v1.18.0

[rafaellehmkuhl]

v1.18.0 - Stable

This release brings a major round of media, mission-planning, joystick, and settings work, with a strong focus on making Cockpit more reliable in real use. The biggest user-facing changes include direct RTSP video support, a redesigned settings sync/migration flow, and substantial mission-planning upgrades around surveys, waypoints, and map behavior.

It’s also a broad beta release: four contributors merged 174 pull requests over 154 days, touching both core workflows and a long list of polish and stability fixes.

Highlights

• Direct RTSP support, Cockpit can now connect to RTSP streams directly and auto-discover available sources from MAVLink Camera Manager (Add initial support for directly consuming RTSP video streams #2417, Auto-discover available RTSP streams #2522, by @rafaellehmkuhl)
• Settings V2 migration, Cockpit now syncs settings by timestamp and removes the old manual conflict-resolution flow (Refactor the settings-management system and get rid of manual conflict resolution #2027, by @rafaellehmkuhl)
• Mission workflow upgrades, surveys can be edited more flexibly, gain turnaround distance and height controls, and mission control now includes pause, stop, skip, and home actions (Add Mission Control Panel widget and mini-widget #2240, Add turnaround distance for surveys #2508, mission-planning: Allow setting the height for a survey #2536, Mission-planning: Enhance mission creation and editing workflow #2541, Add button to center mission on map #2644, by @ArturoManzoli and @rafaellehmkuhl)
• Joystick fixes and mode actions, vehicle mode changes are now mappable to joystick buttons, and several controller bugs and profile issues were fixed (feat: add Cockpit Actions for changing the mode of MAVLink vehicles #2313, Fix drifting in the joystick triggers #2399, Fix long names in the joystick mapping being cropped #2656, by @rafaellehmkuhl and @ArturoManzoli)
• Map and vehicle visibility, map tiles are more stable, POIs and vehicle markers behave better, and disconnection states are much clearer (Fix map tiles turning white during panning #2606, Replace useMapLayer singleton with useMapContext #2607, Pulse and persist vehicle disconnection indicators (border and widget) #2621, by @ArturoManzoli and @rafaellehmkuhl)
• Snapshot and video reliability, snapshots persist correctly, the camera replacement flow is smoother, and video recording/library handling is more robust (Persist snapshot timing configuration #2510, Capture snapshot errors and warn the user when they happen #2511, Change Snapshot widget to capture all sources by default #2559, Add camera switching helper dialog #2577, Fix snapshot of RTSP streams failing in Windows #2633, by @rafaellehmkuhl)

Media

• Direct RTSP streams, Cockpit can now connect to RTSP sources and shows richer stream information in the video UI (Add initial support for directly consuming RTSP video streams #2417, Auto-discover available RTSP streams #2522, by @rafaellehmkuhl)
• Camera replacement helper, Cockpit can prompt you to migrate widgets when a camera changes, and it now handles snapshot widgets too (Add camera switching helper dialog #2577, Include snapshot widget in the camera replacement assistant #2590, video: Prevent camera replacement dialog from showing empty state #2600, by @rafaellehmkuhl)
• Snapshot reliability, snapshot timing, error reporting, and work-area capture were fixed so captures are more dependable (Fix "work area" snapshots not working #2452, Persist snapshot timing configuration #2510, Capture snapshot errors and warn the user when they happen #2511, Change Snapshot widget to capture all sources by default #2559, by @rafaellehmkuhl)
• Video library cleanup, the snapshot library now shows the right items and offers a button to open the storage folder (Fix snapshots not appearing in the library #2453, Fix Media Library Modal footers and add button to open the Snapshots folder #2571, by @rafaellehmkuhl)
• Video playback polish, the loading state was redesigned and the stats overlay now stays upright when video is flipped (Add loading animation to the Video widget #2397, widgets: VideoPlayer: Fix stats for nerds flipped with video #2485, by @rafaellehmkuhl)
• Recording and chunk handling, Cockpit can now process multiple Lite chunk ZIPs together and better handles overlay generation for video chunks (Fix overlay generation on processing of video chunk groups #2555, Allow processing of multiple video chunk groups together #2658, by @rafaellehmkuhl)

