Platform Updates
& Releases
Follow the evolution of NexCore Labs — features shipped, things polished, bugs squashed.
Current: v2.9.1
Updated: 25 May 2026
15 releases
v2.9.1
Latest
25 May 2026
Admin panel refinements, payment workflow enhancements, and SQU community support.
New
- New Proof of Payment review modal with iframe preview for admins to verify, approve, or reject receipts directly in the platform.
- New Free Access notification for SQU email domain users during email validation to welcome the university community.
Improvements
- Admin Control Panel completely revamped with modernized stat cards, improved responsiveness, and a new quick search input.
- Modal system re-engineered with smoother transitions, enhanced confirmation flow, and trigger-based animations.
- Subscription filtering now handles pending_verification states; order approval process returns detailed success statuses.
- PayPal integration updated with detailed fee calculation function showing exact expected USD amounts.
- Pricing page enhanced with animated price updates, detailed fee breakdown, and improved badge responsiveness.
- Global navigation now includes the Pricing page with a dedicated badge for better visibility.
- Copy Bill ID functionality improved with better user feedback and status messages.
Fixes
- Corrected critical UI bug where "Delete" and "Cancel" button actions were swapped in the project deletion modal.
- Removed WhatsApp payment integration in favor of more streamlined support contact information.
- Standardized stylesheet links across index.html and pricing.html to ensure unified visual experience.
Technical
- Control Panel UI completely refactored with modernized stat cards and responsive design improvements.
- Modal system re-engineered with is-open/is-closing states and enhanced trigger-based animations.
- Receipt exports now include status messages and automatic PDF downloads for verified receipts.
- Stylesheet standardization applied across multiple pages for consistent visual experience.
API
- Implemented detailed PayPal fee calculation function for accurate USD amount display.
- Updated subscription filtering logic to handle pending_verification states.
- Enhanced order approval process to return detailed success statuses.
Internal
- Updated nodemailer dependency to version 8.0.8.
- Updated package.json to reflect version 2.9.1.
- Updated PayPal support links to the new NexCore Labs PayPal account.
v2.9.0
9 May 2026
Monetization framework, AI upgrades, and UX enhancements.
New
- New Pricing page with tiered subscription plans, beta banners, and a billing FAQ category.
- New Order Confirmation page with professional print styles and signed receipt URLs.
- Animated menu hint for first-time visitors to improve platform discoverability.
Improvements
- AI endpoint now supports both chat and assist modes more robustly.
- Priority Review feature dynamically locks/unlocks based on your selected payment method.
- Simplified sign-in flow — streamlined email validation without OTP or organisation detection.
- Updated metadata across multiple pages for better SEO and platform inclusivity.
Fixes
- Improved user removal process and permission error handling in the admin panel.
- GA4 User-ID tracking integrated for accurate cross-device analytics.
Technical
- New pricing.html with tiered plan UI and billing FAQ category.
- New order-confirmation.html with print-friendly receipt styles.
- Project QR code removed.
Database
- Removed admin_activity_log schema from the database directory.
API
- New api/paypal-capture.js — PayPal order capture with automated email confirmation.
- New api/bank-transfer.js — bank transfer endpoint with reference instructions.
- New api/submit-subscription.js — subscription order submission with duplicate order checks.
- New api/receipt-url.js — server-side signed receipt URL generation.
- Enhanced api/ai.js to support both chat and assist functionalities.
Internal
- GA4 User-ID tracking integrated for cross-device behaviour analysis.
- Admin panel permission error handling improvements.
v2.8.0
18 Apr 2026
Arabic/RTL support, admin panel, project embed system, and AI assistant refinements.
New
- Full Arabic language support with RTL layout, proper typography, and directional styling across all pages.
- New Embed System — generate a code snippet directly from any project page to display it on an external website.
- New Admin Panel for managing platform users, access control, and system settings.
Improvements
- AI assistant now responds more naturally and accurately in Arabic.
- AI responses are better formatted and more concise with an improved word-limit policy.
- Sign-in call-to-actions and modals added for AI features to guide new users through onboarding.
Fixes
- Corrected service worker precache references that could cause stale asset loads.
- Updated PayPal link titles for consistent accessibility labeling.
- Improved error logging for email authorization checks to make debugging easier.
Technical
- Added assets/css/arabic.css with Tajawal font and RTL overrides applied site-wide.
