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Changelog

Follow up on the latest improvements and updates.

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new

improved

fixed

Timefold Platform

Employee Shift Scheduling

Field Service Routing

Redesigned documentation website, improved search and new ESS preference KPI’s (v0.28.0)

Redesigned docs.timefold.ai
Our documentation website is completely redesigned. We’re giving it a crisper and fresher look, more in line with our recently redesigned website and platform. We hope you enjoy the new look, and will enjoy the better experience on mobile devices, as well as dark mode support.
The documentation homepage now guides you through the correct documentation, depending on the Timefold product you want to use.
This new version of the Timefold Platform comes with the following improvements:
  • End-to-end encryption
    : All internal network traffic between different components of the Timefold Platform is now end-to-end encrypted.
    (External traffic was already encrypted.) (For self-hosted installations, see our updated Installation Instructions for how to enable end-to-end encryption.)
  • Improved Search in Model Runs
    : The search functionality on the Model Runs Overview page now searches across multiple pages. Searching is case-insensitive and supports partial exact matches.
  • Improved Search in Tenants via Global Admin
    : Users self-hosting the Timefold Platform that have access to the Global Admin will now see improved search functionality on the Tenants Overview page in the Global Admin. It now searches across multiple pages. Searching is case-insensitive and supports partial exact matches.
  • Stricter password policies
    : When registering on app.timefold.ai we now enforce three more password policies: You can not reuse previous passwords. You can not use passwords from a dictionary of the most common passwords. We disallow passwords that contain any part of provided personal data (like your name, email).
  • Documentation updates
    : The platform documentation is restructured. A new high level product diagram was added to our Platform Concepts guide. There is a new guide explaining how to submit feature requests. And we have added documentation comparing using the Timefold Cloud Platform versus self-hosting our platform.
  • Improvements to Model Trials
    : If you’re trialing the Timefold Models, we’ve made a couple of improvements to the process of signing up and extending a trial. All model runs and logs are now also kept for the full duration of the trial.
The new version also comes with updates to these Timefold Models:
Employee Shift Scheduling (v1 | Stable)
  • “Average Duration of Employees' Preferences Met”, “Minimum Duration of Preferences Met Across Employees”, “Average Duration Employee's Unpreferences are Violated” and “Maximum Duration of Unpreferences Violated Across Employees” KPIs added
    : For new runs of the model, you’ll see that 4 new KPIs became available in the output, as well as visualized in the platform. The KPIs are marked as experimental and thus subject to change. We are looking for your feedback. You can use these KPIs to compare the quality of the provided planning solutions. Here is a description of the new KPIs:
    "Average Duration of Employees' Preferences Met"
    : The average number of time (defined in the ISO 8601 format) employees' preferences are met for preferred employee pairings, time spans, and shifts. This metric represents how the employees' preferences are being accounted for. Portions of shifts may be counted multiple times if they meet multiple preferences.
    "Minimum Duration of Preferences Met Across Employees"
    : The minimum number of time (defined in the ISO 8601 format) employees' preferences are met for preferred employee pairings, time spans, and shifts. All other employees have more minutes where they work according to their respective preferences.
    "Average Duration Employees' Unpreferences are Violated"
    : The average number of time (defined in the ISO 8601 format) employees' unpreferences are violated for unpreferred employuee pairings, and unpreferred time spans. This metric represents how the employees' unpreferences are being accounted for. Portions of shifts may be counted multiple times if they violate multiple unpreferences.
    "Maximum Duration of Unpreferences Violated Across Employees"
    : The maximum number of time (defined in the ISO 8601 format) employees' unpreferences are violated for unpreferred employee pairings and time spans. All other employees have fewer minutes where they work according to their respective unpreferences.
  • There is a new guide explaining how to submit feature requests.
Field Service Routing (v1 | Stable)
Please let us know if you have feedback.

new

improved

fixed

Timefold Platform

Employee Shift Scheduling

Field Service Routing

Platform UX improvements, shift pattern improvements for Employee Shift Scheduling, and more (v0.27.1)

