chore: release (#2764)

<!-- This is an auto-generated description by cubic. -->
## Summary by cubic
Release 2.9.6 with UI improvements and chat behavior updates, plus a fix
for starter mode selection. Updates the changelog and bumps the version.

- **New Features**
  - Allow skipping new chat creation
  - Add data picker input widget
  - Toggle chat settings in the sidebar

- **Bug Fixes**
  - Starters now use the selected/default mode correctly

<sup>Written for commit de2316f.
Summary will update on new commits.</sup>

<!-- End of auto-generated description by cubic. -->

Author: hayescode

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -4,6 +4,16 @@ All notable changes to Chainlit will be documented in this file.
 
 The format is based on [Keep a Changelog](https://keepachangelog.com/en/1.0.0/).
 
+## [2.9.6] - 2026-01-20
+
+### Added
+- Allow skip new chat creation
+- Add data picker input widget
+- Toggle chat settings in sidebar instead of composer
+
+### Fixed
+- Fix: Starters now correctly use the selected/default mode if configured
+
 ## [2.9.5] - 2026-01-08
 
 ### Added

backend/chainlit/version.py

@@ -1 +1 @@
-__version__ = "2.9.5"
+__version__ = "2.9.6"

libs/react-client/package.json

@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 {
   "name": "@chainlit/react-client",
   "description": "Websocket client to connect to your chainlit app.",
-  "version": "0.3.1",
+  "version": "0.3.2",
   "scripts": {
     "build": "tsup src/index.ts --tsconfig tsconfig.build.json --clean --format esm,cjs --dts  --external react --external recoil --minify --sourcemap --treeshake",
     "dev": "tsup src/index.ts --clean --format esm,cjs --dts  --external react --external recoil --minify --sourcemap --treeshake",