Release Date:
Summary
Stack-608 is a focused maintenance release centered on security hardening and reliability, with one usability improvement that continues the ongoing redesign of Synapse entity pages.
Key areas of work include security (dependency updates and stronger safeguards on the new search infrastructure), reliability of metadata schema operations, table query usability, and internal infrastructure and build tooling.
In total, 7 tickets were completed in this release: 1 new feature and 6 fixes and improvements.
No breaking changes or required user actions are included in this release. One existing action has moved to a new location in the interface; see "Add Conditions for Use from the Tools Menu" below.
Affected Users & Systems
|
Who / What |
Impact |
|---|---|
|
Data contributors and project administrators |
The action for adding conditions for use to a file, folder, or project now lives in the entity Tools menu. |
|
Users who query tables with the Query Builder |
Adding multiple filter conditions now works reliably without losing earlier conditions. |
|
Users and tools that attach metadata schemas to entities |
Fewer unexpected errors when binding a schema to a file, folder, or project. |
|
All Synapse web users |
Benefit from security updates to third-party software used by the Synapse website. |
|
Data portals |
Stronger safeguards in the new search system that will power portal search. |
|
Internal infrastructure and development |
Security monitoring and build tooling improvements with no user-facing impact. |
Deprecated or Breaking Changes
There are no deprecated features or breaking changes in this release.
New Features
Add Conditions for Use from the Tools Menu New
The option to add conditions for use (access requirements) to a file, folder, or project is now available directly from the entity's Tools menu, alongside other entity actions. This replaces the previous standalone button and is part of the broader effort to simplify and modernize Synapse entity pages. Grouping related actions in one place makes them easier to find and keeps entity pages less cluttered.
Who benefits: Data contributors, project administrators, and governance staff who manage access requirements on shared data.
Fixes & Improvements
Query Builder Keeps Existing Conditions When Adding New Ones
Previously, adding a second filter condition in the table Query Builder could unexpectedly clear or overwrite the first condition. Conditions are now preserved as you build up a query, so multi-condition filters behave as expected.
Who benefits: Researchers and analysts who filter tables and views using the Query Builder.
More Reliable Metadata Schema Binding
We resolved a source of unexpected server errors that occurred when attaching a metadata (JSON) schema to a file, folder, or project. These operations now complete reliably or return a clear message if something needs to be corrected.
Who benefits: Data curators and programmatic users who use schemas to validate and standardize annotations.
Security Updates to Synapse Website Dependencies
Several third-party software components used by the Synapse website were updated to address known medium-severity security issues. These updates are part of our ongoing security and compliance work and require no action from users.
Who benefits: All Synapse users, through a more secure platform.
Stronger Safeguards for the New Search System
As data portals move to a new, more powerful search system, we strengthened how search requests are checked before they are processed. Any unexpected or malformed request is now rejected by default, rather than relying on a manually maintained list of checks. Search results and behavior are unchanged for users; this change makes the system more robust and secure as new search capabilities are added.
Who benefits: Portal users and the teams who manage data portals.
Security Monitoring Improvements
We refined how internal infrastructure is tagged so that our security monitoring tools can accurately distinguish expected configurations from genuine issues. This reduces false alarms and helps the team focus on real risks. There is no user-facing impact.
Who benefits: Synapse operations and security teams.
Build Tooling Fix
We fixed an issue in an internal code-generation tool that could cause developer builds to fail. There is no user-facing impact, but the fix keeps the development workflow running smoothly.
Who benefits: The Synapse engineering team.