Move active What's New content into an empty slide list so the startup modal stays quiet until new cards are added. Keep manual Open available with an empty state, and update the static test plus DOX contract for dormant periods.
Add the missing 256x256 thumbnail asset for the built-in What's New plugin. The image is compressed under 20 KB and stored in the plugin web UI asset location used by bundled plugin cards.
Show the What's New modal once per newer version by default, add a browser-local permanent opt-out checkbox, and expose the modal through the builtin plugin Open action. Keep the legacy modal path as a compatibility redirect and update the local DOX/tests for the new contract.
Introduce an always-enabled _whats_new plugin that shows a version-gated feature showcase modal with bundled media assets for parallel tool calls, the redesigned MCP configuration UI, and Skills Scanner.
Track the plugin in DOX and add static coverage for the modal copy, assets, manifest, and startup trigger.
