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JEDI VCS 2.5 Beta 2026

⚠️ Disclaimer: this product is provided without any warranty of operation. Test and validate it in your own environment, with a backup and a copy of your JEDI VCS database, and apply any local fixes you need before deploying to production. Read the full disclaimer.

The JEDI VCS client (client/server version control for Delphi teams) ported to Delphi 11, 12 and 13, with IDE integration, light/dark theme, font scaling and support for AI coding assistants. It speaks exactly the same protocol as the existing JEDI VCS 2.5 Beta 3 server (Firebird), which is not changed.

Download · What's new · User guide (English) · Full documentation (Portuguese) · AI · License

What is JEDI VCS?

JEDI VCS (the successor of FreeVCS) is a client/server version control system written in Delphi, for Delphi teams. The 2.x line was developed by Project JEDI; the main authors were Thomas Huber and Uwe Schuster. It has these parts:

Work is based on locks: you check out a module (file) to edit it, and you check in the new revision with a comment. Files that are not checked out stay read-only on disk.

Why this edition exists

• The last official installer is 2.50 Beta 3 (client 2.5.0.1030). It has no IDE expert for Delphi 11, 12 or 13, no dark theme and no font scaling.
• The official 2.5 source code was lost with the old project infrastructure. Only forks of older code remained.
• Many teams still run 2.5 Beta 3 servers in production.

JEDI VCS 2.5 Beta 2026 rebuilds the 2.5 client (standalone GUI, IDE DLL, Diff and console) from the remaining sources, ports it to modern Delphi and keeps it wire-compatible with the 2.5 Beta 3 server. The server itself is not ported and does not need any change.

Status

This is a beta. Use it with a test server, or back up your database before you use it in production.

Download

Download the installer of the latest release (today JediVCS-2.5.0-Beta6-build2066-Setup.exe; older betas are on the Releases page). Each release page and each news page shows the SHA-256 of the installer; check it before you install.

Features

• Delphi IDE integration: JEDI VCS menu, shortcuts (Ctrl+Shift+P/I/O/G/B), check-in and check-out from the IDE, History tab in the editor and a context menu in the IDE Project Manager.
• Standalone client (Jedivcs.exe) with all 2.5 features: projects, check-in/check-out, history, Line History, Compressed Diff, labels, password-protected backup, synchronization, users.
• Compatible with the original: works side by side with client 2.5.0.1030 and uses the same identities (saved logins).
• Appearance: UI scaling from 100% to 200%, font choice (interface, menus, editors), light/dark theme that follows Windows (standalone) or the Delphi IDE (integrated).
• 2012 features kept: External Bugtracker, Save WIP, Compare all local/archive.
• File families: .pas + .dfm + .fmx in the same check-in.
• Console jvcs.exe for scripts and for AI agents.
• AI: a wrapper and a skill that let Claude Code (or another agent) check out and check in with human approval, while keeping the ANSI encoding of the source files.
• Inno Setup installer (English and Brazilian Portuguese) that registers the expert only in the installed IDEs and undoes everything on uninstall.

Supported Delphi versions

No third-party components need to be installed in the target IDE: JCL, JVCL, ICS, Abbrevia, SynEdit and VirtualTreeView are compiled into the core DLL.

Server compatibility (2.5 Beta 3)

• Same bytes on the wire: text in Windows-1252, CRC-32, Blowfish, Base64 and ZIP blobs identical to client 2.5.0.1030 (verified with golden traffic captures and cross-reading of revisions).
• The original client reads what the new client writes, and the other way round. Both can be connected at the same time (with different user names: the server accepts one session per user).
• Server features that depend on branching work with the HEAD branch; the branch UI is hidden.
• Not supported: LZH traffic encryption (if the server requires it, the connection fails with a clear message), external reports, notifications between workstations.

