Differences

This shows you the differences between two versions of the page.

--- 262:releasenotes [2026/09/28 19:26] – created - external edit 127.0.0.1
+++ 262:releasenotes [2026/11/13 16:06] (current) – [MCP Servers for Chat and Agentic AI scenarios] Meier, Erich
@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-====== Release Notes for Stages 26.1 ======
+====== Release Notes for Stages 26.2 ======
-We are proud to announce Stages release 26.1. It is the successor version of Stages 7.12. Subsequent versions will be numbered accordingly with the year and sequential number of its release.
+With version 26.2, Stages serves as your **process backbone for AI in engineering** and beyond. While Stages 26.2 continues to provide process knowledge for human users, it adds new features to do the same for AI agents. With these new capabilities, AI agents can be governed to execute their tasks according to the organizational standard processes and in compliance with standards and regulations.
-Please note, that Stages 26.1 is **not yet** a Long Term Support (LTS) release, but **will become LTS later this year**. Until then, Stages 7.11 will continue to be the LTS version.
+MCP and Use Cases
-The main feature of Stages 26.1 is its completely new backend platform. End users should not notice any differences, but modelers will benefit from its improved handling of process interfaces and faster data transfers, e.g. during process module updates. Also, the new technology platform allows us to release future product innovations quicker and perform upgrades easier than before.
+Please note, that Stages 26.2 is **not yet** a Long Term Support (LTS) release, but **will become LTS at a later point in time**. Until then, Stages 7.12 will continue to be the LTS version.
-We also announce the availability of the Stages MCP Server as part of a beta program. This MCP Server allows you to include process data managed in Stages to be used in other AI systems like company chatbots, AI search, and other AI-based applications.
-Release 26.1 is currently **only available for Stages Managed Service instances**. On-premise usage will be made available later this year.
+Release 26.2 is currently **only available for Stages Managed Service instances**. On-premise usage will be made available at a later point in time.
 ===== Process interface handling =====
@@ Line 22: / Line 19: @@
 [[collectionMigration|See here for more info]] on how to transition to the new mechanisms.
+===== MCP Servers for Chat and Agentic AI scenarios =====
-===== MCP Server available as beta version =====
+MCP (Model Context Protocol) has established itself as the universal way to connect LLMs (Large Language Models) and other AI systems with external data resources and tools.
-MCP (Model Context Protocol) has established itself as the universal way to connect LLMs (Large Language Models) and other AI systems with data sources. It's a common way to integrate Stages into your **enterprise chatbots**, so that your development processes are taken into consideration in those systems.
+Through our new MCP Servers, AI systems can access process knowledge managed in Stages for various purposes and use cases. Two different MCP Servers provide process knowledge for either Enterprise Chat systems or Agentic AI governance.
-Through our new MCP Server, AI systems can access process data managed in Stages for various purposes and use cases. You can therefore adjust the MCP configuration to control the amount of information revealed via the MCP interface.
 [[mcpServer|See here for more info]] on MCP with Stages.
@@ Line 34: / Line 30: @@
 ===== Internal and administrative changes =====
-=== Support for multiple SSO authentication providers ===
+=== tbd ===
-Multiple SAML IdPs can now be configured. Upon login, the users have to select the respective authentication provider.
-This improves the support for organizational mergers and large multi-domain organizations.
-=== Permission changes only take effect upon next login ===
-To speed up page access, user permissions are now cached. As a consequence, permission changes do not affect current user sessions anymore, so users need to log in again to see the effects.
-=== Attribute handling ===
-Custom attributes that were never set and have no default value in the meta model will now return ''null'' in the facade API. Previously, an empty String was returned. The user interface will continue to not show attributes without values in the viewing mode. Those are displayed only in edit mode.
-=== Date handling ===
-Dates are now shown consistently with four-digit years throughout the whole application.
-=== Configuration changes ===
-Config property "''operation.list.filter.types''" has been renamed to "''operation.list.exclude.types''".
-Most configuration changes are now recognized automatically and do not require a service restart anymore. The only exception are license changes, which still require a restart.
