v1.5.0 is out.

The headline feature is the MCP Server, and it changes how users interact with Zioan entirely.

You open Claude Code (or any AI platform capable of running MCP) and type:

"Find last week's ticket about the authentication bug. Pull up any related documents. Check the CLAUDE.md file in the project, fix the issue, open a PR, mention Alex for the review, and update the ticket. Also, do I have any unread notifications or events left today?"

And it just does it. All of it, in one go.

Here is what the MCP is doing under the hood for that single prompt: searching your board for the task, reading attached documents, navigating your workspace structure, reading the markdown file, fixing the issue, pushing a fix, creating the PR, mentioning a team member in the task comment, moving the task to the right column, updating the task description, checking your notification feed, and pulling your calendar events for the rest of the day.

That is not a demo. That is a real workflow running against your actual Zioan data.

Coverage spans the entire platform. Documents, snippets, boards, calendar, CRM, chat, folders, notifications, personal notes, users, attachments and links.

The built-in help system is a full UI guide. Your AI knows where every feature lives, how to navigate to it, and what to do once you get there. It can walk a new team member through the platform step by step, help an existing user discover features they never knew existed, or guide anyone through a manual task without them ever leaving the conversation. No documentation tabs, no searching. You ask, it guides.

The MCP setup takes a few minutes, and the AI is instructed to install it itself, 0 manual setup.

Also in this release: calendar timezone support. Set user preferred timezone in User Settings and all events display in the local time. One-click auto-detect included.

Full changelog at https://updates.zioan.com/changelog/

Happy weekend everyone!

Gave zioan.com a complete redesign this week.

The old site had too much text and static screenshots that didn't really show what the platform actually feels like in use. So I replaced everything.

The new version is easier to scan, the content is shorter and more focused, and instead of screenshots I added short videos throughout the page so you can actually see the features in action. Dashboard, Kanban boards, chat, documents, all moving.

Also put together a video that bundles those feature clips into one walkthrough. Posting it below if you want to see what Zioan looks like today (hopefully working on Discord).

Still shipping, still improving. Feedback welcome as always. https://zioan.com

Today I have a different type of update, and I want to talk about the infrastructure behind Zioan.

The Problem

Zioan is self-hosted software. How do you handle licensing and updates for something running on servers you don't control, without knowing the installation URL or IP address? Privacy first, reliable, and enforcing license restrictions.

The Updater

Every Zioan installation communicates with a central backend. This is where license checks happen and where updates get distributed. It also handles bug reports, feature requests, and support tickets.

One-Way Communication

The license validation is one-way. The installation sends encrypted licence information to the Updater. The Updater responds with update availability and configuration data. That's it. No user data is received, not even the IP. The Updater has no mechanism to reach into an installation, it only responds to incoming requests.

Detecting Multiple Installations

License compliance is tricky with self-hosted software. Someone could theoretically run multiple instances with one license.

The solution I use is domain hashing. When an installation checks in, it includes a hashed version of its domain. If the same license sends different hashes within a short period, that indicates multiple active installations.

There's a grace period built in. Domains that stop checking in get marked inactive after a week. This handles legitimate cases like server migrations.

Expired Licenses

When a trial ends, the installation becomes unusable. This is a generous 30 days free trial, not free software. All data stays in place and can be unlocked by purchasing a license.

When a paid license expires (one year later), it just stops receiving updates. The software continues to function, and all data remains accessible.

There is more to talk about the Updater, but these are the most important aspects. Have a great day everyone!