Release v0.26.1 — Reliable native chat startup

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -9,6 +9,13 @@ The dashboard's **What's New** rail reads this file at request time
 entries. Keep entries terse — one line per item under each version
 date, grouped by `Added` / `Changed` / `Fixed` / `Removed`.
 
+## [2026-07-16] — v0.26.1 · Reliable native chat startup
+
+### Fixed
+
+- **Native Hermes conversations initialize before durable delivery.** Forge now prepares the exact base and optional canvas-aware instructions before atomically writing the user message and Sessions outbox row, preventing a production-bundle initialization failure on the first interactive send.
+- **Dispatch-only chat stays lightweight.** Local and daemon-backed agents skip Forge prompt and canvas-summary preparation because their runtime owns that context.
+
 ## [2026-07-16] — v0.26.0 · Artifact Studio and trustworthy completion
 
 ### Added

DEVLOG.md

@@ -2,6 +2,16 @@
 
 > Append-only session log. Read at session start. Update at session end.
 
+## 2026-07-16 — v0.26.1 release preparation
+
+Prepared the patch release from exact `main` at
+`33aa6470` after hotfix PR #58 passed all three GitHub CI jobs and updated
+Codex review. The release fixes the native Sessions production-bundle
+initialization failure found by the authenticated v0.26.0 smoke while keeping
+dispatch-only turns free of unused prompt/canvas work. The v0.26.0
+release-identity migration ensures this second same-day release is independently
+visible and persisted in What's New.
+
 ## 2026-07-16 — Native Sessions production initialization hotfix
 
 The authenticated v0.26.0 live smoke reached Forge but the first native Hermes

package.json

@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "forge",
-  "version": "0.26.0",
+  "version": "0.26.1",
   "private": true,
   "description": "Forge — a fast, minimalist, keyboard-driven project management platform with pluggable agents.",
   "license": "MIT",