- New embed.html page with embed code generation, customization options, and live preview.
- New admin-users.html interface for user and permission management.
- Database-driven Approved Users whitelist controls access to specific platform features.
Database
- Added admin_activity_log table to audit all administrative actions.
- Approved Users system persisted in the database for reliable access control.
Internal
- Removed obsolete ai_knowledge_cleanup.sql and outdated documentation files.
- Added deployment checklist and approved-users implementation guide.
v2.7.0
11 Apr 2026
RAG-powered AI chat, floating assistant access, usage tracking, and broader interface polish.
New
- Launched a new AI chat assistant with context-aware answers powered by project knowledge.
- Added a dedicated AI Chat page and a floating chat widget for faster access across the site.
- Conversations now persist during a session, so your chat context stays available while you browse.
Improvements
- Introduced daily AI usage indicators with remaining quota shown directly in the chat experience.
- Added AI usage visibility inside the account section with clearer section styling and icons.
- Refined floating action button placement, menu spacing, and responsive breakpoints for a cleaner mobile layout.
- Replaced older moderation popups with smoother toast notifications for faster feedback.
Fixes
- Improved delete confirmation behavior with clearer prompts and more reliable confirmation logic.
- Strengthened AI error handling so retry flows and quota-exhausted states provide better guidance.
Technical
- Added api/ai-chat.js with Supabase authentication and Gemini 2.5 integration for the new assistant flow.
- Introduced scripts/seed-knowledge.js to manage embeddings for the RAG knowledge base.
- Incremented the service-worker.js cache version to v2.7.0 for cleaner asset updates.
- Added vercel.json URL rewrites to support cleaner route paths.
Internal
- Session storage now keeps chat history available through the active browser session.
- Account settings labels and confirmation copy were refreshed for better clarity and consistency.
v2.6.0
19 Mar 2026
Feature voting roadmap launch, guest suggestion flow, and global UX refinements across core pages.
New
- Launched the new Feature Requests & Roadmap board (roadmap.html) to suggest ideas and track implementation progress.
- Added anonymous suggestion submission and guest voting flows.
- Introduced admin review workflows for pending suggestions and inline comment moderation.
Improvements
- Global styling refactor with new assets/css/style.css and cleaner nav links across core pages.
- Smoother expand/collapse interactions in FAQ and Releases sections.
- Modal interactions refreshed with blur effects and more polished transitions.
- Navigation menus upgraded with Font Awesome visual cues.
Fixes
- Fixed suggestion deletion so it is applied in Supabase (no more delete-only-in-UI behavior after refresh).
- Fixed unstable delete flows that could get stuck, with confirmation modals now closing automatically after successful actions.
- Resolved comment-edit save issues by removing the unstable edit-comment path and keeping the comment flow stable.
- Authentication flow simplified to a dedicated login-only page.
Technical
- Integrated Vercel Speed Insights and standardized analytics placement across HTML pages.
- Initialized release history data in assets/data/releases.json.
- Updated service-worker.js cache strategy and precache manifest to avoid stale or missing asset cache entries.
- Added vercel package dependency and consolidated UI scripting in core pages.
Internal
- Accessibility polish: added PayPal link titles and normalized analytics snippet placement.
- Cleaned up blank-line noise in account settings files to keep diffs focused.
v2.5.0
14 Mar 2026
Major UI refresh, releases hub, and performance polish across the platform.
New
- Brand-new dark theme applied to the Hub and homepage.
- Project details upgraded with stats, social links, QR codes, and creator profiles.
- Dedicated Releases page for tracking platform history.
Improvements
- Category chips and filters with richer styling across the explorer experience.
- Polished project category badges and detail layouts for better readability.
- Faster page loads via minified core CSS and JS assets.
Fixes
- Removed stray BOM characters and fixed string interpolation glitches.
- Icon updates across the Releases page for consistent visual language.
Technical
- Custom-styled version dropdown replacing the native select.
- New cookie consent manager and authentication UI components.
- Added rel="noopener" on external links for improved security.
Internal
- Added Apple Touch icon and social meta tags for richer sharing.
- Core JS bootstrapping and layout styling refreshed across the site.
v2.4.1
7 Mar 2026
Fixing known problems and updating the service worker.
Fixes
- Fixed known issues reported in the latest release.