This new version of the Timefold Platform comes with the following improvements:
  • Subscribe to get changelog notifications
    : We are now using a new system for changelog communication. Please use the subscribe button to get notified about new releases. Additionally, you can now filter the changelog on components or types of updates.
  • Improved Model Run Logs
    : The Logs page of a Model Run now contains only the output of the Timefold Solver itself.
  • Confirmation before deletion
    : When deleting items in Tenant Settings via the Platform UI (e.g. webhooks, or api keys), we now require users to type the name of the item they’re deleting. We’ve added this extra layer of confirmation for destructive actions that cannot be undone to prevent mistakes.
  • Hardened Tenant Selection
    : Users that are in multiple tenants should no longer experience problems switching between tenants. We have made the tenant id part of the Tenant Settings pages’ urls so that you can have multiple tabs open from different tenants as well as share urls with colleagues.
  • Various UX Improvements
    : We have done several UX improvements to the Platform UI, including improved feedback when actions are being submitted, items are being refreshed, when you reached the maximum amount of concurrent model runs, or when navigating through different steps in modals.
The new version also comes with updates to these Timefold Models:
Employee Shift Scheduling (v1 | Stable)
  • Improvements to shift patterns
    : We have fixed multi-day shift pattern rules to correctly handle a pattern starting with
    OFF
    . See New and noteworthy for details. The
    REQUIRED
    multi-day patterns are now deprecated and will be removed in a future version in favor of
    PREFERRED
    patterns with a high weight.
  • New demo data set showing multi-day shift patterns
    : When you start a new run, you now have the option to start a run of a demo data set that showcases the multi-day shift patterns feature. This dataset demonstrates a problem where 2 employees have a contract with 2 types of multi-day shift patterns: Day Call and Night Call.
  • “Assigned Shifts”, “Working Time Fairness” and “Disruption Percentage” KPI’s added
    : For new runs of the model, you’ll see that 3 new KPIs became available in the output, as well as visualized in the platform. You can use these KPIs to compare the quality of the provided planning solutions. Here is a description of the new KPIs:
    “Assigned Shifts”
    : The number of shifts assigned to an employee in this schedule.
    “Working Time Fairness”
    : This percentage indicates how fair a given solution is in terms of how many hours employees are assigned. The higher the percentage, the more equally distributed the working time is between employees. The value is null if no fairness rules were defined.
    “Disruption Percentage”
    : When an existing schedule is posted, this KPI represents the percentage of shifts that were disrupted, i.e. assigned a new employee. If the provided schedule didn't have any assigned shifts, the value will be 0%.
  • We have added Employee contracts and Pairing employees feature guides to our documentation, explaining how to use these powerful features.
Field Service Routing (v1 | Stable)
Please let us know if you have feedback.

fixed

Timefold Platform

Security fix for Timefold Platform (v0.26.3)

We have released an update to the Timefold Platform to fix a security issue (affecting versions v0.25.0 and v0.26.2). A certain API endpoint of the platform exposed sensitive keys. This has been remedied with the release of v0.26.3 which was deployed to app.timefold.ai on Oct 17th at 8:26PM GMT+2.
We recommend self-hosted solutions to upgrade to v0.26.3 and to revoke the applicable keys.
For Azure:
secrets:
data:
azureStoreConnectionString: YOUR_AZURE_BLOB_STORE_CONNECTION_STRING
For AWS:
secrets:
data:
awsAccessKey: YOUR_AWS_ACCESS_KEY
awsAccessSecret: YOUR_AWS_ACCESS_SECRET
For GCP:
secrets:
stringData:
serviceAccountKey: YOUR_GOOGLE_STORAGE_SERVICE_ACCOUNT_KEY
Please let us know if you have questions.

new

improved

fixed

Timefold Platform

Employee Shift Scheduling

Field Service Routing

Public Platform launch, with trials for models (v0.26.2)

Today we’re publicly announcing the Timefold Platform. This new version of the Timefold Platform comes with the following improvements:
  • Timefold Platform has a new look. We’ve redesigned the UI to look more modern, professional and clean. Additionally, the platform is now easier to use on mobile devices.
  • Users can now self-register on app.timefold.ai and try out our Timefold Models.
  • Our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use have been updated to govern the use of (trials on) the Timefold Platform.
  • We’ve also made the following minor changes: Model Run names are limited to 255 characters, Model Run tags have a maximum of 100 characters, and we’ve introduced better validation for names of a Timefold tenant.
The new version also comes with updates to these Timefold Models:
Field Service Routing (v1 | Stable)
  • The recommendation API has been extended with dependent vehicle shifts. We’ve added
    includeDependencies
    as a new parameter to the
    VisitTimeWindowRecommendationRequest
    API. With this parameter you can select whether you want to check for possible dependent vehicle shift plans that might be influenced by a recommendation. If the recommendation for a visit puts it before other visits, it might change the arrival, start of service, and departure times of the previously planned visits. If those visits have relations to other visits (e.g. visit groups, visit dependency), the recommendation might also affect other vehicle shift plans. By setting the
    includeDependencies
    parameter to
    ALL
    , these dependencies will be part of the response.
  • We’ve changed the order of the KPI’s shown in the UI on the Model Run details page to focus on travel times before travel distances.
  • When running demo datasets via the Platform UI, we have added descriptions of what the demo data showcases and which features it highlights (basic features, visit groups, or visit dependencies).
  • We’ve updated our lunch breaks feature guide to include an explanation video.
  • We’ve added documentation on how to use the OpenAPI Spec.
Employee Shift Scheduling (v1 | Stable)
  • We’ve added a constraint to minimize gaps between split shifts for an employee. We’ve added a constraint to prefer assigning employees to shifts that are close to each other to minimize the time between those shifts. This is useful for cases where the employee works multiple shifts per day. See Minimize gaps between shifts for employee rule for more information.
  • When running demo datasets via the Platform UI, we’ve added descriptions of what the demo data showcases and which features it highlights (basic features, contract rules, or hourly demand).
  • We’ve made a minor bugfix to the visualization of a model run, and improved the overlay to show the full IDs of shifts.
  • There is a new guide explaining the employee preferences features.
  • We’ve added documentation on how to use the OpenAPI Spec.
Please let us know if you have feedback.

