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Brief Connect v2.6.0 Release Notes

Release date - Monday, 29th June, 2026

Package version: 2.6.0

This release introduces new document and record capabilities, notifications customisations, in-app 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.

  • Administrators 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

Related support tickets: - #16514

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 set 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.

Platform and infrastructure upgrades

This release rebases the Brief Connect application on a more secure and scalable platform.

  • Entra ID authentication is now used for Redis cache, Plugins storage, Function storage, Data storage, and MongoDB connections, removing reliance on shared keys and connection strings.
  • Azure Managed Redis is now supported as the cache tier, and the Redis cache is split out from the in-process HybridMemoryCache service.
  • Azure Document DB is now supported as the primary operational data store, in addition to MongoDB Atlas.
  • Native Microsoft Graph API uploads replace the previous upload path, improving large file handling and reliability.
  • Authentication and authorisation throughput is improved.

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, and Cancel correctly resets the reason field to its previous value.

  • 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 Document DB 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. Comment inputs, long-text collapse and metaCard styling on the activity timeline have been standardised.

  • Fixed supersede assigning initial task to the source record's initiator

    When a record is superseded, the initial task on the new record is now assigned to the user performing the supersede, instead of the original initiator of the source record.

    Related support tickets: - #16688 - Fixed AllMustDecide timeline showing replaced assignees as 'decided'

    On AllMustDecide workflow steps, the Record Activity timeline no longer shows a replaced assignee as having decided when they took no action before being replaced.

    Related support tickets: - #16792 - #16615 - #16595 - #17014 - #16975 - Fixed search returning no results for record-ID-like terms

    The search page now returns results when the search term matches the configured Record ID pattern (for example, TYPE-2604#####).

    Related support tickets: - #16605 - Fixed CSV export from the dashboard

    Client-side CSV export from dashboards has been corrected so the exported file reflects the visible record set.

    Related support tickets: - #16600 - Fixed Open Records dashboard ignoring Entra group permissions

    The Open Records dashboard now includes records that the user can access through Entra group permissions, not only records granted directly.

  • Fixed Files Pack and PDF Pack notification links

    Files Pack notification links no longer break when the personal storage path contains characters that require URL encoding. Consolidated PDF Pack URLs now include the web=1 query parameter (and do not include it twice), so SharePoint opens the pack in the browser instead of prompting for credentials in Microsoft Edge.

    Related support tickets: - #16603 - #16720 - #16858 - #16873 - Fixed key date validation and reset issues

    Key date values now validate and reset more reliably in record workflows, and the Cancel button correctly reverts pending changes.

  • Fixed supplementary area issues

    Supplementary areas can now be removed after being added, and the previously reported loss of supplementary area details (including comments) has been resolved.

  • Fixed proxy notification 'Only important tasks' filter

    The proxy notification filter for 'Only important tasks' now applies correctly.

  • Fixed document upload behaviour

    Document upload no longer continues silently in the background after the Manage Documents form is closed, and the UI refreshes correctly after a new document is uploaded so all document details are visible without a manual reload.

  • Fixed user group save and document type enforcement

    Saving updates to user groups no longer drops or duplicates members, and the server now rejects uploads of document types that are disabled in the record type configuration.

  • Fixed paging on the Closed Records tab

    Paging now works correctly on the Closed Records dashboard tab for System Administrator users.

  • Fixed Cancelled records showing open status

    Records that have been cancelled now consistently display the Cancelled status across all views.

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 Document DB for the primary operational database, contact the Brief Connect team for specific release notes and additional pre-deployment steps.

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

N/A

Smoke tests

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