MiSTerClaw v0.7.0

Changes

OSD sub-page navigation (experimental) — Initial implementation for navigating to options inside OSD sub-menus (Audio & Video, Miscellaneous, etc.). Uses bottom-up navigation and conf_str-based position calculation. Works for many cores but not yet reliable across all configurations. Known issue: cores with runtime-hidden items (e.g. NES custom palette) can cause off-by-one navigation.

Floppy-based core support (PC-8801) — Cores that require loading a disk image and rebooting now work via the PostLaunch system. After loading the floppy via MGL, MiSTerClaw navigates the OSD to trigger a reset, allowing the core to boot from the disk. This enables launching games on the PC-8801 directly by name.

Async discovery — System and ROM discovery now runs fully in the background. The server accepts connections immediately on startup instead of blocking until the scan completes. All commands report scan-in-progress status when the game library isn't ready yet.

Recursive ROM scanning — Discovery now finds games in subdirectories, not just top-level files. Handles common layouts like X68000/GamesHDF/ or genre-sorted folders.

Bug Fixes

• MGL files now use core name (PSX.mgl instead of _launch.mgl) so MiSTer loads the correct CFG
• Sub-page separators no longer incorrectly parsed as menu items
• Separators excluded from OSD position counting
• Sub-pages entered with Enter instead of Right (which changes option values)
• MiSTer's implicit Exit menu entry accounted for in bottom-up navigation
• Rescan command no longer blocks (responds immediately, scan runs async)

v0.5.0 — Embedded Core Settings & Instant Search

Highlights

🧠 336 Embedded Core Configurations

Settings database for 336 cores built into the binary — zero setup required.

Source	Cores
MiSTer-devel	249
Jotego (jtcores)	73
va7deo (Toaplan, SNK68)	11
theypsilon	3

Use cfg-read to view any core's settings, cfg-write to modify them remotely.

⚡ Instant Search

• Full ROM file index cached to disk alongside system metadata
• Search returns results in milliseconds (was: minutes of filesystem walking)
• 86 systems, thousands of ROMs indexed in one scan

💾 Persistent Discovery Cache

• First start: scans and saves to disk (~76 seconds)
• Subsequent starts: loads from cache instantly
• rescan command to rebuild after adding games

🆕 New Commands

• rescan — Rescan ROM library, optionally for a specific drive
• reload — Reload current core to apply config changes

📦 15 MCP Tools, 11 Binaries

Server binary: 5.0 MB (includes embedded settings DB)

Full Changelog: v0.4.0...v0.5.0

v0.4.0 — Instant Search & Persistent Cache

Highlights

⚡ Instant Search (was: minutes → now: milliseconds)

• Full ROM file index cached to disk
• Search works from memory — no more filesystem walking
• 86 systems, 100K+ ROMs indexed in one scan

💾 Persistent Discovery Cache

• First startup: scans and saves to /media/fat/config/misterclaw_cache.json
• Subsequent starts: loads from cache instantly — no scanning at all
• Two-phase discovery: fast folder scan first, detailed scan in background

🔄 New Commands

• rescan — Re-scan ROM library, optionally for a specific drive (--location usb0)
• reload — Reload current core to apply config changes
• cfg-write now returns reload_required: true instead of auto-reloading

🕹️ 15 MCP Tools

Two new tools: mister_reload, mister_rescan

Full Changelog: v0.3.1...v0.4.0

v0.3.1 — Separate Reload Command

Changes

• New reload command: Reloads the current core/game to apply config changes
• cfg-write no longer auto-reloads: Returns reload_required: true instead
• Agents can now batch multiple settings changes and reload once at the end
• CLI shows "(reload core to apply)" hint after each cfg-write
• MCP tool: mister_reload — "Use after changing settings with mister_cfg_write"

Full Changelog: v0.3.0...v0.3.1

v0.3.0 — Settings, DIP Switches & Input

What's New

🎮 Virtual Keyboard Input

• OSD navigation via virtual keyboard (open, close, navigate menus)
• Named keys: osd, menu, confirm, up, down, left, right, coin, start
• Raw keycodes and key combos supported
• Pre-initialized at server start for reliable MiSTer recognition

⚙️ Core Settings (CFG + DIP Switches)

• Read settings: cfg-read shows all core options AND DIP switches with current values
• Write settings: cfg-write routes automatically to .CFG or .dip file
• Automatic backup before every write
• Unified query: one command shows everything about the current core's configuration

📋 CONF_STR Database

• 249 MiSTer-devel cores indexed with full OSD menu structure
• osd-info: show complete OSD menu for any core
• osd-visible: show only currently visible menu items based on CFG state
• Fuzzy core name matching (LCS + subsequence)

🕹️ MCP Tools (now 13)

• mister_input: send keyboard input
• mister_osd_info: query OSD menu structure
• mister_osd_visible: visible menu items
• mister_cfg_read: read core settings
• mister_cfg_write: modify core settings

Full Changelog: v0.2.0...v0.3.0

👾🦀 MiSTerClaw v0.2.0

What's New

🎉 MCP Server

MiSTerClaw is now an MCP (Model Context Protocol) server! Connect any MCP-compatible AI agent — Claude Desktop, ChatGPT, OpenClaw, Hermes, Cursor — directly to your MiSTer-FPGA.

🔍 Dynamic System Detection

Auto-discovers all systems by scanning ROM folders, cores, and MGL files. No configuration needed — 70+ systems detected automatically.

📊 Background Discovery

System scanning runs in the background at startup. No more blocking on first request.

🏗️ Multi-Platform Binaries

• MiSTer server: Linux ARM7
• CLI + MCP: Linux (amd64, arm64, arm7), macOS (Apple Silicon, Intel)

📦 Binaries

Binary	What	Runs on
misterclaw-linux-arm7	Server	MiSTer-FPGA
misterclaw-send-*	CLI client	Your machine
misterclaw-mcp-*	MCP server	Your machine

Renamed

Project renamed from clawexec-mister-fpga to MiSTerClaw.