Biweekly Platform Digest

Period: April 27, 2026 – May 11, 2026

Highlights

• The Observations module is now live in both the Office App and the Subcontractor Portal, giving teams a full-featured way to create, track, and review observations — including a Kanban board, filterable table, detailed record modal with linked items and comments, and PDF downloads.
• A Task Management tab has been added inside Proposal Management, letting estimating teams view and create project-specific tasks in Kanban or Table view without leaving the project context — and those tasks sync back to the main Task Management view.
• Ernest's Outlook integration now supports two-way read/unread syncing, so marking a message in Ernest updates it in Outlook and vice versa, and contacts can be searched directly from Outlook within the platform.
• Field Manager users can now access the Office Management app, giving them view access to RFIs, Submittals, Subcontracts, Plans, Schedule, and Change Orders, along with full access to Photos and the ability to create and manage their own Field Reports.

Ernest API (3 releases)

Areas Affected: Proposal Management, Office Management, Field Management, Observations, Subcontracts, Outlook Integration, Change Orders, Contacts, Projects, Finance, Construction Schedule, Plans & Files, Communications, iOS

Release on April 30, 2026

• A Task Management tab is now available when viewing a project in Proposal Management. It shows only that project's tasks in both Kanban and Table views, and when creating a new task the project is automatically set — no need to select it manually. Tasks created here also appear in the cross-project Task Management view. Available to Estimator, Account Executive, Bid Coordinator, Chief Estimator, and Estimating Analyst roles. (Ticket)
• Ernest now syncs emails with Outlook, including two-way read/unread status updates. When a message is marked as read or unread in Ernest, that status is reflected in Outlook, and vice versa. (Ticket)
• A dedicated view modal for Observations has been added, displaying linked items and associated project locations in a single, easy-to-review panel. (Ticket)
• Project locations can now be configured directly from the Project Drawer. Users can add, rename, and delete locations for a project, with each location requiring a unique name. This setup supports the Observations workflow and additional location-based features coming soon. (Ticket)
• The Submittals detail panel now closes when clicking outside of it, matching the existing behavior in RFIs. This keeps the experience consistent across Office Management features. (Ticket)
• Field Manager users can now access the Office Management app in addition to the Foreman app. They have view-only access to RFIs, Submittals, Subcontracts, Plans, Schedule, and Change Orders; full access to Photos and the Media Library; and can create and edit their own Field Reports (Sub Logs) but cannot edit reports submitted by others. (Ticket)
• Fixed an issue where subcontract invoice summary totals could display slightly imprecise amounts due to rounding not being applied consistently across individual invoices before being summed. (Ticket)
• Resolved a data integrity issue with how project locations are linked to Observations, ensuring location associations are stored and retrieved correctly. (Ticket)
• Improved the reliability of the Outlook integration by adding automatic retry handling for temporary connectivity issues, reducing the chance of sync failures during brief network interruptions. (Ticket)

Release on May 4, 2026

• Change Order fields for Line Item names and Custom Markup names now enforce a 255-character limit. Previously, entering very long text in these fields would cause the save action to fail and break the layout. This ensures a consistent, error-free experience when naming change order items. (Ticket)
• Users can now search for contacts directly from Outlook within Ernest. This makes it easier to find and associate the right people without needing to leave the platform or look up contact details separately. (Ticket)
• The Observations module is now live in both the Office App and the Subcontractor Portal. Users can view observations in a filterable table or a Kanban board (where cards can be dragged between status columns), create new observations, and open detailed records in a modal that includes linked items, comments, and role-based field permissions for subcontractors. Observations also appear in the Activity Feed, and individual observation PDFs can be downloaded. Note: the Activities and History tabs within observations will be added in a future update. (Ticket)
• The 'Balance to Finish' column in the billing table has been repositioned to appear directly next to 'Phase Value' in both the Office App and the Subcontractor Portal, making it easier to compare these two related figures at a glance. (Ticket)

Release on May 7, 2026

• The Project details panel has been redesigned as a tabbed form with separate tabs for Project Details and Locations. Both view and edit modes are supported, and users will now see a loading indicator while a project is being saved or deleted. (Ticket)
• Several visual issues have been resolved: percentage values in tables are now properly rounded, table headers stay fixed in place when scrolling, and the Included Phases table remains anchored at the top of the page. (Ticket)
• Plan sheets in the Table View now sort in natural numerical order (e.g., A-2.0, A-9.0, A-10.0) instead of appearing out of sequence. Plans will display in the logical order customers expect. (Ticket)
• The Change Orders screen on iOS has been updated to match the latest product design and functionality. (Ticket)
• Fixed a bug where the Submitted Date field was being automatically filled in when saving a Change Order as a draft. Draft COs will now correctly leave this field blank until the CO is officially submitted. (Ticket)
• When setting up an Outlook connection through Comms Hub, the admin email address is now automatically detected from the sign-in flow, removing the need to manually re-enter it during configuration. (Ticket)
• When multiple workstreams in the Schedule view share the same start date, they now appear in the order they were originally created. This ensures the schedule reflects the client's intended sequence rather than an arbitrary or unexpected order. (Ticket)
• Foundational work has been completed to support a new Project Billing Window configuration feature. This enables upcoming billing setup options within projects. (Ticket)

Ernest MCP Server (1 release)

Areas Affected: AI Assistant, Action Items, RFIs, Submittals, Growth, Support Tickets

Release on May 6, 2026

• Internal code organization improvements to keep the platform maintainable and reliable. No visible changes for end users. (Ticket)
• Infrastructure update to improve deployment reliability in the development environment.
• Deployment process updated to use consistent, versioned builds for greater stability.
• Internal development configuration cleanup.
• Internal development tooling maintenance.
• The Ernest AI assistant now proactively takes action on support tickets, helping teams address issues faster with less manual effort.
• Action items have been updated to integrate more smoothly with growth workflows, improving task tracking and completion in that context.
• Internal code merge.
• Internal code merge.
• Internal code merge.
• Internal reliability improvement for tracking requests across the platform.
• Internal code quality improvement.
• Internal code quality improvement.
• Fixed an issue where emails were not displaying correctly in the growth inbox.
• Fixed an issue where RFIs and submittals created by the Ernest AI assistant were not showing the correct creator, ensuring accurate attribution in project records. (PR)
• Internal code merge.
• Infrastructure update to improve deployment reliability in the QA environment.
• Internal code merge.
• Internal code merge.