5.3.7 is about making the packaged path behave like a packaged path. If a user installs NEXO from npm, updates it, restarts the machine, and expects the runtime to just keep working, the product should not quietly depend on a second repair command to finish the job.
What we saw after 5.3.6
5.3.6 fixed the Claude Code MCP bootstrap mismatch by syncing the managed NEXO server into the user config Claude actually reads. That part mattered. But validating the release on a real daily-work Mac immediately exposed the next gap: packaged nexo update could still leave cron or LaunchAgent state needing nexo doctor --tier runtime --fix to feel truly clean again.
What 5.3.7 changes in the update path
Packaged updates now re-sync runtime cron definitions after the npm bump, skip noisy same-file hook copies when the runtime already points at its canonical source, and reload managed macOS LaunchAgents after a real version change. The point is simple: the normal update path should converge by itself more often, not ask the operator to know which second command happens to finish the repair.
Portable continuity is now explicit
This release also adds nexo export and nexo import. The export command writes a portable user-data bundle with the active DB, brain state, coordination artifacts, selected config, and personal scripts. The import command restores that bundle into a clean runtime and creates a safety backup first. Operator continuity is no longer an undocumented combination of folders, backups, and memory about where things live.
Doctor now reports the packaged path more honestly
Another gap surfaced during the same validation pass: the runtime could already be operationally clean while nexo doctor stayed red because recent Codex transcript drift was still visible even though no conditioned protocol debt remained open. 5.3.7 keeps that evidence for auditability without treating it like a broken install.
Why this matters
Product trust is mostly about the path users repeat. A bootstrap bug breaks trust. An update that only becomes “really done” after an extra repair step also breaks trust. And when continuity depends on tribal knowledge instead of an explicit command, the runtime feels more fragile than it is. 5.3.7 exists to remove those extra edges for real packaged use.
Upgrade
Open the 5.3.7 changelog section for the exact release note. For installed users, the intended path now looks like this:
npm install -g nexo-brain@5.3.7nexo updatenexo doctor
And if you want to move or safeguard the operator side explicitly:
nexo exportnexo import /path/to/nexo-user-data-*.tar.gz
The runtime still stays replaceable. The difference is that the packaged lifecycle and the operator continuity story are finally cleaner by default.