How to read this roadmap#
Nodal’s own records use strict labels for what is real, and this page borrows them. Next means the owner has said it is the next work. Planned means a decision or plan exists. Idea means it is recorded so it will not be lost, with no commitment. There are no promised dates, because the project is built in public by a person with a livestream schedule and a habit of changing course when evidence says so. If a date appears anywhere, it is a date something already happened.
Where things stand#
Beta 0.2.0 was cut on 1 October 2026 for invited testers on Windows. It holds everything built so far: Agent Mode with Codex, Claude Code and Ollama, Tab Mode, the sidebar tabs, the Review tab, turn disclosure, the notification center and the theme system. The main branch of the repository is deliberately unchanged until testing passes. The beta page says how that testing is run, and the history page shows how it got here.
Next#
- Finish owner testing of the beta. A few days of use, bug reports through the community and fixes. Testing decides everything else on this list.
- Merge to the main branch. Only after testing passes, and only with the owner’s approval of the merge.
- Side chat. A panel-only side conversation for branching a question off a running task without polluting its context. The panel chooser already lists it with the message that it comes in a later version.
- A private repository. The code is a private preview for review, not open source and not licensed for redistribution. Source access is on request.
Planned#
Installer trust#
The beta installer is not yet code-signed, so Windows SmartScreen warns and Smart App Control may block it with no per-app exception. Signing or distribution through the Microsoft Store is planned. Until then, testers verify the published SHA-256 before they run it.
More platforms#
- Linux. Following Windows closely, from the same codebase. It has been built and measured on one distribution, with an AppImage that runs, and features may land a little after Windows. Voice dictation for Linux will be built before version 1.
- macOS. Planned and not started. Electron makes it reachable, but there is no work yet.
Plugins before version 1#
The order recorded for NodalForge is: core plugins first, then custom-plugin testing, with a trust and permission design required before any public SDK. A plugin lab build already runs the first example. Plugin sections in the notification center and plugin-opened Tab Mode windows are the intended shapes.
Community, by choice#
- Feedback goes through Discord, which is the fastest route to the owner.
- Feature voting is planned as a system, not yet built.
- Sharing themes, layouts and plugins with other users, and an optional route to submit one for inclusion in the app by default. Always your choice: nothing is shared or submitted unless you decide.
The original phase list#
The first roadmap, written before any code, had six phases. They are a good measure of how far the plan has moved:
| Phase | Scope | Where it is |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | Product planning, UI references, documentation | Done |
| 1 | Application shell, theme system, layout system | Done |
| 2 | Projects, terminal hosting, event engine | Done |
| 3 | Agent simulator, notifications, timeline | Simulator and notifications built; the timeline view is an idea |
| 4 | Claude, Codex and Ollama integration | Built for the beta |
| 5 | Editor, Git, diff viewer | Read-only Review and editable text tabs built; a full editor is not planned yet |
| 6 | Plugin SDK, optional marketplace | Plugin lab built; the SDK and marketplace are deferred |
Ideas on the shelf#
These are recorded, discussed and consciously not scheduled. Each has a status in the ideas file, and several carry a safety note that travels with them.
Agent avatars#
Small unique round icons with eyes that emote by state, plus user-chosen shapes, colors and motion. See AgentBoard.
Agent-to-agent messaging in the app#
Sessions that message each other, behind a preview and confirm gate. An agent’s text must never silently trigger a delivery.
Auto-continue#
Resume a session after its usage limit resets, by polling or by reading the reset time. Starts as a visible usage-limited state with a manual retry.
Close to tray#
Hide the window and keep terminals alive, with separate Hide, Restore and Quit All actions. Seven lifecycle questions are open first.
Launch in a chosen host#
Start or resume a session in Windows Terminal or another external terminal, not just inside Nodal.
Agent Client Protocol#
An open standard that could add other agents without per-vendor adapters. Reviewed as an optional complement to the direct adapters.
Mobile companion, cloud sync, automation, an AI timeline, dashboard widgets#
Original future-ideas list items. Cloud sync, if it ever exists, must stay optional.
A theme marketplace and a plugin marketplace#
Later scope, needing a trust model first.
A personal AI virtual machine#
One idea is bigger than the rest. Agents that run commands on your computer have your computer’s authority, and a provider’s own sandbox covers only that provider’s tools. The early records asked whether Nodal could give agents a virtual machine or an operating-system environment of their own, and the owner then deferred the question until plugin work begins, when it can take a plugin-shaped form with real requirements. The longer-range version of the thought is a personal AI virtual machine: a machine of your own, living beside your real one, where your agents work, install and break things safely. It is an idea, not a plan, and it appears here because it is the kind of thing a plugin system might eventually make possible. Any host boundary has to be revisited before untrusted repositories, third-party providers, public plugins or unattended execution are supported. See the security page.
What will not change#
A few commitments sit above every item. The user owns the workspace and their data. The user chooses their providers. Everything stays customizable and modular. Nodal does not require an account to run. Diagnostics and telemetry stay opt-in. These are the manifesto lines, and a feature that breaks one of them is the kind of feature that gets argued about on stream.
Follow it live#
The roadmap moves when the owner moves it. The best way to see changes first is to watch the stream or join the community: Twitch, YouTube, Discord and X. The livestream page on the creator hub has the schedule.