-The ''database.properties'' file is not needed anymore for setting up database connections. The database connection parameters are now configured in ''config.properties'' and ''secret.properties''.
 === Java Update ===
 Java SDK has been upgraded to the latest LTS version 25.
 ===== Not yet supported features =====
@@ Line 70: / Line 41: @@
 In the meantime, the AI-assisted translation is available for automated translations.
 The "transferMappings" script that copies compliance mappings from an older reference model version to a newer one is not available yet, but will be in a future release.
-===== Retired features and compatibility with older versions =====
-Scripting changes (e.g. in reports, admin jobs, visualizations, etc.):
-  * Variables ''asCurrentUser'', ''currentMetric'', ''currentCollector'', ''currentFolder ''were removed, because they are not needed anymore.
-  * Use usage of type ''org.apache.commons.collections.map.MultiKeyMap'' is not supported anymore and should be replaced by the default Javascript ''Map''.
-User authentication:
-  * LDAP synchronization is not supported anymore and should be replaced by Single Sign On via SAML
-  * SPNEGO/Kerberos and PKI SSO was already deprecated in version 7.11 and the code has now been removed. Similar to LDAP, it should be replaced by SAML SSO.
-ZIP import support:
-  * ZIP exports that were created with versions prior to 7.6.1.0 cannot be imported anymore.
-Database support:
-  * The minimum supported MySQL version is 8.0.1.
-  * MariaDB is not supported anymore due to the lack of newer features.
-Stages V6 features:
-  * V6 style deep links are not supported anymore.
-  * V6 legacy element types (''Article'', ''Category'', ''Ypuser'', ''Orgunit'', ''Resource'') and associations of these elements will be deleted from the database during upgrade.
-  * The "mandatory flag" for core process elements, which was only available through explicit configuration, has been removed.
 ===== Not yet supported integrations =====
@@ Line 110: / Line 49: @@
 They are planned to be included in a future release.
-===== Retired integrations =====
-Sharepoint 2019 support for document management has been retired, because of Microsoft's declared End of Life for this software, and should be replaced with Sharepoint 365 (Online).
-The process feedback integration with Redmine has also been retired.
 ===== Unified configuration metamodel changes* =====
-=== New Element Subtype “Process Area” ===
+=== New Element Subtype “Use Case” ===
-The new //Process Area// element subtype provides an additional way to structure workflows. Similar to the existing //Topic// element, multiple workflows can be grouped into a single unit.
+The new //Use Case// element subtype provides a modeling capability to
-Unlike //Topic//, a //Process Area// contains automatic visualization of the workflows it contains, improving transparency and overview for complex process landscapes.
+//tbd//
 === Announcing our Future Standard Metamodel Strategy ===
@@ Line 131: / Line 63: @@
 [[262:metamodelStrategy|Read here for details]] of the new strategy.
 ===== New reference models =====
@@ Line 139: / Line 70: @@
 Please reach out, if you are interested to use one or more of the following standards in Stages.
-  * REGULATION (EU) 2024/2847, also known as EU Cybersecurity Resilience Act (CRA)
+  * //tbd//
-  * ISO/IEC/IEEE 12207:2017 Systems and software engineering - Software life cycle processes
-  * Automotive SPICE for Cybersecurity 2.0
-  * EN 50155:2021 Railway applications. Rolling stock. Electronic equipment.
 [[https://www.ul.com/sis/stages/process-compliance-management|See here for the full list]] of available reference models.
@@ Line 148: / Line 76: @@
 Please let us know if you have additional compliance requirements. Our teams are ready to implement them for you.
+===== How to upgrade to version 26.2 =====
-===== How to upgrade to version 26.1 =====
+Version 26.2 is currently only available on Stages Managed Service instances. On-premise usage will be made available later this year.
-**Version 26.1 is currently only available on Stages Managed Service instances. **On-premise usage will be made available later this year.
 Please [[[email protected]|contact our customer care team]] to request an upgrade of your Stages Managed Service instance.
 //Note: all process release automations have to be finished before an upgrade can be performed.//
 ===== Notes =====