Requirements

Quick install

1. Close Delphi.
2. Download the installer of the latest release (JediVCS-2.5.0-Beta6-build2066-Setup.exe) and run it from Explorer, as your own Windows user (English or Portuguese; you can install for the current user only).
3. Start Delphi: the splash screen shows "JEDI Version Control System 2.5 Beta 2026" and the JEDI VCS menu appears.
4. JEDI VCS → Connect Server: enter the server address (prefer the numeric IP address), port 2106, user and password. On a new database the initial user is sysdba / admin (the default of a new database — change it after the first login).
5. Open your project (with its own name, not Project1) and use Project Manager, Check In and Check Out.

Step by step: Installation and Delphi IDE integration.

AI integration

The project includes a workflow that lets AI assistants (Claude Code and other agents) use JEDI VCS safely: automatic check-out only when the local file is equal to the server revision, check-in with approval and an [IA] comment prefix, and editing that keeps the Windows-1252 encoding. Start with Using JEDI VCS with AI. The skill is in skills (English: skills/en/jedi-vcs).

Migrating to Git

Moving a JEDI VCS archive to Git? jvcs2git exports every project with the full history (revisions, authors, dates, comments, labels as tags) through the server protocol, so it works with any JEDI VCS database. It has a GUI, a CLI with JSON output for scripts and AI assistants, and its own skill. Download: jvcs2git releases.

Building from source

tools\compilar.bat libs Release Win32        (once: SynEdit and VirtualTreeView)
tools\compilar.bat all Release Win32         (Jedivcs.exe, JvcsExternalDll.dll, JEDIVCSDiff.exe, jvcs.exe)
tools\compilar-expert.bat Release nova       (JvcsExpertBDS37.dll; use /delphi:11 or /delphi:12 for the others)
tools\gerar-instalador.bat                   (installer)

You can also open JediVCS2026.groupproj in the IDE. Summary in English: Building from source. Full reference (Portuguese): Compilação and tools/LEIAME-compilar.md.

Repository layout

Documentation

The English guide covers what you need to install and use the client. The detailed technical documentation is in Brazilian Portuguese.

Licenses

• JEDI VCS code is distributed under the Mozilla Public License 1.1 — see LICENSE and doc/original/license.txt. Some parts are donations or derived works with their own license, stated in the header of each file. Read the full notice before you reuse any code.

• MidWare (François Piette) — non-commercial use only. The client transport (src/comp/midware: ApsCli, CBroker, RFormat) is a modified version (Unicode port for Delphi 13 / ICS 9) of MidWare, which is freeware for non-commercial use only. The original notice is kept in each file. Use in a commercial application requires an agreement with the author. A replacement transport is planned.

  This product is based on MidWare. Freeware source code is available at http://www.overbyte.bee

• Components: JCL/JVCL (MPL 1.1), SynEdit (MPL 1.1/GPL 2), VirtualTreeView (MPL 1.1/LGPL 2.1), ICS (freeware), Abbrevia (MPL 1.1). fvcscrypt.dll is the original binary redistributed from the 2.50 Beta 3 installer. Summary (Portuguese): Licenças and Componentes.

• Creators, rights and fvcscrypt.dll: who created and maintained JEDI VCS, the license rights, why fvcscrypt.dll is required and why there is no 64-bit client: Credits and rights.

Credits

• Original JEDI VCS (FreeVCS / JEDI VCS 2.x): Thomas Huber, Uwe Schuster and the Project JEDI team — see doc/original/credits.txt and credits_jedivcsdiff.txt.
• MidWare and ICS: François Piette (OverByte).
• 2026 port: Edmar Frazão, with Claude Code (Anthropic) as pair programmer.

Contributing

Issues and pull requests are welcome, in English or Portuguese. Before you submit: build the four targets in Debug and Release, run the tests for the area you changed (console golden tests for protocol changes; the harness for the DLL/expert; -formsweep for forms) and describe what you tested. Coding rules (sources in Windows-1252 with CRLF line endings), defines and commit style: Convenções (Portuguese).