Settings and deeper inventory workflows

This release changes how the app feels to use every day. Instead of mixing admin work into the middle of daily operations, GearScout now separates setup work from the workflows people use to move gear, plan events, and track repairs.

It also makes the app easier to grow into. Larger groups now have better ways to manage people, organize inventory, and bring gear into the system without doing everything by hand.

People, permissions, billing, categories, locations, and inventory setup come together in a dedicated Settings area. That makes the rest of the app feel more focused, because daily operational pages no longer have to carry so much setup work.

For regular users, the big win is clarity. It becomes easier to understand where to go for admin changes and where to go for day-to-day gear work. It also becomes much easier for admins to give people the exact access they need without creating a one-size-fits-all role.

That extra flexibility matters in real groups. One person might only need to manage inventory setup, while someone else needs day-to-day access to check gear in and out or update repairs. This release makes those differences easier to represent cleanly.

This release adds several practical tools for groups with bigger or messier inventories. GearScout can now track gear stored inside other gear, bring in items through CSV import, guide check-in or check-out with verification steps, and show stronger status and photo information right on the gear record.

Those additions make the app more useful for real equipment rooms, not just for simple lists of standalone items. Even the check-in and check-out flow becomes easier because GearScout can now tell whether an item is going out or coming back based on its current state.

Together, those changes remove a lot of manual work. Teams can import gear in bulk, build kits and packing lists, add photos for easier identification, and create return checklists that make handoffs more consistent.

A lot of cleanup lands alongside the visible features in this release. Access rules become more predictable, editing inventory becomes more forgiving, and related workflows line up more cleanly from one screen to the next.

That kind of cleanup does not make for flashy screenshots, but it makes the product feel steadier when people are relying on it.

It also means the newer workflows feel like they belong together instead of feeling bolted on. That is a big part of why this release feels like a genuine step forward rather than just a list of isolated additions.