Changelog
What we shipped, and when we shipped it.
Small software lives or dies on whether anyone is still working on it. So here is the work: 70 changes across 14 release days, in the order they went out. Everything on this list is live right now. If we took something away, it comes off the list.
- 2026
Linen reservations, and a full pass over every screen
We checked every part of the app against what a caterer expects it to do, and fixed what fell short.
- NewReserve linens to an event. The app checks what is free on that day before it books them.
- NewCatalog price tiers you schedule ahead now switch on by themselves on their start date.
- NewSettings, Profile: Sign out everywhere ends your session on every phone and computer at once.
- BetterKitchen and crew accounts no longer see prices, wages or client money; reports that show money are limited to the roles that may see it.
- BetterReturns and losses are recorded on the pack list, stock counts cannot go below zero, and the prep sheet shows allergens.
- FixedSending an event's invoice to QuickBooks again updated nothing and made a second invoice. It now updates the same one.
- FixedDates and times on the calendar, PDFs and reports now follow your workspace's time zone everywhere.
- FixedAn event with payments on it can no longer be deleted by mistake.
- FixedSecurity work across sign-in, connected AIs, the inbox, webhooks and settings.
Card receipts, dietary needs and Scale the menu
- NewWhen a client pays by card, they get a receipt email, and it shows in Sent. Back from the payment page, the portal says the payment was received.
- NewA dietary needs and allergies field on each event. It shows as a warning on the event, on the crew's shift card and on the prep sheet.
- NewAfter a guest-count change, Scale the menu sets the food, drink and package lines to the new count. The prep sheet warns while they still match the old count.
- NewMark a call-out on a schedule slot. The note is kept and the person is told.
- NewA Swap button on each filled slot, and a warning when the same person is booked on another event at that time.
- NewCrew tap I'll be there on each upcoming shift, and the staff list shows who said yes.
- NewDrivers tick the load list on their phone.
- FixedThe invoice now says how to pay: a pay-online link and your own payment instructions.
Your team, set up in one screen
- NewAdd your team in one screen, with an optional login for each person and a chosen access level: crew, kitchen, sales, coordinator or manager.
- NewOne Money page for who owes what, deposits due and recent payments.
- NewWith card payments off, proposals and invoices carry your own instructions for how clients pay you.
- NewInvite and sign-in emails arrive in the reader's own language.
- NewThe prep sheet flags a guest count that changed this week, with what it was.
- NewClocking in more than 2 hours before a shift asks first, and a clock-in far from the venue shows the manager the distance.
Subscribing, and what happens when a trial ends
- NewSubscribe from Settings, Billing when your trial is up.
- NewA trial that ends without a card makes the workspace read-only. Nothing is deleted; add a card and carry on.
- BetterA cook's sidebar shows their own work, not the office screens.
ChatGPT and Claude.ai connect by signing in
- NewThe sign-in email now carries a one-time code as well as the link. Type it into the screen that is waiting, on a phone or on a second computer, and you are in.
- NewPages you opened recently still open with no signal, and the app says plainly when a save could not go through. Add Apron Desk to your phone's home screen from the browser menu.
- NewChatGPT and Claude.ai take no key: add Apron Desk as a connector, sign in, click Allow. Same permissions as you, same ask-first on big changes, one click to disconnect.
- FixedMaître and any connected AI now say event times in your workspace's timezone. A 7 AM rehearsal dinner was being read out as 11 AM.
- FixedThe voice-note microphone was blocked by a page policy in production. It records again.
Your own AI, working in Apron Desk as you
If you already live in Claude Code, Cursor or VS Code, that AI can now do in your workspace what Maître does, as you.
- NewSettings, Connect an AI: mint a key, paste one snippet into Claude Code, Claude Desktop, Cursor, VS Code or Windsurf, and ask it what is on this week. It has your permissions and nothing more.
- NewEvery action a connected AI takes shows in the activity feed and audit log as you via that AI. Big changes ask you first; bulk actions still go to the owner by email.
- NewRead-only keys for looking without touching. Revoke cuts the AI off at once; owners and managers see everyone's keys.
