Release 1.2.0

Release Date: March 10, 2026

🎉 What's New

Multi-Language Support

• The extension now automatically displays in your browser's language
• Currently supports English and Spanish
• All interface elements are now translated, including menus, buttons, and settings

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Reading Copilot now adapts to your browser's language setting automatically.

Release 1.1.1

Release Date: February 14, 2026

🐛 Bug Fixes

Error Handling Improvements

• Fixed error display issue: Errors from the AI service (like "overloaded" errors) are now properly displayed to users instead of showing generic "No response received" messages
• Better error propagation: Error events from the backend are now correctly handled and displayed in the sidebar
• Improved error tracking: Added flag to track when error events are received to prevent fallback error messages from overriding actual errors

User-Friendly Error Messages

• AI service error messages: Users now see clear, actionable error messages when the AI service encounters issues:
  • Overloaded errors: "AI service is currently overloaded. Please wait a moment and try again."
  • Rate limit errors: "AI service rate limit exceeded. Please try again in a few moments."
  • Authentication errors: "AI service authentication failed. Please check your API configuration."
• Network error messages: Improved error messages for network connectivity issues with specific guidance
• Server error messages: Better HTTP status code handling with user-friendly explanations

✨ Improvements

Backend Logging Enhancements

• Comprehensive request tracking: Added request ID tracking for each API call to improve debugging
• Detailed error logging: Enhanced error logs now include:
  • Request context (word, userId, language)
  • Error stack traces
  • Request duration
  • User-friendly error messages alongside raw error details
• Streaming error logging: Improved logging for errors that occur during streaming responses
• Request lifecycle logging: Added logs at key points (start, parsing, API call, completion, errors)

Error Message Parsing

• Anthropic error parsing: Added intelligent parsing of Anthropic API errors to extract user-friendly messages
• Error type mapping: Maps technical error types to understandable user messages
• Fallback error handling: Graceful handling of unexpected error formats

🔄 What's Changed

• Error handling flow: Improved error event handling in the service worker to prevent fallback messages from overriding actual errors
• Backend error processing: Enhanced error parsing and user-friendly message generation in the backend API
• Logging infrastructure: Added comprehensive logging throughout the request lifecycle for better debugging and monitoring

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This release focuses on improving error handling and user experience when things go wrong. Users will now see clear, actionable error messages instead of generic error text, making it easier to understand what happened and what to do next.

Release 1.1.0

Release Date: February 13, 2026

🎉 Major Features

Sidebar Refactoring & Modularization

• Complete sidebar redesign: Improved sidebar with better organization and performance
• Removed popup functionality: All popup features have been moved to the sidebar settings view for easier access
• Sidebar toggle functionality: Click the extension icon to toggle the sidebar open or closed
• Improved interactions: Better handling of sidebar interactions and click detection

User Tracking & Usage Logging

• Improved service reliability: Enhanced backend infrastructure for better performance
• Anonymous usage tracking: We now track usage patterns anonymously to improve the service (see Privacy Policy for details)
• Privacy policy updates: Updated privacy policy to reflect our data collection practices

Context Menu Integration

• Right-click context menu: Quick access to word meanings via context menu
• Find Meaning button: Floating button appears on text selection
• Chrome icon click: Extension icon click opens meaning sidebar

Explanation Language Setting

• Language selector: Choose your preferred explanation language from the sidebar settings
• Smart defaults: Automatically detects and uses your browser language if not set
• Persistent settings: Your language preference is saved and remembered

🐛 Bug Fixes

LLM Request Management

• Improved request handling: Word lookup requests are now properly cancelled when you close the sidebar
• Better performance: Prevents incomplete data from being saved, ensuring accurate results

CSS Isolation

• Fixed CSS conflicts: Extension styles no longer affect web pages when the extension is disabled
• Better page compatibility: Extension CSS is only applied when reader mode is active
• Gradient text fix: Fixed issue where gradient text would become invisible on some websites

Cache Improvements

• Fixed cache issues: Resolved problems where similar words would show incorrect cached results
• Better cache accuracy: Improved caching system ensures accurate word lookups

Find Meaning Button Fixes

• Fixed button reliability: The "Find Meaning" button now works consistently every time you click it
• Better positioning: Button position updates correctly when scrolling the page
• Improved sidebar behavior: Sidebar now reopens properly when using the Find Meaning button

✨ Improvements

Settings UI Enhancements

• Recent Finds section: Shows up to 10 cached words with "show more" button
• Cache-only display: Recent finds only display words with cached meanings (no LLM calls)
• Removed saved word count card: Cleaner settings interface
• Vertical alignment fix: Fixed Explanation Language setting alignment

Word Processing

• Full phrase saving: When you select a word that's part of a phrasal verb or idiom, the full phrase is now saved correctly
  • Example: Selecting 'scoping' from 'scope out' now saves 'scope out' with the correct type

🔄 What's Changed

• Popup removed: The extension popup has been removed. All features are now accessible through the sidebar
• Improved performance: Better caching and request handling for faster word lookups
• Better compatibility: Extension styles no longer interfere with website designs

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This release includes significant improvements to performance, reliability, and user experience. We've refactored the sidebar for better organization, improved caching for faster lookups, and fixed several bugs that were affecting user interactions.