Biweekly Platform Digest

Period: June 8, 2026 – June 22, 2026

Highlights

• A new Alert Agent automatically monitors your projects on a scheduled basis, surfacing risks, blockers, stale activity, and overdue follow-ups — and can create notes, assign tasks, or send notifications based on your configuration. Settings can be set organization-wide and overridden per project, with a full run history so you can see exactly what the agent did and why.
• Subcontract invoices now enforce role-based access: office staff can manage status, payments, lien waivers, and notarized pay applications; field managers have read-only access; subcontractors can edit within their billing window; and invoices synced to QuickBooks are locked for all roles.
• The Direct Costs section in Office Finance has been significantly expanded with status workflow support, a vendor picker, and the ability to view costs grouped by vendor.
• Users can now add comments directly to Observations from the iOS mobile app and to Action Items on the web, making it easier to collaborate and communicate within individual records without leaving the platform.

Ernest API (2 releases)

Areas Affected: Branding, Subcontracts, Observations, Field Reports, Projects, Trades, Action Items, Submittals, AI Agents, System Settings, Finance, Plans, Documents

Release on June 12, 2026

• The desktop application has been fully rebranded to Shackleton AI. This includes the sign-in page, navigation header, organization selector, quote portal, subcontractor onboarding pages, and the powered-by footer. Invitation and password reset emails now also reflect the Shackleton AI name, logo, and contact information. (Ticket)
• Subcontract invoices now enforce role-based access controls. Office staff can manage invoice status, attachments, payments, lien waiver packets, and notarized pay applications with appropriate workflow guardrails. Field Managers have read-only access. Subcontractors can edit invoices within their billing window and are limited to allowed status transitions. Invoices that have been synced to QuickBooks are locked from further edits for all roles. (Ticket)
• Users can now add and view comments on Observations in the iOS mobile app, making it easier to communicate and collaborate directly within an observation record while in the field. (Ticket)
• A standardized view and edit modal has been introduced across the platform, providing a more consistent and polished experience when opening records to review or update details. (Ticket)
• The platform now fully supports the shackleton.ai domain, including file downloads and outgoing email delivery, ensuring a seamless experience for users accessing the platform through the new domain. (Ticket)
• A new Shackleton Agents system has been introduced, starting with the Alert Agent. This agent automatically monitors projects on a scheduled basis for risks, blockers, stale activity, and overdue follow-ups. Based on your configuration, it can automatically create notes, assign tasks, or send notifications. Settings can be applied organization-wide and overridden at the project level. A run history and action log provide full visibility into what the agent has done and why. (Ticket)
• Deleting an objective that is linked to a phase now automatically detaches it from that phase first, preventing unexpected errors downstream. If a phase cannot be deleted because it still has active objectives attached, users now see a clear, descriptive notification explaining the blocking dependency rather than a generic error message. (Ticket)
• The view and edit modals for Contracts, Subcontract Invoices, RFIs, and Observations have been updated to use the new standardized modal design, providing a more consistent look and feel across these record types. (Ticket)
• The Media Library for objectives now loads photo reports in smaller batches instead of all at once, significantly improving performance on objectives with large numbers of uploaded images. Users can load additional reports on demand, and filtering automatically resets to the first batch of results. (Ticket)
• The trade list is now sorted alphabetically (A–Z) by trade name, making it much easier to locate a specific trade rather than scanning through an unsorted list where newly added items appeared at the bottom. (Ticket)
• Action Items now use the updated standardized modal design for a more consistent experience across the platform. Users can also now add comments directly to Action Items, enabling better collaboration and communication within individual records. (Ticket)

Release on June 19, 2026

• System Settings has been redesigned with a refreshed layout and updated navigation structure, making it easier for users to find and manage configuration options. (Ticket)
• Fixed a spacing issue in rich text fields where content appeared incorrectly formatted when viewed in read-only mode. (Ticket)
• Added foundational support for callouts on plan sheets, enabling annotation and markup features on drawings. (Ticket)
• Users can now select and drag multiple files at once from the file browser into the document viewer, streamlining how files are added and reviewed. (Ticket)
• The Direct Costs section under Office > Finance now includes status workflow support, a vendor picker, and the ability to view direct costs grouped by vendor. (Ticket)

Ernest MCP Server (2 releases)

Areas Affected: Media Library, Budget, Comments, Attention Items, Finance, Billing & Invoices, RFI, GC Logs

Release on June 10, 2026

• Users can now search within the media library, including across AI-generated content stored there. This makes it much easier to locate specific files or responses without manually browsing the full library. (Ticket)
• Images are now displayed in media library search results and queries, giving users a complete view of all media associated with a project in one place. (Ticket)
• Budget records now include individual line items, so users can see a detailed financial breakdown rather than just top-level totals. (Ticket)
• Restored an automated background process that keeps internal environments in sync — no user-visible impact. (PR)
• Fixed an issue with the deployment pipeline to ensure updates are released reliably — no user-visible impact. (PR)
• Resolved a background validation check that was not running correctly — no user-visible impact. (PR)

Release on June 12, 2026

• Users can now search within the media library and receive AI-generated responses based on its content, making it faster to locate relevant files and get quick answers from stored project media. (Ticket)
• Images are now included and displayed in media library search results, giving users a richer, more complete view when browsing or querying project media. (Ticket)
• Budget views now include individual line item details, providing teams with a more granular breakdown of how budget amounts are composed. (Ticket)
• Fixed a display issue in Billing & Invoices where the month selector modal was not rendering correctly when adding a new billing month to a project. (Ticket)
• Restored an automated sync process that had been inadvertently removed. (PR)
• Fixed a configuration issue in the automated release pipeline. (PR)
• Applied a targeted fix to resolve a background process check failure. (PR)