Aster 0.4.1 is out. A patch release: plan approvals work everywhere, the VS Code panel gets sharper, and the desktop build fixes its sidecar.
Install or upgrade in one line:
curl -fsSL https://aster.builders/install | sh
Plans, approved everywhere
Plan approvals used to be a terminal-only affordance. They now work the same way on every surface:
- The plan always reaches you.
fix(cli): put the plan to the user in every mode: no permission mode silently skips the plan step. - Plans travel as markdown. The CLI carries plan approvals as markdown and always offers
exit_plan_mode, so what you approve is what was written, not a summary of it. - VS Code renders them properly. Plan approvals draw as markdown in the panel, and accepting opens the resulting work over the thread instead of burying it.
VS Code panel polish
- Mac modifier keys render as glyphs. The panel's shortcut tips show
⌘ ⌥ ⇧on macOS instead of spelling outctrl alt shift, because a Mac keycap does not say alt. - Every command title is prefixed. The command palette now shows Aster's commands as Aster's, not mixed in with the editor's own.
Desktop build fix
The macOS Intel desktop build failed to package because the sidecar binary was staged under the host triple (aarch64-apple-darwin) rather than the target triple (x86_64-apple-darwin). Staging now follows the target, so cross-compiled desktop builds find their sidecar.
Also in this release
aster upgrade. A new command upgrades the binary in place.- A new
plan-and-presentskill teaches the agent to write plans the user can actually judge before presenting them for approval. - Skill-matching guidance lost a redundant clause.
Try it
Built solo, in the open, Apache-2.0. Binaries for macOS, Linux, and Windows, plus desktop installers.
curl -fsSL https://aster.builders/install | sh
In your editor, install Aster AI from the VS Code Marketplace, or from Open VSX if you are on Cursor, Windsurf, or VSCodium.