Baton Desktop 0.2.1 — Let agents get to work sooner
This update reduces preparation time from creating a workspace to sending follow-up messages, and fixes everyday issues with attachments, file links, and workspaces. It is available for macOS (Apple Silicon) and Windows (x64).
Start tasks sooner and keep conversations flowing
- Send as soon as the workspace is ready. Once the workspace and AI conversation are created, the first message sends alongside page refreshes, removing one sequential wait.
- Less repeated startup for Claude and Grok. Compatible settings and context allow the next message to reuse an already prepared session. Ordinary idle sessions stay available for up to five minutes, with a limit of three per runtime.
- Lighter recovery for long Codex conversations. Resuming a session avoids returning duplicate history that Baton already displays, while retaining the native session context.
- Prepare tools and context in parallel. Task tools use a dedicated lightweight entry point. Independent MCP services are queried with up to four concurrent requests, matching in-flight queries share results, project context loads in parallel, and GitHub status refreshes in the background when needed.
In local macOS arm64 tests with Node.js 24, the median time from starting the task MCP entry point to having its tool list ready fell from 419 ms to 125 ms (about 70% less), with five measurements per entry point. A separate controlled test used seven local MCP services, each with a 200 ms tool-list response delay. Three measurements per approach showed a median of 1433 ms for serial queries versus 419 ms with up to four concurrent queries (about 71% less). These measurements cover tool startup and tool-list queries respectively; complete response times still depend on the model, network, and task.
Smoother file and attachment handling
- Fixed pasting files copied from Finder or File Explorer into the AI composer having no effect.
- Fixed file chips moving to the end of sent Codex messages when the text contained line breaks or extra spaces, preserving the composer's text and attachment order.
- Inline paths, Markdown file links, and
file://links now share one handler, supporting Chinese characters, spaces, relative paths, and~/paths. Supported text files open in the built-in viewer; other permitted files open in the system default app. Files outside the workspace are revealed in the file manager, and failures show a notice. - Exported Markdown transcripts list file, image, and directory paths beneath the corresponding user message, with labels for temporary or missing files.
Workspace and status fixes
- New tasks in Local mode reuse the project's existing Local workspace and open a new AI tab, reducing duplicate workspaces.
- Scheduled tasks in Local mode also reuse existing workspaces. Tasks targeting a busy directory are held for user handling under the existing rules.
- Agent runtime download progress remains visible in a toast when switching pages. Failed downloads can be retried, and Settings reflects the current progress when revisited.
- Signed-out Claude Code users get a copyable CLI login command and guidance to restart Baton after login, in both Settings and the model picker.
- Fixed a workspace potentially remaining stuck on “Waiting for task completion” after a Claude error.
Check for updates in Baton, or download it from hecara.com.