Vehicle control

• Boat mode actions, boat and rover mode changes can now be assigned to joystick buttons (feat: add Cockpit Actions for changing the mode of MAVLink vehicles #2313, by @rafaellehmkuhl)
• Joystick profile clarity, vehicle-type mappings and default profiles were simplified so joystick behavior is easier to understand and manage (The "tie-joystick-mapping-to-vehicle-type" feature is very much not clear #1824, Improve default profile handling for vehicles #2491, Deprecate ability to have multiple widget profiles and joystick profiles #2519, by @rafaellehmkuhl and @ArturoManzoli)
• Controller calibration fix, raw joystick axes are now shown correctly while calibrated values are kept separate for control logic (Fix confusing usage of raw and calibrated joystick axes values #2663, by @rafaellehmkuhl)
• Multiple-controller handling, Cockpit no longer disables joystick forwarding just because multiple controllers appear together (Do not disable joystick forwarding automatically when multiple joysticks connect at the same time #2351, Manual control from other GCS triggered with multiple controllers #2346, by @rafaellehmkuhl)
• Joystick UI fixes, long mapping labels, extra buttons, and touch interactions on the configuration screen were improved (Add extra buttons to joystick configuration visual tab #2306, Fix: Some joysticks are not using all its inputs #2302, Fix long names in the joystick mapping being cropped #2656, by @ArturoManzoli and @rafaellehmkuhl)
• Input mapping polish, the joystick assignment dialog spacing and menu behavior were cleaned up (ui: joystick: Fix vertical spacing in the input mapping dialog #2564, Fix Joystick menu "bouncing" on first open #2402, by @rafaellehmkuhl and @ArturoManzoli)

Performance and reliability

• Settings sync robustness, the new settings backend preserves the newest value and avoids repeated manual conflict handling (Refactor the settings-management system and get rid of manual conflict resolution #2027, by @rafaellehmkuhl)
• Data-lake listener safety, one failing listener no longer stops the rest from running (libs: data-lake: Prevent failing listeners to break execution #2488, by @rafaellehmkuhl)
• Data-lake update batching, variable-list updates are debounced so widgets do far less work during startup and reconnects (feat: Add debounce to the notification on data-lake list update #2379, by @rafaellehmkuhl)
• Monaco editor reuse, Cockpit now reuses a single Monaco instance instead of spinning up many copies (Use a common and managed Monaco Editor across the application #2380, by @rafaellehmkuhl)
• Vehicle discovery speed, discovered vehicles now appear as they are found, and scans are more resilient to virtual interfaces (vehicle-discovery: Show already found vehicles while scan is running #2474, Fix minor bugs in the vehicle discovery system #2636, by @rafaellehmkuhl)
• Build safeguards, CI now fails loudly when native joystick modules are missing, preventing broken binaries (Prevent generation of binaries without joystick SDL module #2521, by @rafaellehmkuhl)

Settings, data-lake, and external features

• Settings V2 migration, settings now sync with timestamps and support user-plus-vehicle scoped storage across reconnects (Refactor the settings-management system and get rid of manual conflict resolution #2027, by @rafaellehmkuhl)
• Data-lake variables sync, user-created data-lake values and persistent variables now survive syncs and reboots correctly (User-created data lake variables are not being synced with the vehicle #2001, data-lake: Fix persistent variables not surviving reboot #2668, by @rafaellehmkuhl)
• WebSocket ingestion, Cockpit can receive data-lake values over generic WebSocket connections (Add support for receiving data-lake variables through generic web-socket connections #2383, by @rafaellehmkuhl)
• Telemetry integration, data-lake variables can now be recorded in telemetry and overlays, and more system details can be reported with telemetry opt-out support (Allow recording data-lake variables in the telemetry/sensor-logging/video-overlays #2406, Adds extra information to the event-tracking/telemetry #2430, Add detailed hardware telemetry #2567, Register info about firmware and vehicle types in transmitted telemetry #2568, Telemetry: Add application telemetry settings dialog #2622, by @ArturoManzoli and @rafaellehmkuhl)
• Extension features workflow, suggested actions, joystick mappings, and external widgets got a full review-and-restore flow with clearer dialogs (Extend extension API to support joystick suggestions and extra iFrame options #1962, Allow reseting Actions and Button Mapping Suggestion from the External Features dialog #2574, Improve UI of the External Features dialog #2584, Make sure users review all available extension features (actions and joystick suggestions) #2603, Retry the check for external features (e.g.: widgets, actions, joystick suggestions) when vehicle connects #2651, by @rafaellehmkuhl)
• Settings manager update, the manager UI now understands the new backend structure and can browse user/vehicle combinations cleanly (settings-manager-ui: Adapt it to the new settings-management backend format #2412, Cockpit Settings Manager is not adapted to the new settings backend #2409, by @rafaellehmkuhl)
• RadCam extension support, external widgets and HTTP actions from BlueOS extensions now work more reliably (Fix and extend support for external widgets from BlueOS extensions #2529, Fix importing of HTTP Actions from External Features (BlueOS extensions) #2589, by @rafaellehmkuhl)

