ARC 2026.02.14.01 (Pro, Runtime And Free)

Buckle up - this release is packed with quality-of-life upgrades, stability fixes, performance improvements, and a few behind-the-scenes changes that make ARC behave better across robot skills, scripting, Blockly, and Windows window management.

Highlights

Global Variables Got Smarter (and Safer)

• Deep copy on SetVarObject
  SetVarObject now performs an internal deep copy of the global value.
  This means:

  • Global variables are safe to share across robot skills
  • No more accidental mutation from holding onto the original instance
  • Cross-skill usage is now deterministic and stable

• Global Variable Descriptions (New Feature)
  Global variables now support a description field:

  • Descriptions can be set from scripting using SetVar()
  • Robot skills can provide descriptions when setting variables
  • Descriptions appear in the Global Variable list UI
  • Descriptions are optional and only applied when provided
  • All built-in ARC features and robot skills that set globals now include descriptions

Performance & Stability

JavaScript & Python Editor Improvements

• Rendering performance improved by caching reusable objects
• Fixed a memory/performance issue where keypress event subscriptions were not being unsubscribed during dispose

Robot Skill Config Save Reliability

• Improved error handling when applying configuration values to robot skill settings
• Prevents silent failures and makes bad config values easier to diagnose

Blockly Improvements

Control Command Block Enhancements

• Control command block now includes all control commands instead of filtering the list
• Utility section ControlCommand block has been upgraded:
  • Dropdown selects a command template from all robot skills
  • The command text is now editable after selection
  • Allows full customization while keeping templates as a starting point

Embedded Browser Parsing Fix

• Fixed parsing issues with the latest embedded browser version used by Blockly

Control Command Quoting

• Fixed quoting in ControlCommand lists to prevent malformed commands

Window Manager Overhaul (Big UX Upgrade)

Modal Dialog Windows Are Now Properly Owned

ARC’s window manager received a major upgrade:

• Modal popup windows are now glued to their parent window
• Alt-tabbing keeps all ARC windows grouped correctly
• Prevents modal dialogs from:
  • Getting lost behind other apps
  • Appearing as separate tasks in the Windows task manager

Impact:

• Windows 11 users will notice this immediately (big improvement)
• Windows 10 users likely won’t notice a visible change - but benefit from more robust behavior

Embedded Browser Debugging Enhancements

• Added more detailed embedded browser error information to the Debug Log
• Removed the toggle to enable embedded browser debugging
  • Debugging is now always enabled so ARC can track breaking changes from Microsoft updates
• Added shortcut to open embedded browser dev tools:
  • Alt + Ctrl + F12
  • The embedded browser must be focused for the shortcut to work

Internal Improvements

• Discussion and groundwork around cloning set objects
  (Internal safety and lifecycle improvements continue here)
• Internal dialog management changes improve long-term stability and user experience

Bug Fixes Summary

• Fixed embedded browser parsing issues in Blockly
• Fixed ControlCommand quoting
• Fixed event subscription cleanup in script editors
• Improved error handling when applying robot skill config values
• Fixed modal window ownership behavior on Windows 11

Upgrade Notes

This release is safe to upgrade to and includes no breaking API changes.
Robot skills, scripts, Blockly projects, and existing global variables will continue to work as-is.

Thanks

This release is about polish, reliability, and long-term stability - fewer surprises, fewer lost windows, and more predictable scripting behavior across the entire ARC ecosystem.

As always, feedback and bug reports help shape what comes next.