ecclesia

EpiscoBot Blog

January 29, 2026

CHANGELOG January 29, 2026

  • A/B Testing for Response Quality: We are now occasionally showing two responses side-by-side and asking users to vote on which one is more helpful. This helps us evaluate different AI models and configurations to continuously improve EpiscoBot. When you see the split view, please take a moment to click "I prefer this response" on the one you find more useful. Your feedback directly shapes the future of EpiscoBot!

January 14, 2026

CHANGELOG January 14, 2026

  • Added filter_by_hymnal to the hymn lookup tool.
  • Added semantic-search fallback for hymn discovery when there is no direct scripture-hymn link found.
  • Improved system prompt to tell the AI agent to be more explicit with the user when the tool fails to find the results.

January 13, 2026

CHANGELOG January 13, 2026

  • Fixed 60-second timeout issue by implementing async tool execution.
  • Added conversation filtering and language detection to the admin dashboard.
  • Added useage graphs and stats to admin dashboard.

December 31, 2025

CHANGELOG December 31, 2025

  • Added facial recognition capability for identifying Episcopal Church figures in uploaded images.
  • Various EpiscoBot UI improvements and bug fixes.

December 22, 2025

Major Release: ai-service-v3

This release introduces a completely new AI service architecture with powerful new tools:

  • ENS Archive Tool: Search the Episcopal News Service archive for news articles, obituaries, and historical content.
  • ENS Image Search: Find and display images from the Episcopal News Service photo archive.
  • Lectionary API: Public API for Revised Common Lectionary (RCL) and Daily Office readings.
  • Daily Office Tool: Retrieve Morning and Evening Prayer readings for any date.
  • Hymn Discovery Tool: Find hymns by scripture, theme, liturgical occasion, or service planning needs.
  • Sermon Discovery: Search the "Sermons That Work" archive with semantic search.
  • Thumbs Up/Down Feedback: Users can now rate responses as helpful or not helpful, with optional feedback reasons.

September 12, 2025

CHANGELOG September 12, 2025

  • Added web search tool capability for real-time information retrieval. (now deprecated)
  • Introduced new AI service container architecture.

June 24, 2025

CHANGELOG June 24, 2025

  • Introduced Shared Libraries feature allowing chatbots to access common document collections.
  • Added APIs for creating, managing, and assigning shared libraries to chatbots.