- chat: summarize now and show compactions by @kanyesthaker in #873
- ui: count down to auto-compact in the context banner by @kanyesthaker in #876
- search: release database connections per query by @kanyesthaker in #833
- release: write the v1.8.0 notes and announcement by @shalins in #879
Full changelog: v1.7.2-nightly.2026-09-27-144508...v1.8.1-nightly.2026-09-28-011346