v1.6.0

[cssquirrel]

[1.6.0] - 2026-03-11

Added

• ACE-Step auto-start: Optional setting to launch the ACE-Step 1.5 REST API server automatically at app startup. Requires path to the ACE-Step repo. Configurable via a toggle and path input in Settings under a new "ACE-Step Server" section.
• ACE-Step process management: src/services/ace_step_process.py manages the subprocess lifecycle — port collision detection, Windows process-tree kill via taskkill /F /T, graceful shutdown on app close.

Changed

• Pack deletion preserves favorites: Uninstalling a genre pack no longer blocks on existing favorited tracks. Non-favorited tracks are deleted; favorited tracks and their albums are retained. Genres with surviving favorites are archived (invisible to radio and generation) rather than deleted outright.
• Album covers reassigned on pack removal: Albums retaining favorited tracks after pack uninstall have their cover image reassigned to a random core-genre image before pack files are deleted, preventing broken cover paths.
• Pack generator files isolated: Pack-installed generator files (pools, profiles, prompts) now write to config/generators/packs/ instead of the shared core generator directories. Loaders check the core directories first, then fall back to packs/.
• Pack YAML configs isolated: Pack category and genre entries are merged into gitignored config/categories.user.yaml and config/genre.user.yaml sidecars rather than the tracked categories.yaml and genre.yaml. Both files are merged at load time.
• Pack modal language: Delete confirmation updated to reflect that favorites are preserved. Browse and install modals use correct button labels (CLOSE, INSTALL, REMOVE).

Fixed

• ACE-Step not killed on app close: Moved process start/stop to wrap webview.start() in main(), the reliable blocking boundary. Previous atexit-based approach was bypassed by pywebview's os._exit() call.
• New settings not seeded on existing databases: ace_step_autostart and ace_step_path settings are now inserted via INSERT OR IGNORE on startup so existing installs receive the new defaults.

Migration notes

• On first startup, migrate_generator_files() automatically moves any pack generator files from the old flat locations into config/generators/packs/ and updates installed_packs.json.
• Pack entries in categories.yaml and genre.yaml are automatically extracted to categories.user.yaml and genre.user.yaml on first startup.
• config/generators/packs/, config/categories.user.yaml, config/genre.user.yaml, config/installed_packs.json, config/autopilot_weights.json, and album_covers/ subdirectories outside the three core genres are now gitignored.

---

This discussion was created from the release v1.6.0.

[cssquirrel]

1.6 improves on the experience for 1.5's introduction of genre packs, with some modal enhancements and better support for cleanly adding and removing packs without disrupting songs of a deleted genre that you've already favorited.

There's also an architectural change that's happening under the scene for genre packs in config files. There's an evolving repo at https://github.com/cssquirrel/koi-box-genre-packs that will hold genre packs that will be automatically looked at in the settings panel of the application, with the ability to add your own custom url to some. I'm not 100% pleased with the documentation (which was highly automated) and process yet, but it's a lot closer there. When you first load Koi Box in 1.6, it will migrate your db to support the changes.

I've also added an optional setting to auto-start the Ace Step 1.5 server when you launch your app. In the future, there's a plan for Ace Step to automatically be installed when you first load the app, but this is an intermediate step to make the app easier to launch and use.