docs(changelog): add v0.0.109 release entry

[cv]

Summary

Add the canonical dated release entry for NemoClaw v0.0.109 before release planning captures the tag commit.
The entry reconciles all 70 PR-bearing commits after v0.0.108 and records the no-diff superseded merge without attributing release behavior to it.

Changes

• Add docs/changelog/2026-08-13.mdx with the exact ## v0.0.109 heading and parser-safe MDX SPDX comment.
• Group user-visible, contributor, and release-engineering changes with root-absolute documentation routes.
• Link all 70 PRs in v0.0.108..origin/main exactly once, including the explicit no-diff classification for PR fix(onboard): rebuild on messaging credential drift #7853.

Type of Change

• Code change (feature, bug fix, or refactor)
• Code change with doc updates
• Doc only (prose changes, no code sample modifications)
• Doc only (includes code sample changes)

Quality Gates

• Tests added or updated for changed behavior
• Existing tests cover changed behavior — justification: test/changelog-docs.test.ts validates dated-entry structure, parser-safe SPDX syntax, root-absolute links, version uniqueness, and shared publication across all guide variants.
• Tests not applicable — justification:
• Docs updated for user-facing behavior changes
• Docs not applicable — justification:
• Sensitive paths changed (security, policy, credentials, preflight, onboarding, inference, runner, sandbox, or messaging)
• Sensitive-path review completed or maintainer-approved waiver recorded — reviewer/approval link/justification:
• Non-success, skipped, or missing CI check accepted by maintainer — check name, approval link, and follow-up issue:

Documentation Writer Review

• Documentation writer subagent reviewed the completed changes
• Result: docs-updated
• Evidence: docs/changelog/2026-08-13.mdx; the subagent reviewed the writing rules and documentation style.
• Agent: Codex Desktop

DGX Station Hardware Evidence

• Tested on DGX Station
• Tested commit:
• Station profile/scenario:
• Result:
• Supporting evidence:

Verification

• PR description includes a Signed-off-by: line and every commit appears as Verified in GitHub
• Normal pre-commit, commit-msg, and pre-push hooks passed, or npm run validate:pr passed after refreshing origin/main when hooks were skipped or unavailable
• Targeted behavior tests pass for the current change set, or tests are marked not applicable above — command/result or justification: npx vitest run test/changelog-docs.test.ts passed 6 tests; release coverage check matched 70 exact PR links to 70 commits.
• Applicable broad gate passed — npm test for broad runtime/test-harness changes; npm run check for repo-wide validation/coverage changes — command/result:
• Quality Gates section completed with required justifications or waivers
• No secrets, API keys, or credentials committed
• npm run docs builds without warnings (doc changes only)
• Doc pages follow the style guide (doc changes only)
• New doc pages include SPDX header and frontmatter (new pages only)

npm run docs exited with status 0. Fern reported two existing environment/configuration warnings: unauthenticated redirect checking and the existing light-mode accent contrast ratio.
The native changelog format uses an MDX SPDX comment and no frontmatter, as required by docs/CONTRIBUTING.md.

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Signed-off-by: Carlos Villela cvillela@nvidia.com

Summary by CodeRabbit

• Documentation
  • Added the v0.0.109 changelog.
  • Documented updates to launch readiness, sandbox behavior, inference, gateway recovery, Hermes API and WhatsApp modes.
  • Included notes on credential scanning, safety protections, managed image hardening, uninstall cleanup, contributor tooling, and release qualification.
  • Added related documentation links and pull request references.

[coderabbitai]

No actionable comments were generated in the recent review. 🎉

ℹ️ Recent review info

⚙️ Run configuration

Configuration used: Path: .coderabbit.yaml

Review profile: CHILL

Plan: Enterprise

Run ID: f44f2854-5c9c-42d2-845d-e4b41a8a9a39

📥 Commits

Reviewing files that changed from the base of the PR and between 0bf51e4 and 2bd3dcc.

📒 Files selected for processing (1)

• docs/changelog/2026-08-13.mdx

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📝 Walkthrough

Walkthrough

The v0.0.109 changelog documents updates to launch readiness, runtime behavior, integrations, security, managed images, uninstall cleanup, contributor tooling, and release qualification.

Changes

Release changelog

Layer / File(s)	Summary
Runtime and integration updates docs/changelog/2026-08-13.mdx	The changelog records launch-readiness leases, sandbox behavior, inference validation, gateway recovery, Hermes API ports, WhatsApp modes, and Hindsight installation.
Security, image, and cleanup updates docs/changelog/2026-08-13.mdx	The changelog records credential scan exclusions, Shields safety requirements, policy handling, managed image protections, and uninstall cleanup behavior.
Tooling and release qualification docs/changelog/2026-08-13.mdx	The changelog documents contributor tooling, diagnostics, GitHub access controls, stale-issue controls, dependency updates, and E2E qualification changes.

Estimated code review effort: 2 (Simple) | ~10 minutes

Mergeability Score: ⚪ Minimal · up to 2bd3d

This documentation-only change adds the v0.0.109 changelog entry and has no actionable merge-blocking risk remaining after normal checks and review.

Possibly related PRs

• NVIDIA/NemoClaw#8943: Both PRs add date-specific release changelog entries with grouped changes and linked pull requests.

Suggested reviewers: aasthajh, afourniernv, ahunnargikar-nvidia

🚥 Pre-merge checks | ✅ 5

✅ Passed checks (5 passed)

Check name	Status	Explanation
Description Check	✅ Passed	Check skipped - CodeRabbit’s high-level summary is enabled.
Title check	✅ Passed	The title clearly and concisely describes the addition of the v0.0.109 changelog release entry.
Docstring Coverage	✅ Passed	No functions found in the changed files to evaluate docstring coverage. Skipping docstring coverage check.
Linked Issues check	✅ Passed	Check skipped because no linked issues were found for this pull request.
Out of Scope Changes check	✅ Passed	Check skipped because no linked issues were found for this pull request.

✨ Finishing Touches

🧪 Generate unit tests (beta)

• Create PR with unit tests
• Commit unit tests in branch codex/docs-v0.0.109-release-entry

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[github-actions]

🌿 Preview your docs: https://nvidia-preview-pr-9014.docs.buildwithfern.com/nemoclaw

[github-actions]

PR Review Advisor — No blocking findings reported

Advisor assessment: No blocking advisor findings reported
Next action: No advisor follow-up needed.
Findings: 0 blockers · 0 warnings · 0 suggestions

Model lanes

• GPT-5.6 Terra (primary): Completed · high confidence · 0 blockers · 0 warnings · 0 suggestions
• Nemotron 3 Ultra (second opinion): Completed · high confidence · 0 blockers · 0 warnings · 0 suggestions
• Model comparison: normalized findings match; normalized terminology decisions differ; normalized E2E selections match; severity counts match.

Second-opinion terminology and E2E selections are advisory. Live E2E does not run automatically for pull requests.

4 semantic terminology decisions

Terminology decisions are advisory. They affect the assessment only when a separate finding identifies concrete semantic impact.

• established — launch-readiness lease at docs/changelog/2026-08-13.mdx:12: Retain the established term.
• established — credential-free at docs/changelog/2026-08-13.mdx:12: Retain the controlled term.
• established — inference health at docs/changelog/2026-08-13.mdx:9: Retain the established term.
• established — lifecycle authority at docs/changelog/2026-08-13.mdx:25: Retain the controlled term.

E2E guidance

Advisory only. A maintainer can dispatch the default E2E suite for the commit under review.

Recommended E2E: None

Workflow run details

This automated review informs maintainers. Warnings and suggestions do not require a response. A maintainer decides whether to merge.