News · written 9 November 2026. A summary for readers, not technical advice — check the sources at the end for the details.

Open WebUI is a web interface for chatting with AI models. Its version 0.13.1 came out on 8 November 2026, and it is worth a look for two reasons: new ways to work with coding agents, and a security update.

Update soon: this is a security release

The release notes say: "This release contains security fixes. We strongly recommend updating all deployments as soon as possible". The fixes themselves are not listed yet — the project says it will publish the security advisories once CVE numbers have been assigned.

Before you upgrade

• The release changes the database schema. The project strongly recommends backing up the database and all associated data before upgrading in production.
• If you run several workers or servers, or a load-balanced setup, all instances must be updated at the same time — "rolling updates are not supported".

What is new

• Coding agents in the model picker. On an Open Terminal that offers agents, coding agents such as Claude Code, Codex and Pi now appear in the model picker. You can choose their reasoning effort and service tier, and approve their tool requests in the chat. Agent chats cannot be regenerated, continued, or edited and resent.
• Tether, a new desktop companion app for macOS, Windows and Linux that ties your own computer to Open WebUI. You sign in once and the computer shows up under Your devices. Tether connects out to Open WebUI, so there are no ports to open. Its sign-in expires after 90 days without use by default.
• Auto, a third tool-permission mode next to Full access and Ask for approval, off by default. A review model checks each tool call and runs it right away only when it judges no confirmation is needed.

Two quick follow-ups the same day

0.13.2 fixed chats that would not load when Open WebUI was opened over plain HTTP at a local-network or Docker address (the error "crypto.randomUUID is not a function"). 0.13.3 lets automations use a coding agent. If you are updating anyway, the newest of these is the one to install.

What it means for people who run it

If you host Open WebUI for yourself, a team or your users, plan the update now: take a backup and update every instance together. Waiting leaves the security fixes uninstalled.

Sources

• Open WebUI on GitHub — Release v0.13.1, 8 November 2026 (security advisory, database changes, agents, Tether, Auto).
• Open WebUI on GitHub — Release v0.13.2 (chat over plain HTTP).
• Open WebUI on GitHub — Release v0.13.3 (agents in automations).

More news and guides at https://jmtechpower.com/articles.