Chief v3.0 Release Summary

🚀 Major New Features

New Configuration Management

• chief.config_set: Set configuration options directly from command line
• Interactive prompts with --yes flag for automation
• --list option to view all configuration variables
• chief.config_update: Intelligent configuration reconciliation system
• Automatically adds new config options while preserving user customizations
• Handles renamed variables (e.g., RSA_KEYS_PATH → SSH_KEYS_PATH) seamlessly
• Creates timestamped backups and validates syntax before applying changes

Complete Help System Rewrite

• chief.help: New categorized help system with search (--search) and compact mode (--compact)
• chief.whereis: Complete rewrite - finds ALL occurrences with exact line numbers

Python Virtual Environment Management

• chief.python_create_ve: Create virtual environments
• chief.python_start_ve: Smart activation with detection
• chief.python_stop_ve: Clean deactivation

Enhanced SSH Key Management

• Support for all SSH key types (RSA, ed25519, ECDSA, etc.)
• Selective key loading via symlinks
• Improved chief.ssh_create_keypair with modern algorithms

Plugin Development Enhancements

• VSCode Integration: Edit plugins with chief.plugin --code <name>
• Automatic detection and fallback to default editor

⚠️ Breaking Changes

SSH Configuration Changes (Action Required)

1. SSH Key Extension Change:

# OLD: Keys needed .rsa extension
~/.ssh/id_rsa

# NEW: Keys need .key extension  
~/.ssh/id_rsa.key

2. Configuration Variable Renamed:

# OLD
CHIEF_CFG_RSA_KEYS_PATH="$HOME/.ssh"

# NEW
CHIEF_CFG_SSH_KEYS_PATH="$HOME/.ssh"

📋 Upgrade Instructions

🚀 Automatic Upgrade (Recommended for v2.x Users)

Use the new automated configuration reconciliation to handle all breaking changes:

# Step 1: Update Chief to v3.0
chief.update  # or reinstall: bash -c "$(curl -fsSL ...install.sh)"

# Step 2: Automatically handle all configuration changes
chief.config_update

What chief.config_update does automatically:

• ✅ Renames variables: CHIEF_CFG_RSA_KEYS_PATH → CHIEF_CFG_SSH_KEYS_PATH
• ✅ Adds new options: All v3.0 configuration variables
• ✅ Preserves settings: Your existing customizations remain intact
• ✅ Creates backup: Timestamped backup before any changes
• ✅ Shows preview: --dry-run option to see changes first

🛠️ Manual Upgrade (Alternative)

1. Update SSH Configuration:

# Edit your chief.config file and change:
# CHIEF_CFG_RSA_KEYS_PATH → CHIEF_CFG_SSH_KEYS_PATH

# Or use the new command:
chief.config_set ssh_keys_path "$HOME/.ssh"

2. Update SSH Keys:

# Option A: Selective loading (recommended)
cd ~/.ssh
ln -s id_rsa mykey.key           # RSA key
ln -s id_ed25519 mykey_ed.key    # ed25519 key

# Option B: Load all keys
mv id_rsa id_rsa.key
mv id_ed25519 id_ed25519.key

3. Add New Configuration Options:

# Manual addition to chief.config:
CHIEF_CFG_CONFIG_SET_INTERACTIVE=true
CHIEF_CFG_MULTILINE_PROMPT=false
CHIEF_CFG_AUTOCHECK_UPDATES=false
CHIEF_CFG_COLORED_LS=false

🐛 Critical Bug Fixes

• Fixed chief.update: Critical directory change bug resolved
• Installation script: Fixed prompt setup and validation
• Terminal compatibility: Improved icon handling

🎨 User Experience Improvements

• Clean help output: Removed repetitive prefixes
• Better documentation: Enhanced README with feature highlights
• Improved installation: Better messaging and validation
• Standardized usage: Consistent formatting across all functions

🔧 New Configuration Options

• CHIEF_CFG_CONFIG_SET_INTERACTIVE: Control confirmation prompts
• CHIEF_CFG_MULTILINE_PROMPT: Enable multi-line prompt layout
• CHIEF_CFG_AUTOCHECK_UPDATES: Auto-check for updates on startup
• CHIEF_CFG_COLORED_LS: Colorize ls command output
• CHIEF_CFG_SSH_KEYS_PATH: Path to SSH keys (renamed from RSA_KEYS_PATH)

📖 Quick Start After Upgrade

# Update your configuration with new v3.0 options
chief.config_update

# Check your configuration
chief.config_set --list

# View new help system
chief.help

# Test SSH key loading (if configured)
chief.ssh_load_keys

# Create your first plugin with VSCode
chief.plugin --code mytools

Full changelog available in UPDATES