Map and mission planning

• Mission control panel, Cockpit now has mission play, pause, stop, skip, and return-home controls (Add Mission Control Panel widget and mini-widget #2240, mission-control: Fix "jump to waypoint" and add "go back home" button #2490, by @ArturoManzoli)
• Survey editing, survey polygons can be edited more fully, including turnaround distance, height, entry/exit handling, and vertex coordinate edits (Allow setting the coordinates of survey vertices #2319, Add turnaround distance for surveys #2508, mission-planning: Allow setting the height for a survey #2536, Mission-planning: Enhance mission creation and editing workflow #2541, by @ArturoManzoli and @rafaellehmkuhl)
• Waypoint workflow, view reordering, adaptive waypoint sizing, and reached-waypoint highlighting make missions easier to follow (Mission planning: Mark reached waypoints #2343, Make waypoint marker size adaptive to the map zoom level #2349, edit-mode: Fix visual bugs and allow ordering views #2499, by @ArturoManzoli)
• Map persistence, missions, POIs, vehicle track history, and selected map state now survive mode switches and reconnects much better (Reopen map on user's last known location #2261, Improve mission data persistence on flight mode #2403, Keep vehicle path history persistent on the maps #2469, Sync selected View and Profile with vehicle #2482, Mission-planning: Enhance mission creation and editing workflow #2541, by @ArturoManzoli and @rafaellehmkuhl)
• Map navigation, you can jump between flight mode and mission planning more easily and center the map on mission content or POIs (Add button to switch between flight and mission planning modes #2294, Map: Add guide arrows to off screen Points of Interest #2400, Add POI arrows to the mission planning map #2611, Add button to center mission on map #2644, by @ArturoManzoli)
• Tile and marker fixes, map tiles no longer go white as often, OSM tiles load correctly again, and marker layering/background issues were fixed (Fix map tiles turning white during panning #2606, map: Set referrer policy on OSM tile layers #2626, widgets: Map: Fix vehicle marker layered behind waypoint markers #2484, widgets: Map: Fix vehicle tooltip missing background #2493, by @ArturoManzoli and @rafaellehmkuhl)

Widgets

• Battery status colors, the battery indicator now reflects voltage levels more clearly and has better configuration controls (Battery-indicator: add color based voltage level indicator #2273, Improve battery indicator color config #2372, mini-widgets: BatteryIndicator: Limit tooltip decimal places #2492, by @ArturoManzoli and @ES-Alexander)
• Alerter improvements, warning alerts are highlighted, lock state persists, and the panel behaves better in tight layouts (Perform several improvements in the Alerter widget #2483, Support upward expansion of the Alerter widget #2464, by @rafaellehmkuhl)
• Compass HUD POIs, the compass widget can now show POI direction and distance, with a steadier distance card (Compass HUD: Add Point of Interest markers - direction and distance  #2401, CompassHUD: fix distance card flickering #2432, by @ArturoManzoli)
• Plotter upgrades, the plotter gained fixed Y bounds, extra stats, better configuration UI, and better handling of repeated values (Allow repeating values in the Plotter widget #2347, Allow setting bounds of the Y axis in the plotter widget #2348, Add extra stats (Average, Median and Standard Deviation) to the Plotter widget #2377, widgets: plotter: Improve configuration dialog UI #2451, by @rafaellehmkuhl)
• Iframe widget fixes, collapsible iframe widgets now drag, resize, and expand more reliably, including when placed near screen edges (Make entire title bar of the collapsible iframe draggable #2560, Allow iframe widget to expand upward and be placed on the bottom of the screen #2561, Fix iframe collapsible container dragging bugs #2575, by @rafaellehmkuhl)

