Select or edit a label format at run time
Valid from Pega Version 8.1
At run time in App Studio, when you edit a control, you can now select a new label format for the control or edit the currently selected label format. This change provides you with the flexibility to update control labels in real time as you process cases.
For more information, see Styling controls at run time.
Security fields in JFrog Artifactory repository rule form removed
Valid from Pega Version 8.1
The fields in the Security section of the JFrog Artifactory repository rule form, including the Secure protocol field, the Truststore field, and the Keystore field, were not functional in Pega Platform™ 7.3, 7.3.1, and 7.4. This section has been removed from the JFrog Artifactory repository rule form in Pega Platform 8.1.
Default support for skip links
Valid from Pega Version 8.4
All Pega Platform™ access groups now support skip links by default. Before, you had to create special access groups for users who require skip links for screen readers. Now, the feature is automatically enabled for every group, which improves the user experience and simplifies development.
Improved reliability of Visual Business Director
Valid from Pega Version 8.4
Improvements to the reliability of Visual Business Director (VBD) eliminate the impact of temporary access loss to the VBD cluster. The improvements include the ability to continue writing data to a VBD dataset while the corresponding server node is unavailable, enhancements to single-case data flows that write data to VBD, and a reduction in the VBD cache size.
For more information, see Eliminate the impact of temporary access loss to the VBD cluster (8.4).
Support for application-specific REST API calls
Valid from Pega Version 8.5
You can now call an authenticated REST API in the context of any application that is listed on an operator record by using the application alias URL. With the application alias URL, you can also develop REST services without changing the access group in the service package. REST services run in the context of the access group that points to the provided application, instead of the access group that is specified in the service package.
For more information, see Invoking a REST service rule.
Mobile Settings tab in Designer Studio
Valid from Pega Version 7.1.6
The Mobile Settings tab in Designer Studio is used when wrapping a mobile application (app) to create a hybrid mobile app. Building an app using this process customizes the app's user interface displayed to users who access the app via the Pega 7 mobile app, available as a free download in the Apple iTunes and Google Play app stores.
This tab also provides fields for managing mobile app distribution, including using a QR Code to quickly access an application's URL and
See How to build and brand a hybrid mobile application.
Tamper-proof Pega Web Mashup loading
Valid from Pega Version 8.5
To protect your application from hackers, Pega Web Mashup is now loaded in a more secure way. The system generates a channel ID in the mashup code for validation on the server, before passing the mashup request.
For more information, see Creating a mashup.
Upgrade impact
After an upgrade to Pega Platform 8.5, existing mashups, which do not have the channel ID parameter in their code, cannot load and users see the access control warning.
What steps are required to update the application to be compatible with this change?
If you need to maintain full availability of the mashup during the upgrade of the production environment, perform the steps in Migrating existing mashups.
Automatic separation of date input
Valid from Pega Version 8.5
Date fields in Date Time controls now automatically divide strings of input into days, months, and years. In single fields, the system adds slashes (/) as the user types the value. For example, an input string of 10102020 becomes 10/10/2020. In separate day/month/year fields, the system automatically switches from one field to the next as the user types the value. This enhancement improves the user experience by helping to users provide input in a more convenient and time-efficient manner.
For more information, see Configuring a Date Time control.
Support for seamless transitions between IVAs and customer service representatives
Valid from Pega Version 8.4
To ensure the best user experience in chat sessions with a Pega Intelligent Virtual Assistant™ (IVA), customer service representatives (CSRs) can now step in and take control of a chat session multiple times, when the chatbot is not capable of correctly answering the user. After the user problem is resolved, the CSR can seamlessly switch control of the chat session back to the chatbot.
Improvements to OAuth 2.0 Services with Token Introspection Service and Token Denylist Service
Valid from Pega Version 8.5
Increase the security of user sessions by using the newly supported Token Introspection and Denylist services for OAuth 2.0.
Token Introspection service
Use the Token Introspection service to validate JSON Web Tokens (JWT). The Token Introspection service requires authentication.
Pega now uses OAuth 2.0 access tokens called Authorized Access Tokens (AAT).
Token Introspection service endpoint
The Token Introspection service endpoint provides the information about the status of access token and refresh token. Token introspection can be used to validate if a given token is still active or inactive. The token introspection endpoint determines whether the token is valid. The status indicates whether an access token or refresh token is valid or invalid:
- Valid tokens have the
“active”:true
status - Invalid tokens have the
“active” :false
status.
The inactive status can also be due to revocation.
Token Denylist service
You can add tokens to the deny list in cases where suspicious activity might have occurred. The Token Denylist service provides a method for denying user access to the application by revoking the user's access token. This service can prevent a token from being used more than the specified number of times, which can be helpful in preventing replay attacks. Stolen tokens should be revoked using this service. A GET API is also available to get the list of denied tokens.
Keys endpoint
Pega Platform™ is changing from using opaque tokens to JSON Web (JWT) tokens. If this JWT is used by any other system, the public key is needed for signature verification. A new endpoint is exposed to provide these public keys in JWK format: https://host:port/prweb/api/oauth2/v1/token/keys.
For more information, see OAuth 2.0 Management Services.