5.3.1 is a packaging and upgrade-path patch. It does not introduce a new cognitive subsystem. It fixes the path a real user feels after installation: upgrade the runtime, keep the data, and do not accidentally reintroduce legacy layout assumptions from earlier local installs or source checkouts.
The user-facing problem
NEXO has long separated runtime and user data conceptually, but a packaged install could still retain hidden assumptions from older layouts. In practice that meant wrappers, helpers, bootstrap refreshes, doctor checks, or personal-script flows could look at a legacy path such as ~/claude or assume a source-tree shape that only makes sense inside the repo. A normal npm user should never need the source checkout present on disk to keep using nexo update.
What 5.3.1 changes
- Canonical packaged home. Runtime-home resolution is normalized around
~/.nexofor packaged installs instead of drifting toward legacy paths. - Update refreshes packaged artifacts. After upgrade, managed bootstrap and client-facing packaged artifacts are refreshed so the installed runtime stays coherent.
- Doctor stays honest in user installs. Repo-only release-artifact drift checks no longer pollute packaged runtimes that are not source trees.
- Personal scripts stay on the packaged path. Script registry, helper resolution, startup preflight, and related runtime surfaces now consistently resolve against the canonical packaged home.
Why this matters
The difference is operational, not cosmetic. A user can install NEXO from npm, keep years of their own data in ~/.nexo, work on the source repo separately if they want to, and still use nexo update as a normal packaged workflow. The runtime remains replaceable; the data remains durable.
Validation
This release is backed by dedicated packaged-runtime tests covering runtime-home resolution, startup preflight, client sync, doctor behavior, update flow, and personal-script registry handling. It was also revalidated on a real packaged user runtime where legacy visible home paths were removed and personal scripts plus scheduled automations continued to work from the canonical ~/.nexo install.
Upgrade
If you want the exact release record, open the 5.3.1 changelog section. If you are already installed, the intended path is simply:
npm install -g nexo-brain@5.3.1nexo update
Your data stays in ~/.nexo. The runtime stays replaceable.