What's new in 2.6

Shepherd 2.6 runs work on a schedule, lets you talk to any session in a chat, and puts the pull requests that need you at the top of Up Next. The loop got faster too: the critic reviews while CI runs, and heavy checks take turns so the host stays responsive. On a phone, everything is now in thumb reach.

2.6 is not a breaking change. Upgrading is a normal bun run update.

Schedules

Run a prompt or /skill in a repo on fixed weekdays and times, for example /triage-feedback every weekday at 09:00. Each run starts a fresh, normal session.

• Set one up under Repo automation → Schedules.
• All schedules in one place: Settings → Schedules lists every repo’s schedules, soonest run first, with the last outcome, an on/off switch, Run now and Edit. Type schedule in the command bar to get there.
• Nothing to do, no ping: when a run finds nothing to do, the agent closes its own session. The schedule shows the run as “nothing to do” with the agent’s one-line summary.
• Ask the Assistant to set up a schedule. Your Automation permission in Settings → Assistant decides whether it asks first.
• From the CLI: shepherd schedule ls|add|run.

→ Scheduled prompts

Chat with any session

Every session has a Chat tab next to the terminal. It shows the conversation with tool calls folded in, answers prompts with buttons, and sends what you type to the terminal.

• Steers in the chat: the steer bar sits under the chat too. Shepherd’s own steers, such as CI fixes, rebases and critic findings, fold into one labelled row you can open.
• Images: drop an image anywhere in the chat to attach it.
• Pick the first tab: Settings → Device → Session opens on chooses Auto, Chat or Terminal for this device. On a phone, Auto opens the chat.

→ Session chat

Pull requests in Up Next

Up Next now leads with your open pull requests, sorted into Ready to merge, Review due, Blocked and Dependabot. Every row offers one next step: merge, review, start a fix session that rebases or fixes red CI, ask Dependabot to rebase, or approve a workflow run on GitHub.

• Merge train: pick several PRs and merge them in one train. The lens badge counts the ones ready to merge.
• Merge method: Merge ▾ picks squash, rebase or a merge commit for one PR, when the repo allows more than one.
• Stuck Dependabot PRs: when a Dependabot merge fails, its button becomes a one-click Dependabot rebase.
• Never stale: opening a PR checks it with GitHub right away. Merge and Fix stay locked until GitHub’s current answer is in.
• Fold it away: click the Pull requests header to fold the block. Up Next remembers.
• On iPhone too: the app shows the same PRs, with a merge confirmation and the Dependabot train.

A faster loop, and a phone UI for your thumb

Faster:

• The critic reviews every push, in parallel with CI. Findings arrive while CI is still running, not after the slowest check. If CI fails on the version under review, the agent gets the failure and the findings in one message.
• Heavy checks take turns. Tests, type checks and builds your agents start queue through this machine’s check slot, so the host stays responsive instead of drowning in test and browser storms. The top bar shows the slot and its queue, each card shows whether its session is checking or waiting, and Settings → Resources tunes it without a restart.
• Transient API errors retry themselves. A Claude turn cut by a transient API error is retried automatically.
• Long tasks need no splitting. A task over 8,000 characters reaches Claude Code or Codex in full, as a file.
• Plan at one effort, execute at another. With Plan Gate on, New Task has an Execution effort picker that takes over at Go.

→ Heavy checks take turns

On a phone:

• Everything in thumb reach: the top bar is a slim status line. The menu moved to the bottom bar, with Assist and New just above it.
• Gestures: pull down on the herd list to open the command bar, swipe right to close it, and pull down in New Task to pick the repo.
• Offline is obvious: when Shepherd is unreachable, the top bar says OFFLINE, the herd dims, and a notice says when the data was last live.

Everywhere:

• Merge above the steer bar: an open PR gets a row with its prerequisites (CI, critic, base, conflicts) and one Merge button that unlocks when the PR is ready.
• Plans read like documents: the pre-execution plan opens with contents on the left and the reviewer’s verdict first.
• Shelve sessions: get a session out of the way without decommissioning it. Its agent keeps running, but Shepherd stops steering, reviewing, merging and notifying until you unshelve it.

Also new

• Epic halts, fixed in place: when the sandbox, the CLI or this host keeps an epic from starting, the epic row and the repo overview name the cause and offer the fix. Bootstrap, usage, integration-branch and approval holds show their action at the row too.
• Incremental epics warn when nothing merges their child PRs and name the PR waiting on you. Drafts flag sibling issues that touch the same files without a dependency.
• Next epic: New Task’s Epic mode drafts the next epic’s prompt from the repo’s PRD.
• Projects: the bootstrap checklist is one track that starts the next phase in one click. New Project takes your PRD and design as attachments and starts the first session right away.
• One issue filter everywhere: Up Next, Backlog and New Task share a server-saved default issue filter, with per-repo exceptions under Settings → Workspace.
• Usage and held work share one panel in the top bar.
• Missing PR CI shows on the repo, with both ways out, instead of in Diagnostics.
• Codex (alpha): Codex questions appear in the question center, and GPT-6.1 Terra is in the model picker.
• Operator Assistant: pick its CLI, model and effort under Settings → Assistant, and paste screenshots into it.
• Claude Mythos is offered only when your account has it.
• CLI: shepherd new --on <machine> and --require <capability>.
• Quick-start presets per CLI are now a server setting, so every device shares them.
• iPhone: long-press the app icon to dictate or start a new task.

For the full list, see the changelog.

Upgrading

bun run update

• Heavy checks take turns by default. Agents’ tests, type checks and builds now run through the check slot. Turn it off under Settings → Resources, or set SHEPHERD_HEAVY_SLOT=0.
• The critic starts on push. It no longer waits for green CI. Merging still needs green CI and a clean review.
• Issue filters moved to the server. Your earlier filter choices were carried over.

→ Configuration