GuideVault LaunchBox Connector 0.4.28

Features and updates since 0.4.27

Reimagined connector interface

• Rebuilt the connector as a full desktop companion interface instead of a log-driven utility.
• Added dedicated pages for:
  • Dashboard
  • Content Sync
  • Match Studio
  • Settings
  • Log
  • About
• Increased the default window size and improved high-DPI scaling and responsive layouts.
• Connector now opens to the Dashboard by default.
• Removed the visible command-prompt-style workflow from normal use.

Dashboard

• Added visual overview statistics for:
  • Synchronized systems
  • Imported LaunchBox games
  • Matched games
  • Missing games
  • Manual coverage
  • Strategy-guide coverage
  • Magazine coverage
  • Items requiring review
• Added graphical coverage and progress bars.
• Added a synchronization progress card with a doughnut-style progress indicator.
• Added collapsible synchronization details.
• Added live metrics for:
  • Current game
  • Games checked
  • Matches
  • Ambiguous results
  • Missing items
  • Errors
• Added styled synchronization activity output using a modern monospaced font.
• Moved Dashboard refresh to a compact header control.
• Removed the old Quick Actions panel and redundant Open GuideVault button.
• Relocated Sync Library and Cancel Sync controls into the synchronization progress area.

Unified Content Sync

• Consolidated Manuals, Strategy Guides, and Magazines into one Content Sync workspace.
• Added a medium selector for choosing the content type being synchronized.
• Added a platform checklist with:
  • Select All
  • Uncheck All
  • Sync Selected Systems
• Platform selections are remembered separately for each content medium.
• Platform coverage refreshes automatically after connection, synchronization, or medium changes.
• Removed the manual Refresh Platforms button.
• Fixed cases where switching content medium could become stuck or show stale results.
• Added cancellation of obsolete platform requests so older responses cannot overwrite the current selection.

Platform Games review

• Added an in-app Platform Games page rather than opening a separate popup window.
• Added Back navigation to return to the platform list.
• Added per-game status visibility for:
  • Matched
  • Suggested match
  • Needs review
  • Unmatched
  • Unknown
• Added search and status filtering.
• Added LaunchBox game cover thumbnails.
• Added GuideVault matched-document cover thumbnails.
• Added larger cover previews when hovering over thumbnails.
• Added per-game actions:
  • Match
  • Review suggestion
  • Change match
  • Unlink
• Platform results automatically refresh after a match is confirmed, changed, rejected, undone, or unlinked.
• Suggested matches are now distinguished from confirmed links.
• Games only show as reviewable when GuideVault actually returned candidate documents.
• Added candidate counts and candidate artwork for suggested matches.

Bulk suggestion unlinking

• Added an optional Bulk Unlink mode.
• Added multi-selection checkboxes for suggested matches.
• Added Unlink Selected with a live selected-item count.
• Confirmed links are excluded from bulk suggestion unlinking.
• Added themed confirmation and completion dialogs.
• Added a dedicated modal progress window showing:
  • Current game
  • Completed item count
  • Progress bar
  • Platform refresh status
• Added partial-failure reporting for individual games.
• Platform Games automatically refreshes after the operation completes.

Match Studio

• Added a side-by-side comparison between the LaunchBox game and GuideVault document candidates.
• Added ranked recommended-match cards showing:
  • Document cover
  • Game title
  • Platform/system
  • Content type
  • Release year
  • Publisher
  • Match status
  • Confidence score
  • Match explanation
• Added visual confidence labels for strong, moderate, and weak matches.
• Added actions for:
  • Confirm
  • Reject
  • Undo
  • Preview
  • Manual search
  • Direct matching
• Added manual GuideVault search from inside Match Studio.
• Search now runs only when the user presses Search or Enter.
• Added a visible loading animation while results are being retrieved.
• Added support for using the game currently selected in LaunchBox.
• The LaunchBox selection is read live when the button is pressed rather than relying on stale state.
• Added automatic return to Platform Games after matching workflows.
• Improved card sizing and responsive button layouts.
• Reduced clipping of game metadata and recommended-result details.

Matching improvements

• Improved ranked candidate quality using:
  • Exact normalized titles
  • Similar title matching
  • Platform agreement
  • Release-year agreement
  • Publisher agreement
• Added penalties for platform and year conflicts.
• Added Roman numeral normalization, such as IV matching 4.
• Added supplemental searching only when the server’s initial candidates are weak or incomplete.
• Added caching for LaunchBox game data, match details, and document images.
• Added cancellation of obsolete image and match requests.
• Improved matching speed by showing server-ranked results immediately while supplemental work continues.
• Added clearer separation between confirmed links and unconfirmed suggestions.

Cover and preview improvements

• Added multiple authenticated GuideVault cover and first-page fallback endpoints.
• Added local image caching and parallel cover loading.
• Removed misleading LaunchBox game-art fallback images from recommended document matches.
• Match Studio now displays either:
  • Genuine GuideVault document artwork, or
  • An empty cover state when no valid document image is available
• Added stale item-ID recovery by searching GuideVault for the current document.
• Added hover previews positioned beside the mouse cursor.
• Added separate previews for LaunchBox game artwork and GuideVault document artwork.

Settings and connection health

• Moved Connection Health from the Dashboard into Settings.
• Made Connection Health collapsible and collapsed by default.
• Added independent health indicators for:
  • GuideVault server reachability
  • Authentication
  • API compatibility
  • Administrator permissions
  • LaunchBox database access
  • Synchronized server data
  • Transport security
  • Last diagnostic check
• Added automatic health refresh when Settings opens, after sign-in, and after sign-out.
• Improved Settings spacing, field alignment, and panel sizing.

• Renamed the embedded reader option to:

  Borderless fullscreen (Embedded WebView2)

Authentication

• Added username sign-in support in addition to email sign-in.
• Added compatibility aliases for older and newer GuideVault login request formats.
• Improved encrypted credential and session reuse.
• Added better authentication recovery and clearer connection diagnostics.
• Kept stored credentials encrypted locally.

Reader launching

• Improved discovery of GuideVaultReaderLauncher.exe.
• Added fallback browser launching when the reader helper cannot be found or started.
• Added guarded startup handling so reader-launch failures display useful errors.
• Ensured the reader helper launches without a console window.
• Improved authentication reuse when opening manuals, strategy guides, and magazines.

Reliability and packaging

• Added compile-check projects for Match Studio and the main connector window.
• Expanded smoke-test coverage.
• Added startup guards to prevent one failed panel from crashing the entire connector.
• Improved null handling and asynchronous request management.
• Added package verification for:
  • Connector version
  • Duplicate DLLs
  • Required assets
  • Reader launcher presence
  • Private runtime files
• Added privacy-safe distribution packaging that excludes:
  • Settings
  • Authentication sessions
  • WebView2 profiles
  • Debug symbols
  • Local LaunchBox paths
  • Source-control metadata
• Updated the connector version to 0.4.28.