Technical
- Updated service-worker.js for better caching stability.
v2.4.0
7 Mar 2026
Project categories, contact information, and 16 color-coded category types with hub filtering.
New
- Contact Information section in account settings — set a public email and phone number displayed on your project page.
- 16 project categories with color-coded badges: Technology, Business, Education, Finance, Healthcare, Environment, and more.
- Category filtering on the Hub — browse all published projects by type in one tap.
- Category stats section at the bottom of the Hub showing project counts per category.
Improvements
- Enhanced tooltip styling with blur effect and shadow for better readability.
- Consistent input field colours and borders across the whole site.
- Task counter on the homepage bumped from 120+ to 360+.
- Data export now includes your contact email and phone number.
- Cleaned up footer links across multiple pages.
Technical
- New project-categories.js module — normalisation, slug aliases, badge rendering, SVG icon map for all 16 categories.
- New assets/css/project-categories.css with CSS variables per category and badge component styles.
- Dropdown functionality extracted into reusable initPortalSelect() — panels portalled to document.body to eliminate z-index stacking issues.
- Cookie icons converted from emoji to inline SVG for consistent cross-platform rendering.
Database
- Added contact_email and phone_number columns to the users table.
- Projects now carry a category field with normalisation and legacy alias support.
Internal
- Updated version.js to v2.4.0.
- Added sql/ to .gitignore.
- Removed legacy cookie-consent.css — fully migrated to Cookie Manager v2.
v2.3.0
7 Mar 2026
User profiles, AI project insights, creator sections on project pages, QR downloads, and view counters.
New
- Your display name (full name, username, or email prefix) shown everywhere instead of the raw email address.
- Project pages now feature a Creator section with your avatar, name, and public contact links.
- AI Project Insights — generate a smart summary on any project page with one click.
- QR codes can now be downloaded as PNG directly from project pages.
- View count and creation date badges added to every project page.
- Social sharing buttons for X, LinkedIn, and WhatsApp on all project pages.
Improvements
- Navbar now shows your avatar and display name when signed in.
- Project cards on the Hub redesigned with creation date and view count metadata.
- Hub now loads newest projects first (descending order).
Technical
- Added getUserDisplayName() and getUserAvatar() helpers across all pages.
- New project_insights action in /api/ai — returns { summary, insights[] }.
- Owner-check in project.html tightened with .eq('owner_user_id', session.user.id).
Database
- Added creator_name and creator_avatar_url to the projects table.
- Auto-backfill logic for legacy projects missing creator metadata on next dashboard load.
- User profile sync on login now stores avatar URL in the users table.
v2.2.0
6 Mar 2026
Cookie Consent v2 rollout, moderation UI in dashboard, improved modals, and AI loading animations.
Improvements
- Upgraded to Cookie Consent Manager v2 — granular control over analytics, external media, and AI cookies with a polished modal.
- Redesigned Delete Account modal — animated, accessible, with proper focus trapping and ARIA attributes.
- New Delete Project confirmation modal — replaces browser confirm() dialogs site-wide.
- Dashboard now displays your project's moderation status via a colour-coded badge with a reason popup on tap.
- AI generate buttons animate with a shimmer sweep and burst sparkles while loading.
- Footer updated with proper PayPal logo across all pages.
Fixes
- Fixed z-index issue with AI style dropdown — panel now portals to document.body.
- Removed stale "BETA" badges from account, dashboard, and hub headings.
Technical
- New api/moderate-project.js — rule-based + Gemini-powered moderation, optional moderation_logs table, controls publish state.
- GET /api/ai?usage=1 added — fetch quota stats without consuming an action.
- Cookie HTML removed from all page bodies; injected by cookies.js (v2) with granular categories, focus trap, and a11y.
Database
- Added moderation_status, moderation_reason, last_moderated_at to projects.
- Created moderation_logs table for full audit trail of all moderation decisions.
v2.1.0
1 Mar 2026
AI Assist launched — enhance descriptions, generate card briefs, with 3-action daily limits.
New
- AI Assist in the dashboard — rewrite your page description in Professional, Shorter, Technical, or Inspiring tone.
- AI Card Brief generator — derive a concise hub card description from your full page description in one click.
- AI actions are limited to 3 per day — your remaining count is always visible in the dashboard.
