@@ -2,6 +2,13 @@ # Changelog
 
 All notable user-facing changes to `pi-chrome`.
 
+## 0.17.2 — 2026-05-16
+
+### Fixes for the daemon model surfaced during 0.17.0/0.17.1 testing
+
+- **Daemon: record `lastSeenAt` on *every* `/next` from a chrome-extension origin**, not only after the paired-auth checks. Pre-pairing the daemon returns `needsPairing: true` early; before this fix it never updated `lastSeenAt`, so the daemon's `connected` flag stayed `false` even when the extension was happily polling. `/chrome onboard` would loop forever on "Waiting for the extension to wake up…" even with a perfectly healthy extension.
+- **Daemon compatibility is now checked at exact version match**, not just major.minor. Without this, a 0.17.x patch release that fixes a daemon bug couldn't actually replace the running 0.17.0 daemon — the new Pi client would `sameMajorMinor`-match the old daemon and join as client, never triggering a respawn. Patch releases now auto-kill+respawn the daemon, so daemon bug fixes ship cleanly via `pi update`.
+
 ## 0.17.1 — 2026-05-16
 
 ### Fix: `/chrome onboard` stuck on "Waiting for the extension to wake up…"

@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 {
   "manifest_version": 3,
   "name": "Pi Chrome Connector",
-  "version": "0.17.1",
+  "version": "0.17.2",
   "description": "Lets Pi control tabs in Chrome via a local connector at 127.0.0.1.",
   "permissions": [
     "tabs",

@@ -569,6 +569,14 @@ if (req.method === "GET" && url.pathname === "/next") {
 		if (!isBrowserOriginAllowed(req)) { sendJson(res, 403, { ok: false, error: "browser origin not allowed" }); return; }
 		const originExt = extensionIdFromOrigin(req);
 		const currentVersion = ARGS.version;
+		// Any /next from a chrome-extension origin counts as 'extension is alive'. We record
+		// lastSeenAt here — before the auth/pair checks below — so that /chrome onboard's
+		// connect-wait loop can detect a polling-but-unpaired extension (which is precisely
+		// the state during the pair step).
+		if (originExt) {
+			lastSeenAt = Date.now();
+			clientName = url.searchParams.get("name") ?? undefined;
+		}
 		if (!auth.paired) {
 			sendJson(res, 200, { type: "none", needsPairing: true, expectedExtensionVersion: currentVersion },
 				{ ...corsHeaders, "x-pi-chrome-version": currentVersion });
@@ -590,8 +598,6 @@ sendJson(res, 401, { ok: false, error: "invalid /next auth" }, { ...corsHeaders, "x-pi-chrome-version": currentVersion });
 			return;
 		}
 		if (waiters.length >= MAX_WAITERS) { sendJson(res, 429, { ok: false, error: "too many pollers" }, corsHeaders); return; }
-		lastSeenAt = Date.now();
-		clientName = url.searchParams.get("name") ?? undefined;
 		let aborted = false;
 		let active;
 		req.once("close", () => { aborted = true; if (active) waiters = waiters.filter((e) => e !== active); });

@@ -114,10 +114,12 @@ return undefined;
 	}
 }
 
-function sameMajorMinor(a: string, b: string): boolean {
-	const [aMaj, aMin] = a.split(".").map((n) => Number(n));
-	const [bMaj, bMin] = b.split(".").map((n) => Number(n));
-	return aMaj === bMaj && aMin === bMin;
+// Daemon compat is checked at exact version match — not major.minor — so that even patch
+// releases trigger an automatic kill+respawn. Patch releases routinely fix bugs in the daemon
+// itself (e.g. /next lastSeenAt handling); without exact matching, a new Pi client joins an
+// old buggy daemon and the fix never lands.
+function daemonVersionCompatible(daemonVersion: string, clientVersion: string): boolean {
+	return daemonVersion === clientVersion;
 }
 
 // Ensure the bundled daemon.cjs is copied to a versioned cache dir so each pi-chrome
@@ -178,7 +180,7 @@ const deadline = Date.now() + timeoutMs;
 	while (Date.now() < deadline) {
 		const probed = probeBridgeStatus(host, port);
 		if (probed && typeof (probed as { bridgeVersion?: string }).bridgeVersion === "string"
-			&& sameMajorMinor((probed as { bridgeVersion: string }).bridgeVersion, PI_CHROME_VERSION)) {
+			&& daemonVersionCompatible((probed as { bridgeVersion: string }).bridgeVersion, PI_CHROME_VERSION)) {
 			return probed;
 		}
 		spawnSync("sleep", ["0.1"]);
@@ -844,7 +846,7 @@ const probed = probeBridgeStatus(this.host, this.port);
 		const ownerVersion = typeof (probed as { bridgeVersion?: string })?.bridgeVersion === "string"
 			? (probed as { bridgeVersion: string }).bridgeVersion
 			: undefined;
-		const compatible = ownerVersion ? sameMajorMinor(ownerVersion, PI_CHROME_VERSION) : false;
+		const compatible = ownerVersion ? daemonVersionCompatible(ownerVersion, PI_CHROME_VERSION) : false;
 		if (probed && compatible) {
 			this.mode = "client";
 			return;
@@ -868,7 +870,7 @@ // version. After kill, a fresh daemon is spawned by `ensureDaemonRunning`.
 	private async handleEaddrinuse(): Promise<void> {
 		const probed = probeBridgeStatus(this.host, this.port);
 		const ownerVersion = typeof probed?.bridgeVersion === "string" ? probed.bridgeVersion : undefined;
-		const compatible = ownerVersion ? sameMajorMinor(ownerVersion, PI_CHROME_VERSION) : false;
+		const compatible = ownerVersion ? daemonVersionCompatible(ownerVersion, PI_CHROME_VERSION) : false;
 		if (probed && compatible) {
 			this.mode = "client";
 			return;

@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
 	"name": "pi-chrome",
-	"version": "0.17.1",
+	"version": "0.17.2",
 	"scripts": {
 		"version": "node scripts/sync-manifest-version.js",
 		"prepublishOnly": "node scripts/sync-manifest-version.js"