Sasha Studio Release Notes: v1.0.293 to v1.0.465

Release Period: October 2025 - November 2025
Version Range: 1.0.293 → 1.0.465
Total Commits: 222

TL;DR - Business Summary

What's New in Plain English:

This release delivers three key improvements to make Sasha more powerful and easier to use:

PDF Export for Knowledge - Download any knowledge article as a PDF file with one click, complementing the existing Word download. Perfect for sharing documentation with clients, printing reference materials, or archiving important information in a universal format.
Enhanced Control Panel - See exactly what version is running on each client deployment, view their public URLs at a glance, and monitor deployment status more reliably. Makes managing multiple customer instances significantly easier.
Web Publishing Assistant - Improved interface for publishing knowledge articles to the web with a cleaner, more business-friendly design. Plus comprehensive structured logging guidance for development teams.

Business Value:

Better Knowledge Sharing: Export documentation in both Word and PDF formats for maximum compatibility
Improved Operations: Deployment visibility reduces troubleshooting time and improves client support
Smoother Experience: iOS users now have properly working settings modals and overlays
Developer Efficiency: Comprehensive logging best practices guide accelerates onboarding and improves code quality

Executive Summary

This release focuses on operational improvements and knowledge management capabilities. The headline feature is PDF export functionality in the Knowledge section, allowing users to download documentation in PDF format alongside the existing Word export option. This provides teams with universal document format options for sharing and archiving.

On the infrastructure side, the Control Panel gains enhanced deployment visibility—administrators can now see deployed versions, public URLs, and improved status monitoring for client instances. This reduces operational friction when managing multiple Sasha deployments across customers.

The release also delivers significant iOS platform fixes addressing modal transparency issues that affected settings and overlay functionality on Apple devices. After multiple iterations, the fixes now work correctly on iOS without impacting Chrome or desktop experiences.

Documentation and integration planning received substantial attention, with comprehensive guides added for structured logging best practices, MCP integration planning (OpenAI Vector Store, Google Analytics, Google Search Console), and DocBuilder MCP runtime improvements.

Major Features & Improvements

Knowledge Management & Documentation

PDF download capability added to Knowledge section breadcrumbs, appearing next to existing Word download
HTML-to-PDF conversion using html-pdf-node with A4 format and proper styling preservation
Dual export options - users can now download any knowledge article as DOCX or PDF
Unified download handler supporting both formats with consistent loading states and error handling
Knowledge HTML generation from filtered docs with improved rendering pipeline
Proper icon registration - FilePdf icon added to centralized icon management

Control Panel Enhancements

Deployed version metadata surfaced in control panel for each client instance
Deployment domains visible on client list showing Sliplane public URLs
Deployment status polling after quick updates with improved reliability
Client list improvements with resolved tag hints and better metadata display
Debug environment toggles split on global settings for granular control
Client environment ordering aligned with debug keys for consistency

MCP & Web Publishing Infrastructure

DocBuilder MCP integration with complete environment hydration
Vercel token hydration for docbuilder MCP runtime (with revert/refinement cycle)
Default docs directory set to persistent root for reliability
Public API calls to doc-builder in MCP server
Publisher settings panel for comprehensive docbuilder configuration
Web Publish Assistant UI redesigned with business-friendly interface
MCP server registration with correct environment variable ordering
CJS config support for docbuilder runtime compatibility
MCP server parsing guards in tools settings for robustness

System Reliability & Maintenance

SPA regeneration skipped during container startup for faster boot times
Shell cache staleness avoided with improved cache invalidation
Tool docs sync disabled to prevent unnecessary overhead
Version metadata simplified in deployment display
Docker entrypoint output directory guarded for safety
Deployment status polling improved after quick updates
Earlier logs exhausted - control panel stops reporting hasMore correctly

Stability & Reliability

iOS Platform Fixes

Multi-method modal transparency fix tested across iOS versions without affecting Chrome
Comprehensive iOS modal fixes using solid colors for proper rendering
Enhanced Settings modal transparency with stronger CSS overrides
Settings popup transparency resolved on iOS devices
Portal settings modal fixed for iOS overlay compatibility
Cross-platform validation ensuring desktop and mobile browsers unaffected

Control Panel Resilience

Deployment status polling improved with better timing after quick updates
Client list metadata display tidied with cleaner tag resolution hints
Log pagination fixed to stop reporting hasMore when earlier logs exhausted
Version metadata surfaced reliably across deployment interfaces

MCP & DocBuilder Stability

Claude provider activation made non-failing during session restoration
DocBuilder config loading switched to CommonJS with ESM shim fallback
Public API calls to doc-builder ensuring proper MCP server integration
Environment variable ordering corrected for MCP server registration
Configuration parsing guarded in tools settings to prevent crashes

Developer Experience & Documentation

Documentation Additions

Structured logging best practices guide - comprehensive 600+ line guide covering:
- Log levels hierarchy (TRACE to FATAL) with usage guidelines
- Structured logging principles and JSON format benefits
- Implementation best practices with Pino, Winston, Bunyan examples
- Production logging architecture with ELK stack guidance
- Security considerations (GDPR, HIPAA, PCI compliance)
- Real-world examples for HTTP, database, and job logging
- Common anti-patterns to avoid
- Log analysis query patterns

