platformOS DocsKit 

Partnerships Update: DocsKit and MrScraper

This month, we advanced our documentation solutions through our strategic partnership with MrScraper, which has enabled a more efficient and automated process for documentation migration into DocsKit. MrScraper's integration allows content from diverse formats—such as PDFs, Word documents, and legacy systems—to be seamlessly transferred into MDX format within platformOS DocsKit, streamlining the transition to modern, accessible, and scalable documentation. This partnership is particularly valuable for organizations with large volumes of documentation, offering a time-saving and reliable migration process that minimizes manual effort and ensures content consistency.

For more information about how DocsKit and MrScraper work together to simplify documentation migration, see our recent article: Streamlining Documentation Migration with DocsKit and MrScraper.

In addition, our partnership with EkLine continues to provide innovative solutions for our clients. You can read more about this collaboration in our previous article: Announcing partnership: platformOS DocsKit and EkLine

Through these partnerships, we aim to strengthen platformOS’ DocsKit’s capabilities and extend our reach, making high-quality, maintainable documentation accessible to a wider audience.

Update from our UX Team

Client Engagement Document: Enhanced Clarity and Tailored Process Options for Clients and Partners

In our ongoing commitment to delivering an exceptional client experience, platformOS has reimagined the Client Engagement Document to provide clearer guidance and tailored process options. This updated version is crafted to support clients and partners alike, equipping them with a step-by-step roadmap from initial discovery through to product delivery.

Key updates include:

• Introduction to Discovery Process Options: This section explains our two tailored discovery paths—Strategic Definition Discovery and Functional Alignment Discovery—allowing clients (and our partners) to choose the approach that best aligns with their project’s clarity and specific needs.

• Detailed Phase Breakdown: Each phase of both discovery processes is mapped out with specific activities, milestones, and tools, serving as a step-by-step reference for understanding what to expect, who you’ll be collaborating with, and the deliverables at each stage.

• Roles and Responsibilities: We clarify roles within both your team and the platformOS team, ensuring that everyone knows whom to reach out to, promoting smooth collaboration and efficient communication.

• Techniques & Tools: This section outlines various techniques and tools that support the process, giving insights into the methods we employ to help you achieve your MVP or refined product vision.

Our main project approach is also highlighted, with a framework centered on two key questions as we move through the phases: WHAT are we building, and HOW will we deliver it? This approach helps clients and partners understand our way of working while providing two distinct paths for discovery—the “WHAT” phase. This ensures every client and partner can find the process that best fits their project’s unique requirements.

Selecting the Right Discovery Path

We provide a clear guide to help you choose the discovery process that best aligns with your project’s goals:

• Strategic Definition Discovery Process: Ideal for projects with an early-stage vision, this process helps define the direction, identify core features, and prioritize value. It’s designed for clients seeking a quick MVP launch within 8-12 weeks.

• When to Choose: If you’re in the initial stages, need clarity on requirements, or want to launch a valuable product quickly, this is the right path.

• Functional Alignment Discovery Process: Designed for clients with a well-defined vision and specific requirements. This process focuses on structured execution, moving efficiently from planning to development. (Timeline depends on project complexity)

• When to Choose: If your project has clearly defined expectations, and you need a fast transition from planning to development, this approach is best suited to you.

The document is a flexible tool for both clients and partners, allowing them to use and adapt it for their own workflows, business goals, and client engagements.

Enhanced Visual Experience

To improve readability and engagement, Gyöngy Gora has worked extensively on the design. By incorporating structured formatting, highlights and illustrations, she has made the document easier to scan and process. This visual enhancement ensures that information is accessible and digestible, enhancing the overall client experience.

Next Steps

As we complete the content updates, we will refine the document further based on final reviews. Once ready, we will also produce a concise presentation version of this document, ideal for use in client calls. This shorter version will serve as a quick reference guide, ensuring that our clients have clear, accessible information at every stage of engagement.

Importantly, this document is designed to evolve. It will continue to be refined based on ongoing feedback from our team, partners, and clients, ensuring it remains a relevant and useful tool.

platformOS Course partnering with University of Szeged

Mid-Course Milestones: "Exploring PaaS for Dynamic Online Ventures"

Our course "Exploring PaaS for Dynamic Online Ventures" at University of Szeged has passed its halfway point, with 15 students diving into the world of PaaS and platformOS. Led by our in-house experts, the first six sessions introduced foundational topics such as product development, UX research and design, and scalable application building. Highlights included an inspiring introduction by platformOS founder Adam Broadway, who shared insights on Agile principles and real-world product development, and hands-on workshops where students began creating prototypes and working with platformOS tools like pos-cli and GraphQL.

In recent lessons, students have been refining their technical skills by developing applications using database queries, routing, and Liquid templating. In a particularly exciting session they implemented OpenAI-powered search functionality, using embeddings to enhance search relevance and improve user experiences. Along the way, students have learned to balance user needs with technical constraints, gaining practical insights into building functional, user-friendly solutions. Guided by our award-winning expert, Diana Lakatos, students have also explored developer documentation and Docs as Code fundamentals.

Looking ahead, the upcoming modules will focus on documentation best practices, web accessibility, sustainability, and digital marketing. Students will also explore tools like DocsKit, learn about eco-friendly design practices, and master quality assurance and marketing strategies tailored to PaaS. With these final lessons, students are well-positioned to integrate technical expertise with strategic insights, preparing them for impactful roles in the fast-paced tech world.

Development 

Unreleased - only on staging

NEW - IMPROVED

• Ensure background jobs will have access to all Records that were created within the same request as itself (aka trigger background jobs after DB transaction completes)

• Ensure no race condition for record_update and improve performance of atomic operations

To learn more about the most recent updates, enhancements and fixes in platformOS, check out our latest release note: platformOS Release Note 17 Sep, 2024 — array_uniq filter, fixes and maintenance, deploy fixes

NEW

• Added "array_uniq" filter which can be used instead of the "uniq" filter to avoid the flattening of the input parameter

FIXED

• Deploying projects with complex module dependencies (like using other modules within a migration of another module) could result in a missing file error during the first pos-cli deploy

platformOS Release Note 9 Oct, 2024 — New option to redirect all pages with a trailing slash, querying performance improvements, upgraded internal frameworks

NEW

• "redirect_trailing_slash" config option for instances to redirect to the same URL without a trailing slash

FIXED

• pos-cli data clean will now also restore app/config.yml feature flags to defaults

IMPROVED

• performance improvements for users query with related_records

platformOS Release Note 17 Oct, 2024 — ApiCall/Email/SMS sending without Liquid, performance improvement for array_overlaps

NEW

• email_send GraphQL mutation accepts new argument - email - which allows to send email without Liquid, effectively removing necessity of using app/emails directory

• api_call_send GraphQL mutation accepts new argument - api_call - which allows to send API Call without Liquid, effectively removing necessity of using app/api_calls directory

• sms_send GraphQL mutation accepts new argument - sms - which allows to send SMS without Liquid, effectively removing necessity of using app/smses directory

FIXED

• Fix for updating user profiles when deleted profile of the same type exists

IMPROVED

• performance improvement for array_overlaps filter

platformOS Release Note 6 Nov, 2024 — Internal dependencies and frameworks upgrade

IMPROVED

• Made html_format_exact_match redirect html extension pages to the same page without extension (if the page has no html extension)

MAINTENANCE

• Upgraded internal frameworks and dependencies to the newest versions

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