Changelog

New Features

• Hardware-Accelerated Graphics: Remote graphics are now delivered over the RDP Graphics Pipeline with H.264 decoding on by default, replacing the legacy software rendering path for smoother, more efficient sessions.
• In-App Help & Diagnostics: A new Help overlay shows the app version, key session shortcuts, and where to find your crash log — no need to dig through folders to file a useful bug report.
• Redesigned Session Toolbar: The floating Disconnect / Ctrl+Alt+Del bar now auto-hides, can be dragged to reposition, and can be pinned in place, so it no longer permanently covers your remote desktop.
• Local Crash Diagnostics: Unexpected crashes are now logged locally with useful context, so a report can be attached without needing to reproduce the issue live.
• Keyboard-Accessible Interface: The server list, session tabs, and toolbar are now fully operable from the keyboard — Tab to move between them, Enter or Space to activate, and Delete or F2 on a focused server entry to delete or rename it, no mouse required.

Improvements

• Stable Audio During Resize: Resizing the window no longer interrupts remote audio playback.
• New Beta Release Channel: Builds are now published as permanent, versioned releases instead of a rolling alpha build, so past versions stay available and issues can be traced to a specific build.
• Smoother Entra ID Certificate Renewals: When your organization routinely rotates its Entra ID certificate, VesselRDP now shows a calm "certificate renewed" notice instead of an alarming security warning — a genuinely new or unexpected certificate still stops you and asks for confirmation.
• Self-Healing Local Storage: If VesselRDP's local database or trusted-certificate store is ever corrupted — for example after an unclean shutdown — it now automatically sets the damaged file aside and starts fresh instead of refusing to launch or failing every certificate check.
• More Reliable Clipboard Sync on Redirected Sessions: Fixed an issue where a session redirected through a connection broker (common with Azure Virtual Desktop) could leave clipboard sync in an inconsistent state, occasionally causing copy/paste to behave unpredictably.

Privacy & Security

• Stronger Credential Protection: The local credential encryption key's file permissions are now re-verified every time it's read, not just when it's created, closing a window where a misconfigured backup or process could silently weaken protection.
• Tightened Certificate Trust Rules: Closed a narrow edge case in certificate-rotation handling to keep trust-on-first-use protections strict.
• Codec Licensing Compliance: Fixed an issue that could unintentionally bundle an optional video codec library not covered by the AppImage's licensing terms.
• Software Bill of Materials: Every beta release now ships with a verifiable software bill of materials (SBOM), so you can see exactly what's inside a download.

Bug Fixes

• Caps Lock Sync: Caps Lock state now correctly reflects on the remote session.
• Clipboard Session Crash: Fixed a crash that could occur when disconnecting a session with clipboard sync enabled.
• Azure AD / Entra ID Sign-In: Sign-in no longer hangs indefinitely on a stalled login window, and no longer fails when launched alongside certain Snap-packaged apps in the same terminal.
• Background Tab Errors: A connection error in a background tab no longer interrupts whatever you're doing in the active tab.
• Accurate Credential Storage Status: The credential badge no longer claims a password is backed up locally when it isn't — it now only reports storage locations that actually exist.
• Clearer First-Time Guidance: The empty state shown before you've added any servers now actually tells you how to add your first connection, instead of pointing at a sidebar with nothing in it.

New Features

• Locally-Rendered Cursor: Your mouse cursor now moves instantly, matching your local hardware exactly — no more waiting on the network to see it respond. Only the cursor's appearance (a text-select beam, a resize arrow, a loading spinner) is synced from the remote desktop; where it points is always driven by your own mouse.

Licensing

• License Update: To ensure sustainable development and long-term enterprise support, VesselRDP has transitioned to a commercial proprietary licensing model.

Privacy & Security

• Crash Diagnostics: Crash reporting is now strictly opt-out. We employ rigorous PII minimization protocols, automatically stripping user, hostname, and request contexts before telemetry is transmitted.
• Credential Security & Failure Alerts: If local credential encryption fails, it is no longer silently ignored. The application will warn you explicitly, ensuring your credentials are never saved in cleartext or lost.

Improvements

• Credential Storage Indicator: Added a status badge inside the server connection settings to show exactly where your password is saved (OS Keyring vs. Local Fallback Database) for improved transparency.
• Linux System Portability: Enhanced support for running the Microsoft Entra ID (Azure AD) authentication webview on NixOS and non-x86 architectures (such as ARM64).
• Actionable Permissions Warnings: Warning messages for credential key files now display the absolute system path instead of shorthand notations, making it easier to resolve configuration issues.

Bug Fixes

• Multi-Tab Reliability: Resolved a database lockup issue that occurred during concurrent tab connections, preventing duplicate certificate verification prompts.
• Connection Loop Stability: Fixed potential memory leaks and native application crashes during remote channel teardowns.

New Features

• Remote Audio Playback: Full support for high-fidelity audio playback from the remote host to the local endpoint.
• Audio Device Redirection: Added robust support for local microphone redirection, enabling seamless audio conferencing within remote sessions. Includes an always-visible privacy indicator when capture is active.
• Microsoft Entra ID Integration: Seamless authentication against Microsoft Entra ID (formerly Azure AD) environments, now fully supported natively on our Linux distributions.
• Enhanced Session UI: The session control bar now supports intelligent auto-hiding to maximize remote viewport visibility, alongside draggable repositioning and permanent pinning capabilities.

Improvements

• Actionable Connection Diagnostics: Replaced generic error codes with human-readable connection diagnostics, providing administrators and end-users with clear remediation paths for authentication and network failures.
• Streamlined Linux Deployment: Introduced universal AppImage distribution, enabling immediate, dependency-free execution across all supported Linux environments.
• Security & Resilience Enhancements: Hardened certificate validation protocols to strictly prevent man-in-the-middle interception. Additionally, optimized startup sequences to prevent concurrent instance lockouts.

Bug Fixes

• Input Synchronization: Resolved a synchronization issue affecting Caps Lock state between the local endpoint and the remote host.
• Authentication Resilience: Fixed a potential application hang during Microsoft Entra ID authentication under constrained network conditions.
• Session Termination Stability: Resolved a rare segmentation fault occurring during the teardown of clipboard-enabled sessions.

Known Issues

• Audio Stream Interruptions: We are tracking a known issue where resizing the application viewport may temporarily interrupt remote audio playback until a session reconnect is initiated.