If you mostly use ChatGPT-style tools and are just starting to follow new tools more seriously, this is the kind of release that's easy to scroll past and misfile. Datasette is not just a SQLite viewer anymore; for its single-file SQLite setup, it's starting to behave like a backend [C002].
An update matters when it changes your next decision, not when it dumps a longer feature list. If you keep treating Datasette as read-only, you'll spend time watching the wrong category and miss the actual shift.
The proof is the sequence. June 16's 1.0a34 added row insert/edit/delete. June 23's 1.0a35 added create table, alter table, and a drop table button [C001]. Once a tool can change rows and table structure, "viewer" is no longer the right default label.
The bigger shift is not the buttons. The write docs say the same actions can be called over JSON by other tools, with a token and separate permissions for create, alter, and drop. In plain English: it can receive instructions to manage data, not just display data.
Boundary line: this does not make Datasette a general backend. The scope here is Datasette on SQLite, based on the 1.0a34/1.0a35 release notes and the write API docs, and there is no first-hand runtime test in this draft. But within that boundary, I'd refile Datasette as a lightweight backend, not a read-only viewer. If you know someone still using the old mental model, send them this.