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Brief Connect v2.6.0 Release Notes

Release date - 4th May, 2026

Package version: 2.6.0

This release introduces new document and record capabilities, notification and proxy management improvements, and platform upgrades for scalability and security. It also removes legacy operational data paths and includes targeted fixes across task completion, activity logs, key dates, and supplementary areas.

New features

Record ID and library allocation changes

Brief Connect now stores record counters and allocates SharePoint document libraries differently, so environments with many record types or large import volumes can scale more reliably. Record IDs continue to use the configured record type prefix in the format PREFIX-YYMM#####.

Proxy management in Brief Connect

Proxy relationships are now managed directly in Brief Connect, instead of a separate SharePoint list.

  • Admins can manage the full proxy list from the admin panel.
  • End-user proxy self-management remains deployment-dependent and may not be enabled in every environment.
  • Proxy-related email notifications are improved.

Notification enhancements

  • Users can choose to receive notifications when record documents are signed.
  • Brief Connect can notify users when documents are uploaded, depending on notification configuration and user preferences.
  • Administrators can control default notification settings with the same level of granularity available to end users.

Record importing improvements

Support for importing records from external systems has been improved, especially for closed or inactive records.

  • Dedicated Web APIs support importing closed records.
  • Scaling has improved for large document and record import batches.

Changes and improvements

  • Improved document management

Users can move documents between document sections within a record. When a moved or copied document has the same name as an existing file, Brief Connect handles duplicate naming so users can complete the action without manual renaming.

  • Updated SharePoint document library assignment

Brief Connect now assigns records to SharePoint document libraries by record type and library capacity, instead of by record type and month. A library stores records for one record type until it reaches approximately 1,500 records, then Brief Connect creates the next library for that record type, such as TYPE-0002.

This reduces unnecessary SharePoint library growth in environments with many record types and supports large bulk imports without spreading records across monthly libraries.

  • Key date UX improvements

The Key Dates reason field on the Record Details screen is now highlighted only when there are changes.

  • Migration and health check improvements

The upgrade and migration process now includes improved behaviour for migration execution and Admin Health checks, including migration health, record counter health, and SharePoint library health.

  • Removed legacy operational data paths

Brief Connect has removed legacy support for Azure Table Storage operational data, SharePoint Search-backed operational data, and old Cosmos DB paths. Current deployments use MongoDB Atlas or Azure DocumentDB for primary operational data.

Bug fixes

  • Fixed group Decision Maker task completion

Group members can now complete Record Decision tasks when a User Group is assigned as the Decision Maker.

  • Fixed activity log noise for group task completion

Activity logs now more clearly show the group member who completed a group-assigned task and avoid unnecessary activity log noise.

  • Fixed key date validation and reset issues

Key date values now validate and reset more reliably in record workflows.

  • Fixed supplementary area issues

Supplementary area behaviour has been corrected in scenarios that could previously produce inconsistent results.

Upgrade instructions

Use these instructions to deploy package version 2.6.0.

Warning

If you are upgrading from a version earlier than v2.5.6 and have not migrated to MongoDB or Azure DocumentDB for the primary operational database, contact the Brief Connect team for specific release notes and additional pre-deployment steps.

Plan the migration window

This release includes multiple post-deployment migrations that will be executed automatically. During the migrations, the application will be in Maintenance Mode and will not be available for general users. Schedule 2-3+hrs maintenance window for this release.

Manual pre-deployment steps

Review release pipeline variables

Apply any changes to pipeline variables before you create a release, because every release creates a snapshot of pipeline variables at the moment of creation. To redeploy the application with updated variables, you must create a new release.

  1. Go to Azure DevOps and open your Brief Connect project.
  2. In the left panel, go to Pipelines -> Library -> Variable groups.
  3. Review variables for all environments included in this release and update values where required.
  4. Save your changes.

Create a new release

  1. Go to Azure DevOps and open your Brief Connect project.
  2. Go to Pipelines -> Releases.
  3. Open the Deploy Brief Connect Application release pipeline.
  4. If there is no release with version 2.6.0, click Create Release.
  5. Set the Package Version variable to 2.6.0.
  6. Add a description (optional).
  7. Click Create.
  8. After refreshing the page, confirm release v2.6.0 (n) appears in the list.

Pipeline deployment steps

  1. Deploy release v2.6.0 (n) (where (n) is the latest number available) from the Deploy Brief Connect Application release pipeline in Azure DevOps to the target environment.

Manual post-deployment steps

Wait for migrations to complete

Role required: Brief Connect Administrator

TBD: Migration health checks, Admin Health checks.

Smoke tests

Follow the baseline guide after this release: Basic testing of Brief Connect