diff --git a/release_notes/changelog-0.14.1.md b/release_notes/changelog-0.14.1.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..c2c7ecbc9 --- /dev/null +++ b/release_notes/changelog-0.14.1.md @@ -0,0 +1,74 @@ +What's New in 0.14.1 +==================== + +Release 0.14.1 brings many incremental improvements over 0.14. It does not +break consensus; 0.14 nodes are compatible with 0.14.1 nodes. + +Release Highlights +------------------ + +* **Fast Synchronization**. In its default setting, Blockstack needs to index +the underlying blockchain in order to construct its name database and Atlas +state. This can take days. To improve the user experience, 0.14.1 adds a +`fast_sync` command that allows the user to fetch, verify, and bootstrap off of +an existing node's recent state. Synchronizing with `fast_sync` takes only +a few minutes. + +* **RESTful API**. Blockstack now comes with a RESTful API, available by +default at `http://localhost:6264`. The API enables external applications to +register and manage names, send and receive wallet funds, fetch and store +off-chain data, and query the Blockstack network state. Users control which +applications have access to which endpoints, so they have the final say over +which capabilities each application may access. Documentation is available +[here](https://github.com/blockstack/blockstack-core/tree/master/api). + +* **Zone file wizard**. The CLI interface in 0.14.1 comes with an interactive +zone file wizard that makes it easy to add, remove, and change the priority of +URLs to off-chain data. Before, users were expected to craft new zone files by +hand, which proved tedious and error-prone. + +* **Data Stores (experimental)**. This release comes with an experimental API +for creating data stores. A data store is a per-application and per-name +filesystem whose data is replicated across a set of storage providers (specified +in the name's zone file). The intended use-case is to give an application a way to +persistently store a user's data in the place(s) the user chooses. This way, users +always have access to their data and can take it with them from application to +application, and developers are no longer responsible for hosting it. + +* **Merged Repositories**. Blockstack's CLI, indexer, integration tests, and + registrar are all now present in this repository. + +Upgrade Notes +------------- + +If you are upgrading from a previous installation of Blockstack: + + * In `~/.blockstack/client.ini`, you should change `rpc_token=...` to + `api_password=...`. + + * You should upgrade your wallet to the latest supported format. This can + be done with `blockstack setup_wallet`. Be sure to back up your wallet + first, for safety (the wallet file is at `~/.blockstack/wallet.json`). + + * You must start the API server before carrying out name operations. This can be done + with `blockstack api start`. + +Selected Bugfixes and Fixes +--------------------------- + +* You can specify the wallet password on the CLI with `--password PASS`. + +* You can enable debug output on the CLI with `--debug`. + +* You can have the CLI assume the default response with `--yes`. + +* You can try out name registration commands with + +* Name registration commands are much more responsive now, due to +parallelization of the internal safety checks and queries the CLI tool needs +to make. + +* Various ad-hoc safety-checks and error-reporting are now consolidated, +and the error-reporting logic has been made consistent. + +