Integration Planning Documents

OpenAI Vector Store MCP integration plan - comprehensive integration strategy
Google Search Console MCP integration plan - SEO data integration approach
Google Analytics MCP integration plan - analytics data access strategy
Microsoft 365 integration status - current state and roadmap
DocBuilder MCP lessons learned - captured implementation insights (2 iterations)

Developer Tools

DocBuilder UI documentation clarifying source vs live folder distinction
Software project management guides added for team reference
Web publishing runtime fully bootstrapped with hardened prerequisites
Web publishing runtime prerequisites hardened for reliability

🧾 Changelog Summary (since v1.0.293)

Features

Add PDF download button next to Word download in Knowledge section
Generate knowledge HTML from filtered docs
Hydrate docbuilder environment and default docs directory
Surface deployed version metadata in control panel
Show deployment domains on client list
Surface Sliplane domains on client list
Improve Web Publish Assistant UI with business-friendly design
Add docbuilder publisher settings panel
Default docbuilder docsDir to persistent root
Add comprehensive software project management guides
Split debug environment toggles on global settings
Hydrate Vercel token for docbuilder MCP runtime (with revert)

Fixes

Multi-method iOS modal transparency fix without affecting Chrome
Comprehensive iOS modal transparency fix using solid colors
Enhanced iOS Settings modal transparency fix with stronger overrides
Settings popup transparency issue on iOS devices
Portal settings modal for iOS overlay
Make Claude provider activation non-failing during restoration
Call doc-builder public API in MCP server
Use shared root HTML output path
Guard docker entrypoint output directory
Register docbuilder MCP with correct env ordering
Use CJS config for docbuilder runtime
Guard MCP server parsing in tools settings
Poll deployment status after quick update
Tidy client list resolved tag hint
Simplify deployed version metadata display
Refresh tool docs on container start
Provide ESM shim for docbuilder config
Stop reporting hasMore when earlier logs exhausted
Avoid stale shell cache
Stop syncing tool docs

Documentation

Add comprehensive structured logging best practices guide
Add OpenAI Vector Store MCP integration plan
Add Google Search Console MCP integration plan
Add Google Analytics MCP integration plan
Add docbuilder MCP lessons learned (2 captures)
Capture Microsoft 365 integration status
Clarify source vs live folder in docbuilder UI

Chores

Skip SPA regeneration during container startup
Add docbuilder registration success logging
Fully bootstrap web publishing runtime
Harden web publishing prerequisites
Align client env ordering with debug keys
Load CJS config and update smoke test for docbuilder

Reverts

Remove sidebar folder preview experiment (experimental feature removed)

Upgrade Notes

PDF Export Feature

New dependency: html-pdf-node added to package.json (requires npm install)
Docker rebuild: Required to include new PDF conversion library
Icon support: PDF icon (ph-file-pdf) now available in icon management system
No breaking changes: Existing Word download functionality unchanged

Control Panel

Version metadata: Now visible on client list and deployment interfaces
Deployment domains: Public URLs automatically displayed for easier access
No configuration required: Enhancements work automatically after upgrade

iOS Users

Modal fixes: Settings and overlay modals now display correctly on iOS devices
Transparency resolved: No more transparent/invisible modal backgrounds on iPhone/iPad
No user action required: Fixes apply automatically

MCP & DocBuilder

Configuration format: DocBuilder now supports both CJS and ESM config formats
Environment variables: MCP server registration uses correct ordering
Persistent docs directory: Default docsDir now points to persistent root
No migration required: Changes are backward compatible

Jargon Buster - Technical Terms Explained

MCP (Model Context Protocol)

Protocol for integrating AI models with external tools and data sources
Like "plugins" or "extensions" for AI assistants
Enables Sasha to access Google Drive, publish to web, analyze data, etc.

DocBuilder

Internal tool for converting markdown documentation to HTML websites
Powers the Knowledge section's web publishing capability
Automatically generates styled, searchable documentation sites from markdown files

CJS vs ESM

Two JavaScript module formats (CommonJS vs ECMAScript Modules)
CJS uses require(), ESM uses import
DocBuilder now supports both for maximum compatibility

HTML-to-PDF Conversion

Process of converting web pages (HTML) into PDF documents
Preserves styling, formatting, and layout
Enables universal document sharing without requiring specific software

Sliplane

Cloud hosting platform where Sasha client instances are deployed
Provides infrastructure for running multiple Sasha environments
Manages containers, networking, and deployment automation

GHCR (GitHub Container Registry)

Docker image storage provided by GitHub
Stores Sasha application images for deployment
Alternative to Docker Hub with better GitHub integration

Modal Transparency

UI bug where popup windows/dialogs have see-through backgrounds
Particularly problematic on iOS devices due to WebKit rendering differences
Fixed using explicit solid color CSS overrides

Structured Logging

Logging approach using JSON format instead of plain text
Makes logs machine-readable for automated analysis
Enables powerful searching, filtering, and alerting in production

CRUD Operations

Create, Read, Update, Delete - basic database operations
Fundamental building blocks of data management
Every feature in Sasha uses CRUD for storing/retrieving information

WebKit

Browser engine used by Safari and all iOS browsers
Renders web pages and runs JavaScript
Sometimes behaves differently than Chrome's Blink engine (hence iOS-specific fixes)

Thanks for upgrading to v1.0.465. This release continues our commitment to making Sasha more powerful, more reliable, and easier to use for teams of all sizes.