feat: Show "What's New" on session start after updates (v1.12.1)

aidex_session compares installed version with last_seen_version in DB.
Shows release highlights once per version update, then stores new version.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 <noreply@anthropic.com>

Author: CSCSoftware

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -2,6 +2,13 @@
 
 All notable changes to AiDex will be documented in this file.
 
+## [1.12.1] - 2026-03-07
+
+### Added
+- **Update notifications**: `aidex_session` now shows "What's New" when AiDex was updated since the last session
+  - Compares installed version with `last_seen_version` stored in project DB
+  - Shows highlights + changelog link, only once per version update
+
 ## [1.12.0] - 2026-03-07
 
 ### Added

package.json

@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "aidex-mcp",
-  "version": "1.12.0",
+  "version": "1.12.1",
   "mcpName": "io.github.CSCSoftware/aidex",
   "description": "MCP Server for persistent code indexing. Gives AI assistants (Claude, Gemini, Copilot, Cursor) instant access to your codebase. 50x less context than grep.",
   "main": "build/index.js",

src/commands/session.ts

@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ import { openDatabase } from '../db/index.js';
 import { update } from './update.js';
 import { DEFAULT_EXCLUDE, readGitignore, shortHash } from './init.js';
 import { validateIndex, noIndexError, withProjectDb } from './shared.js';
+import { PRODUCT_VERSION } from '../constants.js';
 
 // ============================================================
 // Types
@@ -35,13 +36,20 @@ export interface ChangedFile {
     reason: 'modified' | 'deleted' | 'new';
 }
 
+export interface UpdateInfo {
+    previousVersion: string;
+    currentVersion: string;
+    highlights: string[];
+}
+
 export interface SessionResult {
     success: boolean;
     isNewSession: boolean;
     sessionInfo: SessionInfo;
     externalChanges: ChangedFile[];
     reindexed: string[];
     note: string | null;
+    updateInfo: UpdateInfo | null;
     error?: string;
 }
 
@@ -53,10 +61,21 @@ const KEY_LAST_SESSION_START = 'last_session_start';
 const KEY_LAST_SESSION_END = 'last_session_end';
 const KEY_CURRENT_SESSION_START = 'current_session_start';
 const KEY_SESSION_NOTE = 'session_note';
+const KEY_LAST_SEEN_VERSION = 'last_seen_version';
 
 // Session is considered "new" if more than 5 minutes have passed since last activity
 const SESSION_TIMEOUT_MS = 5 * 60 * 1000;
 
+// ============================================================
+// Release Notes (update with each release)
+// ============================================================
+
+const RELEASE_HIGHLIGHTS: string[] = [
+    'Auto-setup on install — no more manual "aidex setup" needed',
+    'Comprehensive AI instructions for all 27 tools (decision tree, search modes, examples)',
+    'Code refactoring: shared utilities, DB transaction fixes, SQL injection fix',
+];
+
 // ============================================================
 // Implementation
 // ============================================================
@@ -71,7 +90,7 @@ export function session(params: SessionParams): SessionResult {
 
     return withProjectDb(
         projectPath, false,
-        (error) => ({ success: false, isNewSession: false, sessionInfo: { lastSessionStart: null, lastSessionEnd: null, currentSessionStart: null }, externalChanges: [], reindexed: [], note: null, error }),
+        (error) => ({ success: false, isNewSession: false, sessionInfo: { lastSessionStart: null, lastSessionEnd: null, currentSessionStart: null }, externalChanges: [], reindexed: [], note: null, updateInfo: null, error }),
         (db, queries) => {
             try {
                 const now = Date.now();
@@ -137,13 +156,28 @@ export function session(params: SessionParams): SessionResult {
                 // Get session note
                 const note = db.getMetadata(KEY_SESSION_NOTE);
 
+                // Check for version update
+                let updateInfo: UpdateInfo | null = null;
+                const lastSeenVersion = db.getMetadata(KEY_LAST_SEEN_VERSION);
+                if (lastSeenVersion !== PRODUCT_VERSION) {
+                    if (lastSeenVersion) {
+                        updateInfo = {
+                            previousVersion: lastSeenVersion,
+                            currentVersion: PRODUCT_VERSION,
+                            highlights: RELEASE_HIGHLIGHTS,
+                        };
+                    }
+                    db.setMetadata(KEY_LAST_SEEN_VERSION, PRODUCT_VERSION);
+                }
+
                 return {
                     success: true,
                     isNewSession,
                     sessionInfo,
                     externalChanges,
                     reindexed,
                     note,
+                    updateInfo,
                 };
 
             } catch (error) {
@@ -154,6 +188,7 @@ export function session(params: SessionParams): SessionResult {
                     externalChanges: [],
                     reindexed: [],
                     note: null,
+                    updateInfo: null,
                     error: error instanceof Error ? error.message : String(error),
                 };
             }

src/server/tools.ts

@@ -1721,6 +1721,15 @@ function handleSession(args: Record<string, unknown>): { content: Array<{ type:
         message += '\n';
     }
 
+    // Version update info
+    if (result.updateInfo) {
+        message += `## 🎉 Updated: v${result.updateInfo.previousVersion} → v${result.updateInfo.currentVersion}\n\n`;
+        for (const highlight of result.updateInfo.highlights) {
+            message += `- ${highlight}\n`;
+        }
+        message += `\nFull changelog: https://github.com/CSCSoftware/AiDex/blob/master/CHANGELOG.md\n\n`;
+    }
+
     // Session note
     if (result.note) {
         message += '## 📝 Session Note\n';