Notes
_(Only if Wispr Flow had relevant updates)_
- **Feature gap:** [what Wispr added that VoiceBar lacks]
- **Differentiation opportunity:** [where VoiceBar is ahead or different]
- **No action needed:** [parity features or irrelevant platform updates]

Step 6: Store in BrainLayer

brain_store(
  content: "whats-new review YYYY-MM-DD: Claude Code vX.Y.Z, Codex vX.Y.Z, Cursor vX.Y.Z, Wispr Flow latest. AFFECTS: [count] items ([summary]). NEW CAPABILITIES: [count] items ([summary]). Key actions: [list]. VoiceBar notes: [summary].",
  tags: ["whats-new", "changelog", "claude-code", "codex-cli", "cursor-cli", "wispr-flow", "<YYYY-MM-DD>"],
  importance: 7
)

Step 7: Notify if Critical

If any AFFECTS YOU item has risk HIGH:

notify "Whats New" "HIGH risk change in [product]: [summary]. Check [config file]."

Usage Examples

Default: Check everything since last review

/whats-new

Check specific Claude Code version

/whats-new 2.1.85

(Shows only changes from that version onward)

Quick check after update

/whats-new --quick

(Only AFFECTS YOU items, skip FYI)

Wispr Flow only

/whats-new --wispr

When to Run

After claude --version shows a new version -- mandatory
Weekly during maintenance -- as part of ecosystem-health routine
After hearing about updates in community channels
When something breaks unexpectedly -- check if a recent update caused it
Proactively -- the changelog moves fast, don't fall behind

Edge Cases

Exa is down: Fall back to WebSearch or WebFetch for changelog URLs. Report that live data was unavailable.
GitHub API rate-limited: Fall through to exa Tier 2/3. Note the rate limit in the report.
No prior review in BrainLayer: Assume first run. Show last 2-3 versions of Claude Code + last 2 Wispr Flow releases.
Changelog format changed: If the page structure doesn't match expected format, flag it and attempt best-effort parsing.
Version not found: If --version flag doesn't match any changelog entry, show the closest match and note the gap.
Exa search returns nothing for "week": Expand to "month". If "month" also empty, use crawling with maxCharacters: 3000 as last resort.
No previous schema snapshot: First run. Save snapshot, skip diff, note "baseline established" in the report.

Best Pass Rate

87%

Opus 4.6

Assertions

5 models tested

Avg Cost / Run

$0.1963

across models

Fastest (p50)

2.3s

Kiro

Behavior Evals

Phase 2 baseline — skill quality on Claude

Behavior Baseline

Opus 4.6

87%27/31

◒

Sonnet 4.6

84%26/31

◒

Haiku 4.5

81%25/31

◒

Adapter Evals

Phase 2C — cross-AI portability

Adapter Portability

Kiro

87%27/31

◒

Cursor

81%25/31

◒

Assertion	Opus 4.6	Sonnet 4.6	Haiku 4.5	Cursor	Kiro	Consensus
reads_settings_json						4/5
identifies_specific_hooks						5/5
classifies_affects_you						5/5
suggests_concrete_action						4/5
checks_mcp_servers						1/5
flags_custom_servers						5/5
classifies_correctly						3/5
actionable_suggestion						4/5
identifies_voicebar						4/5
feature_gap_analysis						4/5
competitive_section						5/5
actionable_not_just_summary						3/5
lists_skills						4/5
identifies_long_descriptions						5/5
specific_skill_names						5/5
provides_fix						5/5
classifies_as_fyi						4/5
brief_treatment						5/5
correct_reasoning						4/5
calls_brain_store						4/5
correct_tags						5/5
includes_versions						5/5
summary_not_full_report						3/5
searches_brainlayer						4/5
acknowledges_last_version						4/5
identifies_version_delta						5/5
has_versions_header						5/5
has_affects_you_section						3/5
has_new_capabilities_section						4/5
has_fyi_section						5/5
has_date_in_header						4/5

Token Usage

Opus 4.6

15,266

Sonnet 4.6

12,118

Haiku 4.5

3,859

Cursor

13,448

Kiro

3,821

Input tokensOutput tokens

Cost per Run

Opus 4.6

$0.6921

Sonnet 4.6

$0.1197

Haiku 4.5

$0.0030

Cursor

$0.1385

Kiro

$0.0283

Model	Input Tokens	Output Tokens	Cost / Run	Cost / 1K Runs
Opus 4.6	7,548	7,718	$0.6921	$692.10
Sonnet 4.6	5,169	6,949	$0.1197	$119.70
Haiku 4.5	1,805	2,054	$0.0030	$3.00
Cursor	6,393	7,055	$0.1385	$138.50
Kiro	1,952	1,869	$0.0283	$28.30

Response Time (p50)

Kiro

2.3s

Sonnet 4.6

3.0s

Haiku 4.5

3.2s

Opus 4.6

4.2s

Cursor

5.0s

Response Time (p95)

Kiro

4.2s

Sonnet 4.6

5.4s

Haiku 4.5

5.9s

Opus 4.6

6.6s

Cursor

9.3s

Model	p50	p95	Overhead
Opus 4.6	4.2s	6.6s	+59%
Sonnet 4.6	3.0s	5.4s	+78%
Haiku 4.5	3.2s	5.9s	+83%
Cursor	5.0s	9.3s	+87%
Kiro	2.3s	4.2s	+81%

Last evaluated: 2026-03-12 · Data is generated from skill assertions (real cross-model benchmarks coming soon)

What This Skill Does

CRITICAL: Changelog Size Limits

Products Tracked

1. Claude Code

2. Wispr Flow

3. Codex CLI (OpenAI)

4. Cursor CLI

What This Skill Does

CRITICAL: Changelog Size Limits

Products Tracked

1. Claude Code

2. Wispr Flow

3. Codex CLI (OpenAI)

4. Cursor CLI

Cross-Reference Targets

A. Claude Code Settings (~/.claude/settings.json)

B. Skills (~/.claude/commands/)

C. Hooks (~/.claude/hooks/)

D. MCP Servers Across Repos

E. VoiceBar Competitive Intel (~/Gits/voicelayer/)

F. repoGolem Launchers (Codex + Cursor routing)

G. Plugins (enabledPlugins in settings.json)

Execution Procedure

Step 0: Schema Snapshot & Diff (reverse-engineering undocumented changes)

Step 1: Gather Current State

Step 2: Check BrainLayer for Last Review

Step 3: Fetch Changelogs

Step 4: Cross-Reference and Classify

Step 5: Generate Report

Step 6: Store in BrainLayer

Step 7: Notify if Critical

Usage Examples

Default: Check everything since last review

Check specific Claude Code version

Quick check after update

Wispr Flow only

When to Run

Edge Cases

Behavior Evals

Adapter Evals

Token Usage

Cost per Run

Response Time (p50)

Response Time (p95)

A. Claude Code Settings (`~/.claude/settings.json`)

B. Skills (`~/.claude/commands/`)

C. Hooks (`~/.claude/hooks/`)

E. VoiceBar Competitive Intel (`~/Gits/voicelayer/`)

G. Plugins (`enabledPlugins` in settings.json)