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Release Notes 2.0.1

Skulk 2.0.1 makes capabilities install like apps. Open Plugins on any install (the Mac app, Homebrew, the Linux packages, or the source installer), browse the Foxlight capability store, review what a capability may do, and install it with one consent. There is no terminal, no administrator password, and nothing to paste, and a capability that needs no settings turns itself on. Installed capabilities keep working across Skulk updates and app moves, and image and video models appear in the model catalog by default.

Every node in a cluster must run the same version, so update the whole cluster to 2.0.1 together.

Highlights​

  • The Foxlight capability store is built in. Plugins → Browse lists skulkapps.foxlight.ai with nothing to set up. Skulk verifies the store's publishers through a trust root shipped inside Skulk and renews that trust by itself; a revoked publisher or release stops. Each card says whether a release fits this host, and the review shows the capability's permissions, its screens, and whether any action can spend money. A private catalog still works through Add a private catalog.

  • Plugins work on every install path, with no terminal. The first time Plugins opens on a host, Skulk sets up its plugin service for your user (a launchd agent on macOS, a systemd user unit on Linux) and shows its progress. The Mac app and the Linux packages support plugins for the first time. skulk-plugin-service setup --system still registers a system service for hosts that run unattended, and hosts already running one keep it.

  • Installing finishes the job. After an install, a capability that needs no settings turns itself on and the page ends on Open for its screen, which opens in a new tab. A capability that needs something first says exactly what, with one button for it. A stopped install offers Retry instead of leaving a stray entry behind. Settings, setup checks and the plugin drawer were redesigned so each shows the plugin's name, a clear status, and one obvious next step, with the technical details behind Details.

  • Updates no longer break installed capabilities. A capability release declares the Skulk versions it runs on, so a Skulk update inside that range keeps it running, and an app update or move no longer forces a reinstall. While Skulk refreshes its plugin service after an update, Plugins says so ("Skulk was updated. Updating the plugin service to match") instead of showing errors, and installed plugins and their settings are kept.

  • Image and video models in the catalog by default. FLUX.1 and Qwen-Image, and MiniMax H3 video, appear without any launch setting, so the packaged apps can use them. The video engine (about 7 GB) installs the first time a video model is placed on a Linux node with an NVIDIA or AMD Strix Halo GPU, and the placement dialog, the Model Store's quick launch, and the instance card all say so beforehand.

  • Clearer placement refusals. When no machine in the cluster has the hardware a model needs, placement says so in plain words, for example "it needs an Apple Silicon Mac".

Fixes​

  • Starting Skulk on a new Mac no longer opens a dialog offering to install Apple's command line developer tools.
  • A capability with optional settings could not be turned on from the dashboard; it now can, and its settings form shows every field.
  • Capabilities install on Linux hosts whose Python was installed under Ubuntu's default umask (installs used to stop after the download with "needs recovery").
  • The Mac app's plugin service is listed as Skulk in Login Items, not as python3.13.
  • An installed capability's store card names this computer's build of the release, not another platform's.
  • Updating a model in the model store no longer leaves placements on the old card or gets nodes refused by the store.
  • A model whose files are incomplete fails as a download failure that says what is missing, instead of as a model-trust refusal.
  • The dashboard build uses the stable Node.js 24.19.0 LTS, and Skulk's Python dependencies resolve to stable releases only.

Upgrade notes​

  • Update every node to 2.0.1 together; mixed versions are not supported.
  • The capability store uses catalog protocol 2, which 2.0.0 cannot read, so capabilities from the store need 2.0.1 or later. A capability installed on 2.0.0 was built for that exact Skulk build; install its current release from the store after updating.
  • SKULK_ENABLE_IMAGE_MODELS=false and SKULK_ENABLE_VIDEO_MODELS=false hide image or video models on a node that should not show them.
  • The Linux packages now carry uv, which the video engine install uses; a node that runs video models also needs git.

Known issues​

  • Removing the Mac app by moving it to the Trash leaves its plugin service registered. brew uninstall --cask skulk removes it; after a manual removal, turn it off under System Settings → General → Login Items & Extensions → Allow in the Background. The install guide also covers removing it with the Linux packages.
  • On a Mac with 16 to 24 GB of memory, a large model running beside other apps can make macOS swap, which slows generation noticeably. Close large apps, run one model at a time, or choose a smaller model.