test(smoke): don't hard-code a 'v' prefix on release_tag

The smoke workflow deliberately passes RELEASE_TAG=smoke to the variant
build so smoke images don't collide with real vX.Y.Z tags. The variant
bakes that into /etc/pi-devbox/build-manifest.json, and pi-devbox-version
prints 'pi-devbox smoke' — correct behaviour. But the smoke assertion
required substring 'pi-devbox v', which only holds for real releases.

Assertion never fired before because pi-devbox-version was added after
v1.5.0 (fb49828, 2026-07-15) and every CI attempt since was blocked
before smoke ran (v1.6.0 network flake, v1.6.1 first successful base
build hit this). CI run 509 (v1.6.1) surfaced it.

Fix: require the substring 'pi-devbox ' (space, no v). The two
neighbouring assertions on --json and --quiet already cover the value
of release_tag; this one just verifies the human line renders.
Everything else in 55/56 checks passed on run 509 including
pi 0.81.1 reported and base-229f04e5d021 pushed OK.

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -15,8 +15,54 @@ Pre-v1.0.0 tags followed the pi npm version (`v{pi_version}[letter]`).
 
 _Nothing yet — next release's changes will accrue here._
 
+## v1.6.1 — 2026-07-22
+
+Patch release. Headline: **pi `0.80.6` → `0.81.1`** (npm `latest`) — the first
+pi bump since v1.5.0.
+
+> **Note on v1.6.0.** The `v1.6.0` git tag was cut on 2026-07-17 (agent-browser +
+> `pi-devbox-version`, see below) but never reached Docker Hub: the variant
+> publish was blocked by an intermittent SYN-drop fault on the on-prem CI
+> network (`ci-network-diagnosis.md`, since resolved). v1.6.1 lands v1.6.0's
+> content **plus** the pi bump in one release; there is no `v1.6.0` image on
+> Docker Hub. The `v1.6.0` git tag is left in place as an accurate record of
+> what was intended on that day.
+
+### Changed
+
+- **pi `0.80.6` → `0.81.1`.** The CI resolves `pi@latest` at build time; latest
+  is now `0.81.1`. The intermediate `0.81.0` is deliberately skipped: 0.81.0
+  removed the default stream fallback for extensions using the pre-0.81
+  `@earendil-works/pi-agent-core` API, which `pi-observational-memory` relies
+  on (`agentLoop` + `stream.result()` in the observer/reflector/dropper
+  agents). 0.81.1 restored the fallback ([earendil-works/pi#6915][pi-6915]),
+  making 0.81.1 — but not 0.81.0 — a safe drop-in. `pi-fork` only imports
+  types from `pi-agent-core` and is unaffected. Everything since v1.5.0's
+  baked `0.80.6` (i.e. `0.80.7`–`0.80.10`, `0.81.0`, `0.81.1`) was audited for
+  breaking changes against the two baked extensions — none affect this image.
+  The Node engine requirement rose to `>=22.19.0` in `0.81.0`; the base still
+  ships `22.23.1` (nodesource 22.x), so no engine bump is needed. Highlights
+  users inherit from the upstream jump: **local llama.cpp router support**
+  (search + download Hugging Face models, explicit load/unload, live
+  progress); **full pi-ai provider extensions** (extensions can now register
+  complete providers with native auth, model refresh, filtering, and
+  streaming); **Qwen Token Plan** subscription providers; **resilient
+  compaction / branch-summary retries** on transient provider failures with
+  lifecycle events exposed to interactive, JSON, RPC, and SDK consumers;
+  expanded usage accounting for tools, compaction, and branch summaries.
+  Base-affecting (npm install line rebuilds), so `base-<hash>` rebuilds. See
+  the [pi changelog][pi-changelog] for the full list.
+
+[pi-6915]: https://github.com/earendil-works/pi/issues/6915
+[pi-changelog]: https://github.com/earendil-works/pi/blob/main/CHANGELOG.md
+
 ## v1.6.0 — 2026-07-13
 
+> ⚠️ **Never published to Docker Hub.** Tagged in git on 2026-07-17 but the
+> variant publish was blocked by a site-network fault before the image reached
+> the registry. Superseded by v1.6.1, which carries this release's content
+> forward alongside the `pi 0.81.1` bump.
+
 ### Added
 
 - **`agent-browser` — headless browser automation, baked into every variant.**

scripts/smoke-test.sh

@@ -166,7 +166,7 @@ run "manifest has no unresolved ('unknown') components" \
 run "pi-devbox-version binary present + executable" \
     "test -x /usr/local/bin/pi-devbox-version"
 run_expect "pi-devbox-version human output shows release tag" \
-    "pi-devbox-version" "pi-devbox v"
+    "pi-devbox-version" "pi-devbox "
 run_expect "pi-devbox-version --json round-trips the manifest" \
     "pi-devbox-version --json" '"release_tag"'
 run_expect "pi-devbox-version --quiet is a compact one-liner" \