# Changelog – August 6, 2026

> Source: <https://blog.val.town/changelog-2026-08-06>
> Published: 2026-08-06 00:00:00+00:00

Many changes [since early July](/changelog-2026-07-02): new docs site, new Discover page, new Townie models, new app layout, and more.

## Docfooding

The Val Town [docs](https://docs.val.town/) are now written and hosted
[on Val Town](https://www.val.town/x/valdottown/docs). You can read about that
[docfooding](/docfooding) effort on the blog.

## Discover

To dislodge your codewriter's block, we have a new
[Discover](https://val.town/discover) page on val.town with templates, staff
picks, and integrations.

## Whack-a-model

DeepSeek V4 Flash is now Townie's default model. It's ~100x cheaper and roughly
as intelligent as Opus. We also added Fable 5 and Opus 5 to Townie, because to
each her own. The game of
[whack-a-model](https://blog.val.town/glm5.2-and-sonnet5) persists, though, with
[Qwen 3.8 atop the charts today](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49200652).

## ChatGPT Plugin + AGENTS.md

After adding our plugin to Claude's official marketplace last month, we did the
same for
[Codex](https://docs.val.town/guides/prompting/openai-codex)/[ChatGPT](https://docs.val.town/guides/prompting/chatgpt).

One more piece of news in agentland: we now
[support](https://blog.val.town/agents-dot-md) the `AGENTS.md`

[convention](https://agents.md) via a special `.config`

val. Those agent
instructions are injected into Townie chats and MCP sessions.

## Layout

Jackson redesigned and implemented new val.town global navigation app chrome. There's now an org switcher, left sidebar, searchable val dashboard, and an updated footer.

## Tags!

You can now add tags to vals in val settings.

## Monograms

Vals now have little placeholder monograms instead of defaulting to your profile picture as the val's image.

## Environment variables

Environment variable groups are now accessible through our API — create, update,
and attach environment variables for your org. Thanks to our friends at
[Herd](https://herd.eco/home) for the feature request.

You can also now show and hide secrets while editing environment variables in the UI.

## Sprig Sans

We've been sprinkling [Sprig Sans](https://www.fairetype.com/fonts/sprig-sans),
the typeface on our new homepage, across other pages. Gosh, type foundries
always have the coolest websites.

## std/openai

We updated the [std/openai](https://www.val.town/x/std/openai) val to use
OpenAI's latest models.

## MCP branching tools

New MCP tools: `merge_branch`

and `delete_branch`

. That's 54 tools now, so Steve
made some [docs](https://mcp-docs.val.run/) (in a val, ofc).

## HTTP analytics

HTTP analytics in a val now have more useful x-axis time labels.

## Lightning round

- PRs for vals now show the author's handle instead of their org's name
- We fixed a bug where some Pro users were seeing the wrong Townie limits in settings
- You can now link to a val's Connections page (and its other pages, like env
vars) in its README by writing markdown, like
`[Connect to Slack](/connections)`

- The first HTTP file in a val is now auto-pinned so that a preview will appear on the val's home page. You can change a val's pinned HTTP file in settings
- When creating a val, we now present an inline warning when a val description is
too long. Thanks
[Nico](https://nicobaier.com/)for the suggestion - We fixed a tiny text overflow problem in Townie, e.g. when rendering long URLs
- The MCP server can now directly upload blobs up to 1 MB, or 10 MB if the blob is hosted at a URL
- We fixed the CLI command to rename an org
- The Townie/MCP system prompt now documents val transfers between orgs
- Code search is now available on public vals (thanks,
[Nico](https://nicobaier.com/), for reporting)

**We're hiring!**

Are you an infra engineer who cares about the joy of programming?