UI and platform fixes

• Disconnected state clarity, Cockpit now keeps the disconnection warning visible and makes arm/disarm status clearer when the vehicle drops offline (frontend: Disconnection feedback disappears and user does not have proper feedback when vehicle is disconnected #1817, frontend: Vehicle disconnection is not that clear #2616, armer-button: Show offline state when vehicle is disconnected #2620, Pulse and persist vehicle disconnection indicators (border and widget) #2621, by @rafaellehmkuhl)
• Splash and startup polish, the loading and splash screens were cleaned up for better proportions and less visual glitching (Fix splash screen getting squeezed and losing elements proportions #2322, splash-screen: fix text overflowing on 4k screens #2350, Improper loading screen during Cockpit startup #2467, initial-screen: make spinner and logo look centered #2513, by @ArturoManzoli)
• Mac and Linux fixes, the macOS app icon was corrected and AppImage builds now come out executable by default (Fix size of the macOS icon #2325, ci: Add execution permissions and package AppImage for distribution #2392, by @rafaellehmkuhl)
• Edit-mode improvements, dragging, layout overflow, and hidden controls in edit mode were fixed across widgets and menus (Edit menu: fix default widget position and size when dragging it into a view #2378, Fix widget positioning performance loss #2388, Allow manually resizing full-screen widgets #2498, Warn users when top or bottom bar has more widgets than they fit #2565, by @ArturoManzoli and @rafaellehmkuhl)
• Dialog and menu cleanup, several configuration dialogs now size and align correctly, including video, joystick, and profile screens (Fix spacings on configuration menus #2382, edit-menu: Fix vehicle type dropdown obscured in profile config dialog #2461, Fix alignment and size of available icons in the Very Generic Indicator #2489, Video widget stream dropdown in the config dialog is not following the dark pattern #2588, by @rafaellehmkuhl and @ArturoManzoli)
• Touch and low-power behavior, Steam Deck and low-power/Electron behavior were improved to keep the app responsive on constrained devices (mission-planning: fix survey scan direction dial not operating correctly on Steam Deck #2328, Steam Deck: Fix dragging regular widgets bug in Edit Mode #2354, Add extra guards to prevent app suspension and performance reduction when on low-power mode #2566, by @ArturoManzoli and @rafaellehmkuhl)

Documentation and tooling

• README updates, setup, support, and platform notes were clarified, including submodules, xattr, and DeepWiki references (README: make cleaner use of our yarn commands #2285, Add a mention to git submodule updating on the dev setup section of the README #2353, Update information around limitations in the README #2387, readme: Mention xattr command for macOS PR builds #2423, readme: Add DeepWiki badge #2549, README: Move docs/support section higher and mention DeepWiki #2557, by @ES-Alexander and @rafaellehmkuhl)
• CI and release tooling, build and review automation got several improvements, including PR-version labeling, higher Node heap limits, and Claude-based PR review support (ci: Move macOS intel build to new macOS 15 runners #2284, ci: Specify in the Cockpit version if its a PR build #2454, ci: Add Claude-based automated PR review workflow #2592, ci: Pin Claude PR review model to Opus 4.6 #2601, Fix PR Review Assistant not being able to push the review comment #2604, ci: Bump Node heap limit to avoid OOM during vite build #2605, by @rafaellehmkuhl)
• AGENTS.md guidance, the agent instructions file was introduced and refined to preserve comments and avoid problematic edits (Add initial version of the AGENTS.md file #2390, agents.md: Add rules on JSDocs and settings creation #2410, AGENTS.md: preserve existing comments where relevant #2515, by @rafaellehmkuhl and @ES-Alexander)
• Asset size reduction, large PNG and GIF assets were compressed to speed up startup and reduce package size (Reduce size of images and GIFs #2472, by @rafaellehmkuhl)

Full changelog: v1.17.0...v1.18.0-beta.19

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This discussion was created from the release v1.18.0.