Documentation · Getting started · Release notes
Cove v1 lets an individual keep structured project context, save revisions, create a pinned handoff, and continue from that handoff in another assistant. The three supported delivery paths are:
| Path | How to use it | Scope |
|---|---|---|
| Public website | Open Cove and sign in with ChatGPT | Private projects, revisions, manual handoffs, JSON/Markdown export, JSON import, account deletion |
| Installed Cove plugin in Codex | Grant selected projects through Assistant connections | Discover/read, save with revision checks, create/retrieve a pinned handoff, identify newer context; a fresh assistant can continue from the saved snapshot |
| PostgreSQL source installation | Follow local setup with Node.js 24, pnpm 11.19.0, Git and Docker Compose | Email/password accounts, verified email, the same project and handoff workflow, PostgreSQL persistence and the documented operator procedures |
Website and PostgreSQL accounts and data belong to separate installations. Sites local verification uses a synthetic identity fixture; real hosted sign in uses the public website.
Each versioned GitHub release provides cove_<version>_source.zip and cove_<version>_source.zip.sha256. The ZIP contains the source tree at that release commit, including the MIT license, lockfile, migrations, and setup guides. The PostgreSQL server is built with pnpm build:local and started with pnpm start. The Sites distribution is built with pnpm build; website deployment follows Sites operations.
After downloading both files into the same directory, verify the ZIP before extracting it. On Windows PowerShell:
$expected = (Get-Content -LiteralPath 'cove_1.0.0_source.zip.sha256').Split(' ')[0]
$actual = (Get-FileHash -LiteralPath 'cove_1.0.0_source.zip' -Algorithm SHA256).Hash.ToLowerInvariant()
if ($actual -ne $expected) { throw 'Cove source checksum mismatch' }
Expand-Archive -LiteralPath 'cove_1.0.0_source.zip' -DestinationPath '.'On Linux or macOS, compare the first field in the .sha256 file with sha256sum cove_1.0.0_source.zip or shasum -a 256 cove_1.0.0_source.zip, respectively, then extract the ZIP. Continue with the setup commands inside the extracted cove-1.0.0 directory.
The release workflow packages a clean committed tree. Publication runs only for a push to main after the existing verification and recovery jobs succeed. It checks the archive checksum, uploads and verifies the complete asset set, binds v<version> to that exact commit, and publishes last. A retry resumes only a draft for the same commit; published versions stay unchanged. Maintainers bump the version and add release notes for the next source release.
The v1 interface consists of the seven tools in the MCP reference, revision-pinned handoffs, and the version 1 JSON portability schema. Changes that remove these interfaces or make existing valid v1 exports incompatible require a major version change. Keep a JSON export before upgrading and follow the documented migrations and backup procedure for your installation.
JSON browser import/export is bounded to 8 MiB. Assistant access requires explicit project grants; reconnecting a revoked custom OAuth binding requires a new client registration. Cove stores submitted context and source pointers; it does not read conversations or fetch linked documents automatically. Copied handoff text remains outside Cove's control.
Native Codex and the installed Cove plugin have dated live verification, including a fresh assistant reading a pinned snapshot with newer context present. A separate ChatGPT web assistant connection has not been verified. See October 6 verification and the compatibility matrix for scope.
For an independent public PostgreSQL deployment, configure HTTPS, real SMTP delivery, credentials, monitored encrypted backups, and the durable deletion ledger before serving customer data. Local restart and disposable recovery exercises do not establish production disaster recovery, capacity testing, or a customer pilot. Read operations for those requirements.
Teams, orchestration, billing, automatic conversation ingestion, and native mobile applications remain outside v1.