The changelog

What we shipped.

Real, curated release notes. Updated when something worth telling you about ships — not when a commit lands.

Last update May 18, 2026.

  1. May 18, 2026

    The conversion sprint

    A two-week pass on every visitor-facing surface — landing, free tools, demo, polish.

    • NewLive playground at /playground — try the workspace with no signup.
    • NewFree rate calculator: tells you what to charge based on target income and hours.
    • NewFree invoice generator: fill the form, download a polished PDF.
    • NewHow-much-do-X-earn pages for 8 freelance professions.
    • NewLanding FAQ — eight common questions, answered honestly.
    • NewStack-cost comparison: ~$119/mo competitor stack vs. $19/mo Kinako.
    • NewAI layer showcase — daily briefing, draft assistant, weekly review, smart follow-ups.
    • PolishAtelier-styled empty states across the dashboard.
    • PolishPrint stylesheet: proposals, invoices, and contracts print as designed PDFs.
    • PolishTransactional emails redesigned in the warm-dark Atelier voice.
  2. May 15, 2026

    Atelier becomes canonical

    The Atelier design language now ships everywhere — landing, dashboard, portal, every public share page.

    • NewGlass cards across every dashboard surface.
    • NewAtelier design canonical across portal and all client-share pages.
    • PolishFounder reveal on /about — first-person voice, headshot, the mentor's-proposal origin.
    • PolishBrand capitalization rule applied: 'Kinako' in prose, 'kinako.' only as wordmark.
    • PolishPrinciple diagrams added to landing — line-art SVGs for each of the four promises.
  3. May 9, 2026

    Hardening pass

    Security and accuracy review across the whole codebase. Nothing visible — everything more trustworthy.

    • SecurityFull-codebase audit and hardening pass.
    • SecurityCSP reworked for static rendering — no nonces, no broken hydration.
    • SecurityOpen redirect closed; rate limits added to missing routes.
    • FixHallucination audit — fixed inaccurate copy across security, auth, and schema.
    • FixUpstash Redis client now lazy-inits and tolerates quoted env vars.
  4. April 26, 2026

    AI memory and weekly review

    The AI gets longer-term context and a weekly cadence.

    • NewAI memory — remembers patterns across your business over time.
    • NewWeekly review automated on Mondays: revenue, attention items, client health.
    • NewSmart follow-ups — drafts emails for stuck proposals and overdue invoices.
    • NewCustomizable dashboard with sidebar grouping and favorites.
    • PolishPremium polish pass — restraint, depth, micro-interactions across the dashboard.
  5. April 15, 2026

    AI-native positioning

    Kinako repositioned from a consolidation tool to an AI-native business OS. The product shipped to match.

    • NewAI daily briefing — morning summary of what needs your attention.
    • NewAI universal draft — drafts proposals from client and project data.
    • NewAI revenue intelligence — forecasts and underbilled-client signals.
    • NewIntake-to-everything pipeline: form submission drafts proposal, contract, project.
    • NewStripe Connect — direct charges, money lands in your account, never held by Kinako.
    • NewRecurring invoices, automated payment reminders, abandonment recovery.
  6. April 3, 2026

    Phase 2 product expansion

    Invoicing, contracts, expenses, scheduling, and time tracking — the operational core completed.

    • NewInvoicing with Stripe payments and INV-### numbering.
    • NewBlock-based contracts editor with e-signature, IP capture, audit log.
    • NewExpense tracking with categories, client/project linking.
    • NewTime tracking per project, with billable/non-billable distinction.
    • NewPublic scheduling page with availability windows and meeting types.
    • NewAudio meeting notes — Whisper transcription, Claude-powered structured summary.
    • NewFile previews — images and PDFs in-app.
  7. March 25, 2026

    Production readiness

    Full audit pass for production launch. Foundation work — quiet, load-bearing.

    • SecurityRLS policies on every table; service-role inserts gated by share token.
    • SecurityStripe webhook idempotency via stripe_webhook_events table.
    • PolishProfession-based onboarding for 9 freelance professions.
    • PolishPlan-limit gating client-side and server-side, with friendly UpgradeModal.
    • PerformanceScroll-paint cost cut on landing; dashboard bundles slimmed.

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