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Changelog

Read below for more information on each version of Esca Automations.

v1.7.0​

New features​

  • Added canvas annotations to the automation builder, letting notes be attached directly to nodes with rope-style tethers, editable text, and color coding. Also added categories for automation templates, making it easier to find a starting point for a new automation.
  • Added a diagnostic that flags when a connected CMS is running a version that doesn't match, replacing the scattered, hard-to-diagnose symptoms that previously resulted from a version mismatch.
  • Made outbound HTTP behavior during Dry Run an explicit, configurable setting instead of an implicit one.
  • Added the ability to rename nodes on the automation builder canvas.
  • Redesigned variable binding to combine a free-text field that accepts direct typing with pickers that preview the resolved value, replacing the previous picker-only interface.

Improvements​

  • Automation runs shown on the Activity card now open the run's workflow and display details on hover.
  • Restyled the automation History pane with status badges, author avatars, and a page navigator.
  • The automations list now indicates which automations are archived.
  • Moved Esca Automations' CMS chrome into an opt-in module rather than applying it by default.
  • Stopping a run now records what the run actually completed before it stopped, and the stop action is acknowledged immediately instead of waiting on the next poll.
  • Added configurable limits on script sandbox memory, CPU, and value sizes to prevent a single script from degrading performance for other runs.
  • Improved node-editor pane resizing performance when the pane contains embedded objects, eliminating lag.

v1.6.0​

New features​

  • Added opt-in resilience policies for nodes, allowing retry and circuit-breaker behavior to be configured per node instead of relying on default behavior.
  • Added automation run notifications.
  • Added a cross-automation AI approvals inbox, giving human-in-the-loop reviewers a single place to approve or reject actions the local AI agent wants to take across all automations.
  • Automations now retain version history and a change audit log.
  • Added automation export and import, with soft validation that warns about issues instead of blocking the import outright.
  • Added Query Driven Execution, which runs an automation against the set of content matched by a query.
  • Added a live activity strip to the automation pane showing recent runs.
  • Added an on-demand trigger widget with a cooldown indicator, showing when a manually fired trigger becomes available again.
  • Node output can now be referenced as a whole payload, rather than requiring individual fields to be selected.

Improvements​

  • Browser tab titles are now consistently formatted as "[page] | Esca Automations."
  • Added a toggle to show full timestamps in the runs list.
  • The AI response in chat now renders as formatted text instead of raw markdown.
  • Enlarged the connection dots in the flow builder for easier clicking.
  • Enlarged the Esca chatbot avatar.
  • Refreshed AI icons with an animated brand sparkle.
  • Automations created from a template now get distinct default names instead of duplicate ones.

v1.5.0​

New features​

  • Added an AI Condition node, letting a condition's branch be decided by an AI evaluation instead of a fixed expression.
  • Added trigger fire conditions, which gate whether an automation fires at the moment a webhook is received, rather than always starting a run for every webhook.
  • Added a Log action node for writing custom messages to a run's execution log.

Improvements​

  • The node edit pane can now be resized larger.
  • Restored the site switcher in the CMS header.
  • Restyled the Last Run tab's empty states and the affordance for viewing a run.
  • Styled and componentized the in-tool human-in-the-loop response surface.
  • Made several small refinements to the Email node's label, the cost savings override form, and navigation ordering.

v1.4.0​

New features​

  • Added default-site scoping to CMS connections, so a connection can be limited to a specific site.
  • Added Estimated Cost Savings, showing an estimate of the time or cost an automation has saved.
  • Added Work In Progress snapshots to the automation flow editor, so in-progress edits are preserved.

Improvements​

  • Added icons to the CMS navigation and flattened single-tool sections in the nav.
  • The chat empty state now shows the Esca avatar with a greeting popover.
  • Folded the CMS header into the nav column on all tool pages.

v1.3.0​

New features​

  • Added AI agents as a node type, along with a library of automation templates, expanded run observability, and usage tracking across automations.
  • Added an automation-specific delegated permission for content types.

Improvements​

  • Agent lists now use the shared Brightspot UI pagination component in the sticky footer.
  • Restyled Agent cards using shared Brightspot UI components, including card shadows and status badges.
  • Added the Esca logo to the CMS tool header.

v1.2.0​

Improvements​

  • Moved automation list pagination into a sticky footer.
  • Improved the AI builder.
  • Improved automation graph performance.
  • The node view model now syncs to the canvas without a full page reload.
  • Made the workflow run pane resizable.
  • Renamed the product from Otto to Esca throughout the UI and AI prompts.
  • Restyled run-mode buttons using the shared Brightspot UI button group.

v1.1.0​

New features​

  • Added run-time inspection tabs to the automation builder pane.

Improvements​

  • Made the automation pane resizable.

v1.0.0​

The initial release introduced the automation builder and its core building blocks.

New features​

  • Added a service account OAuth installation flow for CMS connections.
  • Added Dry Run, which previews an automation's execution without side effects.
  • Added the payload structure and variable system for passing data between nodes, along with an OpenAPI action node.
  • Added node output mapping, error handles, and a redesigned data transformer for reshaping data between nodes.
  • Added a Script node, powered by GraalVM, for running custom logic during an automation.
  • Added an execution log viewer for inspecting what happened during a run.
  • Added a fan-out execution model, allowing a single node to spawn parallel branches of execution.
  • Added the ability to manually resume a run mid-workflow using execution-context actions.
  • Added the initial set of triggers and content actions, with trigger names phrased in the past tense (for example, "Content Published") to describe the event that already occurred.
  • Added an AI Agent action and a Script condition node.
  • Added an HTTP Request action, a variable resolver for embedded fields, and an execution output viewer.
  • Added variables and secrets, for storing and reusing values — including sensitive credentials — across an automation.
  • Added a Jira integration and initial resilience infrastructure (retries and circuit breakers) for node execution.
  • Added a human-in-the-loop framework for AI agents, a Slack provider for approvals, and streaming AI agent responses.
  • Added an Email action that doesn't require a saved connection, along with a direct-send Slack action.
  • Added Loops, for repeating a set of actions over a list of items.
  • Added an Automation action and a completion trigger, letting one automation call another and react when it finishes.
  • Added an Expression condition node with a shared set of comparison operators.
  • Added OAuth support for generic connections, not just the built-in integrations.
  • Added a Remote AI Agent action that runs on a connected CMS instead of locally.
  • Added site-scoped access boundaries, per-page permissions, and a dedicated view for managing content types.
  • Added a Stop button for canceling an automation mid-run.
  • AI Agent nodes can now be constrained to return output matching a defined schema.

Improvements​

  • Automation run history is automatically archived to keep run queries fast over time.
  • Removed the iframe used for node editing, improving reliability of the node editor.
  • Restructured the automation builder's layout for a clearer editing experience.
  • Added distinct icons for each node type, sourced automatically from a brand-icon service where applicable.
  • Automation runs now show who or what triggered them.
  • A single Jira connection can now back multiple webhook triggers.
  • Added a daily snapshot of active automations to usage metrics.
  • Hardened the automation engine's resilience and scaling behavior.
  • AI Create's activity log can now be shared, and its agent instructions adapt to the active connection.
  • Added summary fields to AI agent output.
  • The navigation rail and sub-navigation are expanded by default on first visit.

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