- Copy Page Link button added to the dashboard for instant sharing.
- Slug preview updates live as you type the project name.
API
- New api/ai.js — Google Gemini via @google/genai, Bearer JWT required, enforces 3-per-day limit via Supabase RPC.
- Supported actions: improve_page, card_summary, project_insights.
- Debug endpoint api/models.js for listing available Gemini models (temporary).
Database
- New ai_usage table for per-user daily tracking with RLS.
- RPC consume_ai_use(max_uses) — atomic daily limit enforcement.
- RPC get_ai_usage(max_uses) — returns used/remaining counts.
- Separate card_description and page_description fields added to projects table.
Internal
- Added @google/genai ^1.43.0 to package.json.
- Gemini model configurable via GEMINI_MODEL env var (default: models/gemini-2.5-flash).
v2.0.0
Major Release
10 Feb 2026
Complete platform rebuild — Supabase auth, user dashboards, project management, dynamic hub.
Why this matters — v2.0.0 is the graduation from a static showcase to a fully dynamic platform. Any SQU student can now sign in, create a project, and publish it to the hub — zero technical setup required. This release is the foundation everything else was built on.
New
- Sign in with your SQU Google account — no password, no friction.
- New Dashboard — create, edit, and publish your project in minutes.
- New Account Settings — view your profile, export data, delete your account.
- Projects get dedicated public pages with QR codes and social sharing.
- Hub now loads projects live from the database — always up-to-date.
- Per-project page visit analytics tracking.
- Trustpilot review widget integrated on the hub.
Technical
- Integrated @supabase/supabase-js for full backend, auth, and database.
- New assets/js/supabase-client.js — shared client initialisation across all pages.
- New assets/js/auth-ui-db.js — global auth state, navbar injection, avatar support.
- Serverless functions: api/track-visit.js, api/delete-account.js.
- New lib/supabaseAdmin.js for service-role server-side operations.
Database
- Migrated from static data/projects.json to a live Supabase projects table.
- Created users, projects, page_visits_daily tables.
- Row Level Security (RLS) enabled on all user-facing tables.
v1.2.0
3 Feb 2026
Service Worker rewrite, cookie consent, offline support, and UI polish across all pages.
Improvements
- Added offline support — previously visited pages remain accessible without internet.
- Introduced the cookie consent banner — analytics only load with your explicit permission.
- Leader image replaced with an optimised WebP photo.
- Meta tags updated site-wide for better social sharing previews on all platforms.
- Oman badge added and navigation order improved for a more natural flow.
Fixes
- Fixed broken image paths in the Service Worker precache list.
- Hardened signup form validation against incomplete or malformed submissions.
Technical
- Full rewrite of service-worker.js — precaching, stale-while-revalidate runtime strategy, navigation preload, and offline.html fallback.
- Image cache capped at 60 entries with LRU eviction via recursive trimCache().
- Backdrop blur values reduced for improved performance on low-end devices.
- Full documentation suite added: implementation notes, quick reference, delivery summary, completion checklist.
v1.1.0
1 Nov 2025
Image compression to WebP, a new research page, UI polish, and Git version control introduced.
Improvements
- All images compressed and converted to WebP — pages load noticeably faster.
- New research page added for academic content.
- General UI improvements and visual polish throughout.
Internal
- Began using Git VCS — all changes tracked from this release onward.
- WebP image compression pipeline established.
- Deleted broken legacy file mobile-preview.html.
v1.0.0
Initial Launch
27 Oct 2025
NexCore Labs went live — the very first version of the platform.
The beginning — NexCore Labs launched as a static showcase for Sultan Qaboos University student projects. This version established the brand identity, design system, and core pages that every future release built upon.
New
- NexCore Labs website live at nexcorelabs.vercel.app.
- Homepage with hero, about, tools, team, and contact sections.
- Project Hub with static project card listings.
- PWA support — installable on mobile and desktop with offline caching.
Technical Foundation
- Pure HTML5 / CSS3 / vanilla JS — zero frameworks, zero dependencies.
- Custom CSS design system with --dark-base, --primary-accent, glass card components.
- Service Worker with basic precaching strategy.
- Google Analytics 4 with IP anonymisation.
- OpenGraph and Twitter Card meta tags site-wide for rich previews.
- Deployed on Vercel with automatic GitHub CI/CD integration.
