What's new
Changelog
Every change that makes CrossBeam better for the cities and builders who use it, written up the night it ships.
Thursday, October 8, 2026
Laguna Beach plugin and new MCP requirements tools
The public Laguna Beach plugin is now generated from CrossBeam's current city rules, with the City's checklists, plan-set kinds and fee math, and is checked for drift. The MCP server adds tools to fetch a permit-drawings skill and a city's review requirements, and drawings can be handed to a city plugin to fill forms.
PreCheck flags out-of-area plan sets and skips billing
When the drawings name a property in another city, the PreCheck round is not billed to the city. The review reads the printed address and checks the parcel's jurisdiction, and the usage page shows the round grayed out as "Not billed · Outside" the city.
Sunday, October 4, 2026
No permit-type picker when uploading a corrections letter
Applicants who upload a corrections letter no longer pick a permit type, and "Not sure" no longer defaults to an ADU. The AI review reads the letter and plans, names the permit kind, and runs and prices the corrections read as that kind.
Saturday, October 3, 2026
Repeat reviews skip needless plan re-downloads
A second review on an already-prepared workspace no longer re-downloads every plan sheet. A link setup bug created a looping folder that failed the asset check; links are now replaced in place, so back-to-back runs start sooner.
Friday, October 2, 2026
One consistent PreCheck time estimate
Every applicant screen and email now says results take 30 to 90 minutes, including the intake page, receipt, live status ticker, FAQ and receipt email. The range comes from completed reviews on real plan sets, which took about 35 to 70 minutes.
Faster, more accurate Laguna Beach planning review
Laguna Beach planning reviews read plan sheets in parallel batches, so runs finish sooner. The Design Review criteria block now prints only when a design review entitlement applies, garage and zone setback checks no longer raise false failures, and walking-distance lookups no longer fall back to driving routes.
Thursday, October 1, 2026
Abandoned PreCheck uploads are cleaned up
An upload left unfinished for 24 hours, for example after the applicant closed the tab, is now removed along with its stored files. The PreCheck FAQ assistant now says phone photos in JPG, PNG or HEIC are accepted and that a PDF plan set reviews best.
PreCheck tab on the city staff board
City staff in a PreCheck program get a PreCheck tab under Plan Reviews, with one searchable row per address showing round, free rounds used, permit kind and true status. Opening a row shows a staff view that labels failed runs Needs attention and links to the other rounds at that address.
TIFF scans accepted for review
Applicants can upload TIFF scans on every intake flow. Each multi-page TIFF is converted to a PDF page by page and reviewed like any other plan set, and the file picker and upload copy now list PDF, JPG, PNG or TIFF.
Slow server start no longer locks a PreCheck address
When the review server is slow to start, applicants now see "We've got your plans" instead of an error. Within minutes an automatic retry either starts the review or releases the address and sends a retry link, so resubmitting is never refused.
Laguna planning reviews read zoning rules more precisely
Laguna Beach planning reviews now apply open-space rules only to lots with more than one dwelling, decide ADU parking transit exemptions from walking distance, show the parcel's prior City cases, and update water-efficient landscape, CEQA and coastal appeal wording.
PreCheck states it may miss requirements
Before starting, applicants now confirm that PreCheck may not catch every code requirement and that City staff may find more corrections in plan review. The terms add a matching "Not a Complete Review" section, so every applicant re-accepts the updated terms.
Tenant improvement and multi-unit sets get dedicated reviews
When the AI review identifies a plan set as a commercial or restaurant tenant improvement or a multi-unit building, it now runs that permit type's dedicated review instead of the residential worksheet. Unlabeled full drawing sets get the full worksheet review rather than a counter-form check.
Buena Park runs plan sets that resist classification
When the permit router cannot classify a Buena Park plan set, the review now proceeds as a general building review against state code instead of failing on every retry.
Wednesday, September 30, 2026
Plain-language routing summary for City staff
The submittal routing panel now shows plan checkers a one- or two-sentence plain summary of how a submittal was routed, plus the permit number and name of each application found, instead of raw internal notes.
Results bar shows Checks run
The results bar now shows Checks run, the total behind the result pills, instead of a step count that undercounted large reviews. Planning results show how many applicable worksheet rows were reviewed.
Design Review section only when Design Review applies
Laguna Beach Planning letters now include the Design Review Authority section only when the project actually needs Design Review approval, based on the worksheet's entitlement decisions. Ministerial ADU and SB 9 lot split letters no longer carry it.
Tuesday, September 29, 2026
Laguna Planning letters keep their Missing Information section
Laguna Beach Planning letters now list missing submittals in a dedicated Missing Information section built from the review's findings. Before, the section was improvised and dropped from some letters.
PermitReady FastPass certificate for strong re-checks
Buena Park pre-check applicants who resolve more than half of the prior round's Fix items on a re-check earn a printable FastPass certificate to attach to their plan check submittal. City staff can confirm it on a public verify page; it does not promise faster review.
Evidence boxes no longer cover the text they cite
Evidence pin boxes now draw a thin ring just outside the cited words, and the marker sits beside the box, so the quoted text stays readable at any zoom. The pre-check landing page background also spans the full page instead of ending in a hard edge.
Long Building letters export without timing out
Large Building letters, such as one with 171 items, no longer fail with "Letter export timed out." The letter is now worded in parallel batches of up to 20 items, each checked so no item is lost or added, and a batch that drifts keeps its original wording.
Building letter export includes missing information and comments
The Building letterhead export now carries Missing Information items and general comments, not just corrections. Following the City's own letters, they share one numbered list with the corrections under the structural and non-structural sections.
Distinct defects no longer dropped from Building letters
A Building correction letter no longer silently drops an item just because its text says "see" another item. Duplicate items are now decided from the review itself, so a separate defect that references another correction stays in the letter.
Monday, September 28, 2026
Evidence pins show on calc pages filed as sheets
Calc PDFs whose pages appear as sheet tabs now show their evidence pins on those tabs, and the Evidence chip zooms to the box. Sheets are also keyed by page, so plan sets with repeated sheet numbers no longer mix up findings between pages.
Evidence boxes land on the exact quoted words
Evidence pins on calc and report pages are now boxed around the exact phrase the reviewer quotes, matched against the page's OCR word and line positions. If the phrase is on a neighboring page, the pin moves there.
Friday, September 25, 2026
Findings point to the calc or report page they cite
The findings viewer now draws a finding's evidence box on the supporting-document page it cites, such as structural calcs or a soils report. An Evidence chip on the finding card opens that page, and clicking a pin selects its finding or opens Accept / Reject / Modify.
Every page of every upload reaches the review
A plan set uploaded under a document label such as a report no longer loses all but its first page. Each page now gets a thumbnail and is judged as drawing or supporting document, so letter-size plan sets land in the sheet index and get reviewed.