Open WebUI logo, the black letters OI on a light gray rounded rectangle, for a guide to Open WebUI 0.13

Open WebUI 0.13: Power-User Guide to Tabs, Agents and Tether

by

Open WebUI 0.13, released November 3, 2026, with patches through 0.13.3 on November 8, adds a tabbed workspace with terminal, browser and desktop tabs, a Git panel, side chats, comments and MCP Apps. Version 0.13.1 adds coding agents as models, the Tether desktop companion, Auto tool permissions and much cheaper tool chats.

Last updated: November 9, 2026

Table of contents

What changed in Open WebUI 0.13

The 0.13 line arrived in four releases in six days. The 0.13.0 release notes (November 3) turn the chat into a workspace with tabs. The 0.13.1 release (November 8) adds the biggest power-user features, 0.13.2 fixes chats over plain HTTP, and 0.13.3 brings coding agents into automations. If you are coming from October, our Open WebUI 0.12 guide covers the previous release line.

Release Date (UTC) Headline changes
0.13.0 November 3, 2026 Tabbed workspace, Desktop and Browser tabs, Git panel, side chats, comments, inbox, MCP Apps, multi-model sub-agents, tool creation from chat
0.13.1 November 8, 2026 Coding agents as models, Tether, Auto tool permissions, cheaper tool chats, full text for small files, faster large chats
0.13.2 November 8, 2026 Fixes for chats, comments and Markdown editing over plain HTTP; Side Chat permission switch
0.13.3 November 8, 2026 Agents in automations, change terminal and folder during a chat

The 0.13.0 notes also state that the release contains security fixes that are not listed in the changelog and strongly recommend updating all deployments.

The tabbed workspace

The Tabs button at the top of a chat now opens a workspace for files, multiple terminal sessions, artifacts, previews, voice calls and comments. As of 0.13.1, the workspace always fills the chat area on large screens, with the chat as one of its tabs.

  • Desktop tab. Shows and controls the desktop of a connected Open Terminal so you can follow a model’s computer-use session and step in. It requires desktop support on that terminal.
  • Browser tab. Opens websites and local development servers beside the chat. Chrome mode gives you and the model a shared browser session for testing the web apps the model builds.
  • Git panel. When the terminal folder is a Git repository, you can review diffs, stage, commit, manage branches, push and pull, and work with GitHub pull requests.
  • Side chats. Type /side or /btw to open a side conversation that uses the chat so far as context. Since 0.13.1 these are saved as regular chats unless Temporary Chat is on.
  • MCP Apps. MCP tools that ship an interactive app now render it in a sandboxed frame in the chat, and every tool call the app wants to make waits for your confirmation.

Coding agents, Tether and automations

The 0.13.1 release lets coding agents such as Claude Code, Codex and Pi appear in the model picker when an Open Terminal offers them. You can chat with them or call them by voice, choose reasoning effort and service tier, and approve their tool requests in the chat. Each conversation uses one agent, and agent chats cannot be regenerated, continued or edited and resent. For the agents themselves, see our guides to Claude Code 2.1.318 and Codex CLI 0.167.

Tether is the new desktop companion for macOS, Windows and Linux. Sign in once and your computer shows up under Your devices in the terminal menu, so models, agents and automations can work in your real files and repositories. Tether connects out to Open WebUI, so there are no ports to open, and its session expires after 90 days without use by default (SESSION_EXPIRES_IN).

To set up an agent automation on 0.13.3:

  1. Install Tether or connect an Open Terminal that offers coding agents.
  2. Open the automation editor and choose the terminal and working folder.
  3. Select a coding agent available on that terminal.
  4. Send results to a chat; channel destinations remain available only for ordinary models.
  5. Scheduled runs check that the terminal and agent are still available before starting, so keep the device online.

Tool and cost changes

Tool chats should cost much less on 0.13.1. Citation instructions, memory recall, the skills list and attached knowledge are no longer rewritten into the system prompt on every tool round, so providers can serve the start of the conversation from their prompt cache. Custom pipes now see this context as hidden tool results.

  • Auto tool permissions. A third mode next to Full access and Ask for approval, off by default. A review model checks each call, and any call it cannot review asks for approval.
  • Higher limits. One response can run up to 1,024 rounds of tool calls, up from 256 (CHAT_RESPONSE_MAX_TOOL_CALL_ITERATIONS restores the old value).
  • Tool creation from chat. Models with native function calling can create a private Python tool in your workspace when you ask.

If you run models locally behind Open WebUI, our Ollama 0.40.15 guide and LM Studio Bionic guide cover the latest local runtimes.

How to upgrade safely

Both 0.13.0 and 0.13.1 include database schema changes. The official updating guide recommends this sequence for Docker:

  1. Back up the open-webui volume, for example with docker run --rm -v open-webui:/data -v $(pwd):/backup alpine tar czf /backup/openwebui-$(date +%Y%m%d).tar.gz /data.
  2. Remove the container with docker rm -f open-webui; data in the volume is preserved.
  3. Pull the image with docker pull ghcr.io/open-webui/open-webui:main, or pin a version tag such as v0.13.3 for shared instances.
  4. Recreate the container with the same volume and a persistent WEBUI_SECRET_KEY so sessions survive the update.
  5. Check the logs with docker logs open-webui and clear your browser cache.

For Docker Compose, run docker compose pull then docker compose up -d; for pip, run pip install -U open-webui. In multi-server deployments, update every instance at the same time. Migrations are one-way, so rolling back requires restoring the backup.

Defaults that changed

  • Preload files off. With native function calling, attachments are read through file tools. Turn on Preload files in Capabilities for models without tool support.
  • Retrieval. Unless you saved your own values, RAG_TOP_K and RAG_TOP_K_RERANKER default to 10 instead of 3, and CHUNK_SIZE to 1024. Prompts with knowledge get longer.
  • Full text for small files. Files under 50,000 extracted characters (RAG_FULL_TEXT_CHAR_THRESHOLD) are included in full instead of through retrieval.

Frequently asked questions

What is new in Open WebUI 0.13?

Version 0.13.0 adds a tabbed workspace with terminal, browser and desktop tabs, a Git panel, side chats, comments, MCP Apps and multi-model sub-agents. Version 0.13.1 adds coding agents as models, Tether, Auto tool permissions and cheaper tool chats.

What is Open WebUI Tether?

Tether is a desktop companion app for macOS, Windows and Linux introduced with 0.13.1. After you sign in, your computer appears under Your devices in the terminal menu, so models, coding agents and automations can work in your files and repositories. It connects out to Open WebUI, so no ports need to be opened.

Can I use Claude Code or Codex inside Open WebUI?

Yes, on an Open Terminal that offers agents. Since 0.13.1, coding agents such as Claude Code, Codex and Pi appear in the model picker, and you can set their reasoning effort and approve their tool requests in the chat. Version 0.13.3 also lets automations run a coding agent in a saved terminal and folder.

Is it safe to upgrade a multi-server Open WebUI deployment to 0.13?

Back up first. Both 0.13.0 and 0.13.1 include database schema changes, and the release notes say all instances in a multi-worker, multi-server or load-balanced deployment must be updated at the same time, because rolling updates are not supported.

Why can my model no longer see attached files after updating?

In 0.13.1, Preload files is off by default with native function calling, so models read attachments with their file tools. Models without tool support or without the Files built-in tool cannot see attached files until you turn on Preload files in the model’s Capabilities.

Sources

Image: Open WebUI logo, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons. FreeAnswers is not affiliated with Open WebUI.

Related answers

Leave a Comment