Upgrade

Upgrading rensei is a single command for Homebrew users. This page also covers the launchd plist rename that affects machines running the local daemon.

Upgrade via Homebrew

brew upgrade rensei

GoReleaser publishes a new cask on every tagged release. Homebrew's formula auto-update picks it up within minutes of a release. You can check what version you are on at any time:

rensei --version

Upgrade via direct download

If you installed via a binary download, replace the binary in place:

# macOS arm64 - adjust for your platform
curl -fsSL https://github.com/RenseiAI/releases/releases/latest/download/rensei_darwin_arm64.tar.gz \
  | tar -xz -C /usr/local/bin rensei
chmod +x /usr/local/bin/rensei
rensei --version

Launchd plist rename caveat

How to tell if you are affected

Run:

launchctl list | grep rensei

If you see dev.rensei.daemon listed, you have the legacy plist installed. If only dev.donmai.daemon is present, you are clean.

Recovery steps

launchctl bootout gui/$(id -u) ~/Library/LaunchAgents/dev.rensei.daemon.plist

rm ~/Library/LaunchAgents/dev.rensei.daemon.plist

rensei host uninstall
rensei host install

launchctl list | grep donmai
rensei host status

System-wide install

If you installed the daemon with --system (under /Library/LaunchDaemons/), substitute system/ for gui/$(id -u)/ in the launchctl bootout command and use sudo:

sudo launchctl bootout system /Library/LaunchDaemons/dev.rensei.daemon.plist
sudo rm /Library/LaunchDaemons/dev.rensei.daemon.plist
sudo rensei host uninstall --system
sudo rensei host install --system

After upgrading

After upgrading the binary, reinstall the daemon service so it picks up the new version:

rensei host uninstall && rensei host install
rensei host status

The daemon JWT at ~/.rensei/daemon.jwt is automatically wiped and re-provisioned on host install and host uninstall. It is not wiped by a bare binary upgrade - the running daemon continues to use its existing JWT until you reinstall.

Check for breaking changes

The Releases page includes a changelog for every tagged version. Breaking changes are called out explicitly. As of v0.9.0, the overdue worker, machine, execution, top-level workarea/provider/kit, and duplicate daemon aliases were deleted outright (see Host, Host Kit, Host Provider, and Host Workarea), and fleet became a hidden deprecated alias for capacity, then was removed in v0.10.0 (see Fleet (removed)). Platform-specific deprecation notices for renamed commands appear on the Releases page.

Recent releases

v0.14.22 - 2026-08-30 - Donmai v0.72.8

Rebuild against Donmai v0.72.8 (see the Donmai v0.72.8 notes). The platform API is unchanged.

Features. Canonical session names now reach native harness startup: Claude and Pi launches carry the session displayName through --name, and Codex app-server threads are created with that same name instead of an anonymous thread. The binary pins Donmai v0.72.8, which also gives rensei agent chat / rensei session prompt an --idempotency-key flag and typed durable prompt receipt client fields - see Interactive Chat and Interactive Chat - durable prompt receipt fields. The new flags are additive; --json now emits deliveryTier, disposition, idempotencyKey, code, error, recoveryAction, and missingProjectionFields when the server provides them. Do not invent additional prompt flags.

Fix. Interactive receipt-bearing sessions no longer fail with a prepared-harness authority-digest mismatch. Preflight and spawn now reconcile the resolved model profile identically via one shared helper; a drift error names the drifting projection fields (digests only, never raw credential material). The digest algorithm itself is unchanged, so receipts persisted by earlier daemons stay valid.

v0.14.21 - 2026-08-30 - receipt forwarding (per-pool opt-in)

Feature. rensei capacity pool update <pool> --receipt-forwarding on|off (see Capacity - capacity pool update and Capacity Pools - receipt forwarding). The flag accepts exactly on or off and the positional <pool> may be an exact pool id (expool_…) or an unambiguous pool name scoped to the selected organization - unknown and ambiguous names are refused before any update. Human output reports the effective state; --json emits a secret-free receipt with requestedReceiptForwarding and effectiveReceiptForwarding. When on, admission and claim receipts reach the daemon; adaptation receipts are persisted under the state home (adaptation-receipts). Forwarding stays off unless explicitly enabled.

For the full changelog, see the Releases page and the rensei-tui / donmai changelogs.

Next steps

• Install - install paths and shell completions
• Host daemon - daemon lifecycle, logs, and diagnostics