docs: release 1.8

Author: dm-p

blog/2025-07-17-certification-1-8.md

@@ -0,0 +1,40 @@
+---
+title: Deneb 1.8 Released
+description: Deneb 1.8 has passed AppSource certification checks and is pending deployment to your reports
+slug: 1-8-release
+authors:
+  - daniel
+tags: [releases, certification, production]
+image: /img/blog/blog-header-release-1-8.png
+hide_table_of_contents: false
+---
+
+Version 1.8 is a maintenance update to Deneb, which updates the current Vega and Vega-Lite runtimes, brings the visual up to the latest Microsoft visual APIs and certification standards, prepares the v1 codebase for end of feature development and long term continuity of service, as well as fixing several minor but long-standing bugs.
+
+<!-- truncate -->
+
+You can view all changes and their associated details starting with the change log [Change Log](/docs/changelog). And as always, this has also been made available for users of the standalone (non-AppSource) version, so you can [download it from GitHub](https://github.com/deneb-viz/deneb/releases/latest).
+
+As always, I'm extremely grateful to our community, especially those who volunteer to help test the builds before we submit them to AppSource for everyone else to use. Deneb has become a little more than one person can completely handle in their free time, so any and all assistance from these folks is essential to keep our quality and stability as high as possible as we evolve. I hope that you appreciate and value their contributions as much as I do!
+
+### Readiness for v2 and the Future of v1
+
+I've mentioned this in a previous post, but to provide a more recent update, I'm spending a lot of my time and effort working on Deneb v2. This is a significant shift in terms of architecture, will form the basis of all future features and as such replace v1 as the dominant version of Deneb in the future. It is a complete rewrite following the lessons learned from the development of v1, as well as learning from the feedback and suggestions of our community.
+
+This includes a huge look at the template definition format and underlying visual property structure that we use for configuration and persistence inside Power BI workbooks: as we now have tooling like PBIR, which better structures the report layer and also exposes the internal configuration for a visual instance. As such, there is too much complexity and ambiguity with the current v1 implementation if you are approaching this from a programmatic perspective.
+
+This structure is being redesigned and streamlined, which will make it easier to work with if you have ideas for the potential automation of visual configuration, or if you want to potentially build your own tools to work with Deneb. It is also designed to be more modular, extensible and maintainable, which will allow us to add new features and improvements more rapidly in the future.
+
+**As such, the v2 visual will be a brand new product, and AppSource listing. It will remain free and open-source.**
+
+Because Power BI reports are intended to be stable for users once delivered, it's important to me that we take a similar approach for Deneb where v1 is concerned and I don't want to either introduce a potentially breaking change to existing reports if we attempt to update the visual in-place through the standard AppSource update process, or just remove the v1 visual from AppSource and leave existing reports with no visual at all.
+
+Therefore, the plan for v1 is to continue to provide critical bug fixes, Vega language updates (providing they remain compatible with the v1 architecture) and Power BI visual API compatibility, to comply with certification requirements. However, no new features will be added to the v1 codebase unless there is a significant justification to do so.
+
+Because Deneb development is done in my free time, I'm always "a couple of months away" from having something tangible to show you, and it may feel like the wheels are spinning a bit, but a lot is happening: in the last 8 months, more commits have gone into the v2 codebase than have gone into the entirety of v1 since its inception nearly five years ago. There will be more news soon, but I wanted to provide this update to reassure you that Deneb is not going away, and that we are committed to providing a stable and reliable visual for the foreseeable future.
+
+---
+
+Thanks as always,
+
+DM-P

docs/changelog.md

@@ -13,22 +13,26 @@ Because Power BI reports are (ideally!) intended to have a long lifetime once de
 However any development focus will be on the things we need to do to keep it highly available for existing implementations where you have visuals deployed. The only planned changes will be critical bug fixes, Vega language updates (providing they remain compatible with the v1 architecture) and Power BI visual API compatibility, to comply with certification requirements.
 :::
 
-## 1.8.0 (In Development)
+## 1.8.0 (2025-07-16)
 
-<!-- :::info Pending deployment to AppSource
+:::info Pending deployment to AppSource
 Deneb 1.8 has passed certification and is currently undergoing deployment to your reports. This can take a couple of weeks from the publish date.
-::: -->
+:::
 
-:::info Submitted for certification
+<!-- :::info Submitted for certification
 Deneb 1.8 has been submitted to AppSource for certification and may take some time to reach your reports. If you need to leverage any features or fixes from this release, you can download and use the [standalone version](getting-started#standalone-version).
-:::
+::: -->
+
+### Platform Updates
+
+Microsoft has recently introduced more stringent certification requirements for custom visuals, so the necessary changes have been applied across Deneb's codebase, including security enhancements and updates to the latest visual APIs. There should be no visible changes to your visuals, but please [create an issue](https://github.com/deneb-viz/deneb/issues) for anything you believe may be a detrimental change stemming from these updates/
 
 ### Vega Updates
 
 - Vega Updated to **6.1.2** (from 5.30.0)
 - Vega-Lite updated to **6.1.0** (from 5.19.0)
 
-Note that during tests by community members, we noticed an edge case where a visual failed to work. This was traced to that specification containing warnings, and some stricter validation introduced in Vega-Lite 5.21.0. If you experience a previously working specification failing, please check for warnings first, resolve those and re-test before creating an issue.
+Note that during tests by community members, we noticed an edge case where a visual failed to work. This was traced to that specification containing warnings, and some stricter validation introduced in Vega-Lite 5.21.0. If you experience a previously working specification failing, please check for warnings first, resolve those and re-test before [creating an issue](https://github.com/deneb-viz/deneb/issues).
 
 ### Removal of Edit Specification Field Mapping Functionality
 
@@ -40,7 +44,7 @@ Given that we have since introduced a more advanced JSON editor in 1.7, which ha
 
 - If using Power BI Desktop with the [on-object interaction](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/power-bi/create-reports/power-bi-on-object-interaction) UI enabled, double-clicking a Deneb visual would force this into format mode. This action has been suppressed.
 
-### Bugs FIxed
+### Bugs Fixed
 
 - If using a field containing a special character, this was still being included in auto-completion results (#548)