- NewA workspace switch, off by default, under Workspace setup. Turning it off signs every connected AI out that second.
- NewMaître can walk you through it, mint the key (shown once), list who is connected, and revoke.
- FixedThe last-used time on API keys never updated. It does now, for REST keys too.
Purchase orders, and honest AI billing
An audit of every feature against the code behind it. Some of what follows is new; some of it is things that were half-built and are now finished.
- NewPurchase orders have a screen. Raise one against a supplier, add lines, and walk it from draft to sent to received to paid.
- NewExport your contact list to a Mailchimp audience from the Pipeline toolbar.
- NewMaître usage is metered per model, so a quick question costs a fifth of a long one instead of being charged at the same rate.
- NewOverage is billed properly when you switch it on: at cost plus 50%, never above the monthly ceiling you set, as one line on your next invoice.
- BetterMaître moved to a newer model that is a third cheaper to run, so the $50 included each month goes further.
- FixedMarking a line as excluded from gratuity or service charge now actually excludes it. The setting was shown on screen and ignored by the totals.
- FixedOnly you, or an owner or manager, can clock your shift in or out. Anyone in the workspace could before.
- FixedClocking in twice no longer resets your start time, and a forgotten clock-out is flagged on payroll instead of being silently filled in.
- FixedCancelling an event asks why, so the lost-revenue report can group by reason instead of showing everything as unspecified.
- FixedBooking an event on a day you marked as a blackout now warns you.
A status page, and a blog
- NewA public status page at /status showing whether sign-in, the database, email and Maître are healthy right now.
- NewWriting on catering operations: quantities per guest, plate costs, staffing ratios, what belongs on a BEO.
- BetterMarketing email moved to its own sending domain, so a newsletter can never affect whether your sign-in link arrives.
The app became multi-player
Two people on the same event used to overwrite each other silently. That is the release this fixes.
- NewLive sync and presence: see who else is on an event, and see their changes as they make them.
- NewYou are told when a task is assigned to you, with a count in the nav.
- NewWhether staff can see the client book is now a setting rather than an assumption.
- FixedSaving an event no longer overwrites edits somebody else made while you had the form open.
- FixedA total you froze is visible as frozen, and can be unfrozen.
Tax, currency, and your own sign-in email
- NewOnboarding asks for your currency and tax rate, pre-filled from your timezone.
- NewName your tax and show your registration number on invoices, for the jurisdictions that require it.
- BetterSign-in emails come from Apron Desk rather than a generic sender, and a rate limit can no longer lock you out of your own account.
- FixedSecurity: tightened the database rules so no query can reach another workspace's data, and so payments and wages cannot be altered from the browser.
French, Spanish and Arabic
- NewThe whole operator app in French, Spanish and Arabic, including right-to-left layout.
- FixedDates and currency render in the reader's language and the workspace's timezone, not the server's.
- FixedThe scheduled jobs behind reminders, digests and cleanup were failing their own authorisation check and silently never ran. They run.
- FixedSecurity: a round of hardening across sign-in, connected accounts, incoming webhooks and the client portal, plus the framework patched to current.
Recipe costs and open shifts
- NewCrew can pick up open shifts they are qualified for.
- New"Often booked with" suggestions when building a proposal.
- BetterStock counts are editable in place, recipe costs roll up through nested ingredients, and margin columns are on the reports that needed them.
- FixedSecurity: a manager can no longer grant themselves owner rights, and prices on the public storefront are taken from the server rather than from the page.
Roles hold
- FixedSecurity: nobody can promote their own account, to platform admin or to a higher role inside a workspace.
Client portal add-ons
- NewClients can accept optional add-ons from the portal, priced and totalled with the rest of the proposal.
- NewPost a one-off shift without building a schedule around it.
Before this the product was being built rather than shipped, so there is nothing useful to list. The first commit is 16 April 2026.
Something missing that you need?
We are small enough that a good suggestion from a working caterer usually turns into a release. Tell us what you are stuck with and it may end up on this page.