v8 Hone Advanced Prompt changelog

Site: A help center and this changelog

2026-10-19T00:00:00Z

New docs: install and update, the first prompt and linking a terminal, the shortcut in Claude Code and Codex, questions, what v8 added, plans and limits, what leaves your computer, troubleshooting and an FAQ.
Corporate networks lists the one hostname and port the CLI uses, how IT can allowlist it, and what a DNS or URL filter block looks like.
The install page now says correctly that /v8:prompt asks v8's questions and shows you the prompt before Claude acts.

2026-10-19T00:00:00Z

The questions v8 asks are real questions with 2 to 4 distinct options; a "not sure" option appears at most once, last.
A question about what the agent just did, such as "why did you delete that test?", becomes a read-only brief: answer only, change nothing. Add an order ("... put it back") and it is a change request as before.
A fix you suggest yourself, such as "maybe add a null check in parseRow", stays in a fix brief word for word, framed as a guess for the agent to check against the code.
Lines that decide nothing, such as "TBD" or "follow best practices", are dropped unless you wrote them.
A brief no longer forbids what it orders. When a rule in the brief contradicts an order, the one you wrote stays.
In Claude Code, @path, which loads a whole file into the agent's context, is used only for paths you typed or the repository confirms. Other likely files are named as plain paths.
v8-prompt improve --json reports this version as c2026.10.37.

2026-10-19T00:00:00Z

After the key, a short block under the done line says what v8 kept, fixed and added to your request, one row per kind: Kept, Fixed, Added (marked from the repo, likely, or your earlier answer), Checks, Assumed, Answered. See What v8 added.
It stays under two seconds; any key goes on at once. It is printed as plain lines without colour or with a screen reader.
improve --json returns the same as added, and /v8:prompt shows it before you choose.

2026-10-19T00:00:00Z

Your values stay yours: numbers with their operators and units, dates, paths, names and rules such as "do not" or "only" are checked against the brief. When the rewrite had changed one, for example "< 2 h" into "≤ 2 h", your words are put back.
Clear requests go as written. A single rename or move that names both ends, such as rename fetchUser to loadUser in src/api/users.ts, goes to the agent as you wrote it, plus at most the repository's test command and the exact path of a file you named. Anything less clear still gets an advanced prompt, and its question first when a value only you know is missing.
Every prompt now carries the summary of what was added that CLI 0.5.14 shows.

2026-10-19T00:00:00Z

npm install -g v8-advanced-prompt is now the first install command on the site. The same package stays available as a direct download from v8labs.app with its SHA-256 checksum.

2026-10-19T00:00:00Z

The first time you press the key on a computer, v8 shows what is about to be sent and waits: Enter sends, n sends the request alone, Esc sends nothing. v8-prompt context preview shows it again on the next press. See the one-time preview.
When your text comes back unchanged, the done line says "Not counted: your text came back unchanged".
The "original restored" signal now also carries the kind of task (build, change, debug, review, question, plan or other). It still carries no text; v8-prompt telemetry off stops it.

2026-10-19T00:00:00Z

When v8 hands your own text back, because the rewrite did not pass its quality checks or your request was already complete, that prompt no longer counts against your allowance, up to 20 times a day per terminal (per account once linked). Past that, they count again.

2026-10-19T00:00:00Z

The Terms say what automation is allowed: scripts, CI steps and editor integrations through the official CLI, within your allowance.
The refund policy says plainly how monthly renewals are treated.
Sign-in keeps the privacy notice, the Terms and the consent to transfers abroad apart, each with its own wording.
The contact page says when we reply (usually within 2 business days) and that nothing reaches us until you press send in your own mail app.

2026-10-19T00:00:00Z

The product and its prompt compiler are now named v8 Hone Advanced Prompt (model id hone-1). v8-prompt --version, the help, the welcome banner and improve --json use the new name. The package, the commands and your settings are unchanged.

2026-10-18T00:00:00Z

v8labs.app, the team console and the plan names now say v8 Hone Advanced Prompt. The meaning of the Terms and the Privacy Policy did not change.

2026-10-18T00:00:00Z

/v8:prompt now asks v8's questions with Claude Code's question tool, then shows you the whole advanced prompt and asks what to do: use it, edit it, or use your original request. Claude starts the work only after you choose.
For programs that ask the user themselves: improve --json --ask returns the questions with a token, and improve --json --answers <file> sends the answers as the free follow-up.
improve --json errors are plain facts with a reason, never an offer to upgrade.
Requests carry your computer's time zone; only the country it implies is kept.

2026-10-18T00:00:00Z

On Windows, every program v8 starts (git, your editor) is found by its full path in the absolute folders of your PATH, never in the repository you are working in. A cloned repository can no longer slip in a program of its own.

2026-10-18T00:00:00Z

Setup and a bare v8-prompt show the new banner: a lowercase v8 and a heavier wordmark.

2026-10-18T00:00:00Z

Setup animates its welcome banner once per version, in under a second; any key skips it. v8-prompt motion off or V8_PROMPT_REDUCED_MOTION=1 draws it still, and --no-banner prints one plain line.
The progress screen uses the site's colours.

2026-10-18T00:00:00Z

The CLI opens its connection to v8labs.app while it is still collecting the repository context, so the request does not wait for a new connection. In our measurement the first request went from about 230 ms to about 135 ms of connection time.

2026-10-17T00:00:00Z

Command lines quoted from CLAUDE.md or AGENTS.md and your CI commands are redacted before they are sent; a line with a password in a URL is skipped. Claude Code's previous reply is scrubbed of keys and tokens and follows context off.
Ctrl+G works with Windows user names that have letters such as Ş, ü or é.
The terminal's key and settings files survive damage: a broken file is kept aside instead of being overwritten, and uninstall keeps your privacy choices.
A prompt that starts with a # heading is no longer mistaken for Claude Code's previous reply.
Each request names the CLI version, so support can tell versions apart.