# Dify 1.16.0-rc1 — v1.16.0-rc1

- Product: Dify (https://whatsnew.fyi/product/dify)
- Vendor: LangGenius
- Date: 2026-07-09
- Version: 1.16.0-rc1
- Original notes: https://github.com/langgenius/dify/releases/tag/1.16.0-rc1
- Permalink: https://whatsnew.fyi/product/dify/releases/1.16.0-rc1
- Labels: Pre-release

What's New is an index, not a publisher: every entry below links to the vendor's own release notes, which are the authoritative source. Entries are labelled where they are hand-curated sample data, pre-releases, or drawn from a secondary source such as a developer blog.

Reuse: the summaries, labels and curation here are © What's New. Quote freely with attribution and a link back; wholesale republication of the corpus is not permitted — terms: https://whatsnew.fyi/terms. The vendors' own release notes remain their publishers'.

---

- **added** — Introduce Dify Agent (experimental) with a builder for creating agents through the UI by setting base prompts, uploading Skills and files, and connecting tools and knowledge
- **added** — Provide an agent assistant that helps build Dify Agents by configuring Linux sandbox environments, installing packages, and creating new Skills and files through conversation
- **added** — Add Dify Workflow integration for Dify Agent to use existing agents or create inline agents within workflows
- **added** — Enable publishing Dify Agents as web apps with a familiar user experience powered by Dify Agent
- **added** — Display app description on chat and text-generation app screens
- **fixed** — Require edit access for trace config changes
- **fixed** — Use correct article in difyctl prerelease warning
- **fixed** — Decouple deployment access control dialog
- **fixed** — Make marketplace URL builder SSR-safe
- **fixed** — Isolate node selector keyboard events
- **changed** — Migrate response contract tooling to BaseModel
- **changed** — Simplify deployment access ownership
- **changed** — Align deployment detail state ownership

#### Introducing Dify Agent *(Experimental)*: A New Agent Experience in Dify

> [!WARNING]
> You should provide Dify Agent services ⚠️**only to trusted, non-malicious users**⚠️.

As many of you know, the shell-based LLM agent paradigm has brought a major leap in agent capabilities and changed how we think about agents. Meanwhile, Skills provide a standardized way to package and distribute capabilities, making it easier to build powerful agents.

Today, we are experimentally launching Dify Agent. Like other leading agents, it runs in a Linux sandbox. This release includes:

- A builder for creating Dify Agents
  - You can build Dify Agents through the UI: set a base prompt, upload Skills and files, and connect tools and knowledge from the Dify ecosystem.
  - We also provide an agent that helps you build Dify Agents. Through conversation, it can configure the Linux sandbox environment, install required packages, and create new Skills and files that your Dify Agent can use later.

- Dify Workflow integration for Dify Agent
  - You can use an existing Dify Agent in a Dify Workflow, or temporarily create an inline Dify Agent. It will execute the task defined by the workflow node, generate the required output, and pass it to the next node.

- A new web app experience
  - The Dify Agent you build can be published and used as a web app. While the user experience remains familiar, it is now powered by Dify Agent.

Docs: https://docs.dify.ai/en/self-host/use-dify/build/new-agent/overview

##### Limitations

Please note that in the current experimental release, all Dify Agents run in the same sandbox. This means:

- Under normal circumstances, each Dify Agent configures its environment and executes tasks within its own workspace without interfering with others.
- However, with simple instructions, any Dify Agent can read or interfere with the environments and data of other Dify Agents, including user data.

Strict isolation will be implemented in a future release. For now,

> [!WARNING]
> You should provide Dify Agent services ⚠️**only to trusted, non-malicious users**⚠️.

Similarly, because Dify Agent is not fully ready yet, you may find that some features are not available for Dify Agent. For example, Dify Workflow DSL export is unavailable when the workflow contains nodes that reference Dify Agent.

##### Upgrade Guide

> [!IMPORTANT]
>
> - This release includes new database migrations. Run them as part of the upgrade.
> - Environment variables changed. Review the Environment Variable Changes section and update your `.env` accordingly.
> - Docker Compose configuration files changed. If you maintain a customized `docker-compose.yaml`, review the changes and re-apply local customizations carefully.

###### Docker Compose Deployments
1. Back up your customized docker-compose YAML and env files.
   ```bash
   cd docker
   cp docker-compose.yaml docker-compose.yaml.$(date +%s).bak
   cp .env .env.$(date +%s).bak 2>/dev/null || true
   ```
2. Get the latest code for the `1.16.0-rc1` release.
   ```bash
   git fetch --tags
   git checkout 1.16.0-rc1
   ```
3. Stop the services (run inside the `docker` directory).
   ```bash
   docker compose down
   ```
4. Back up data.
   ```bash
   tar -cvf volumes-$(date +%s).tgz volumes
   ```
5. Review any env file changes and re-apply local customizations.
6. Upgrade services.
   ```bash
   docker compose up -d
   ```

###### Source Code Deployments
1. Stop the API server, Worker, and Web frontend server.
2. Get the latest code for the `1.16.0-rc1` release.
   ```bash
   git fetch --tags
   git checkout 1.16.0-rc1
   ```
3. Update Python dependencies.
   ```bash
   cd api
   uv sync
   ```
4. Run database migrations.
   ```bash
   uv run flask db upgrade
   ```
5. Restart the API server, Worker, and Web frontend server. To experiment with the new agent feature, you also need to start dify-agent and shellctl. **Importan

_[Truncated at 4000 characters — full notes: https://github.com/langgenius/dify/releases/tag/1.16.0-rc1]_