new

improved

fixed

Timefold Platform

Employee Shift Scheduling

Field Service Routing

Updated demo data sets and improvements for visit dependencies (FSR), and shift priorities (ESS) (v0.25.0)

This new version of the Timefold Platform comes with the following improvements:
  • We have introduced documentation about Planning AI concepts. This documentation will help to understand the concepts used in Timefold software.
  • Several stability and performance improvements were made, including fixes for headless set-up of the Timefold platform and better validation when location coordinates are provided as part of input data.
The new version also comes with updates to these Timefold Models:
Field Service Routing (v1 | Stable)
  • Improved Demo Data: We have replaced the existing demo datasets with new ones that are more realistic and better showcase the model’s features. The new demo datasets cover basic Field Service Routing capabilities, Visit Groups, and Visit Dependencies.
  • New visit dependency feature: We have added
    minStartDateAdjusterIncrement
    to the
    minDelayTo
    VisitDependency
    . The value determines how many times the
    minStartDateAdjuster
    is applied. This allows a more precise control over the delay. More information can be found in Dependencies between visits under Visit dependency with minimum delay as a point in time.
  • There is a new feature guide explaining lunch breaks and personal appointments.
Employee Shift Scheduling (v1 | Stable)
  • Improved Demo Data: We have replaced the existing demo datasets with new ones that are more realistic and better showcase the model’s features. The new demo datasets cover basic Employee Shift Scheduling capabilities, Contract Period Rules, and Hourly Demand Rules.
  • Flexible shift priorities: We have added the ability to define custom priorities and weights for shifts. Whenever the model needs to choose between multiple shifts to assign to an employee, it will favor shifts with higher priority. See Unassigned shift rule for more information.
  • Added constraints to check maximum number of locations worked for an employee
  • We extended the period rules to restrict the maximum number of locations an employee works during a period. See documentation of the rules for more information: Locations worked per period not in required range for employee and Locations worked per period not in preferred range for employee.
  • There is a new guide explaining the employee availability features.
Please let us know if you have feedback.

new

improved

fixed

Timefold Platform

Employee Shift Scheduling

Field Service Routing

Stability and performance improvements (v0.24.0)

This new version of the Timefold Platform comes with the following improvements:
  • We have improved the login flow, so we don't ask for permissions again when you already granted them.
  • Several stability and performance improvements were made to handle large input files.
The new version also comes with updates to these Timefold Models:
Field Service Routing (v1 | Stable)
  • We have renamed “multi-resource” to “multi-vehicle” in the documentation, to more clearly indicate what this feature can be used for.
  • We have updated the logo for this model.
Employee Shift Scheduling (v1 | Stable)
  • We are renaming the “Employee Scheduling” model to “Employee Shift Scheduling” to distinguish between future other models involving scheduling for employees. (We are not changing API urls or entity names.)
  • We have also marked this model as “Stable”, meaning that we promise backwards-compatibility for future minor releases. Read more about model maturity levels.
  • We have updated the logo for this model.
  • We have removed the shift’s duration from the constraint’s penalty. We now only consider the shift’s assignment priority.
Please let us know if you have feedback.

new

improved

fixed

Timefold Platform

Employee Shift Scheduling

Field Service Routing

Require specific vehicles in Field Service Routing, and pagination for runs in Platform (v0.23.0)

This new version of the Timefold Platform comes with the following improvements:
  • We have added pagination to a model’s run overview.
  • There is now documentation about how to interpret the results of a model run. It also includes tips for next steps to take.
  • We have fixed several bugs, including more gracefully handling when you haven’t confirmed your email address yet, and we resolved a bug where users saw an empty homepage if they have access to multiple tenants.
The new version also comes with updates to these Timefold Models:
Field Service Routing (v1 | Stable)
  • We have added the capability to specify that a certain visit needs to be done by a certain vehicle. More information can be found in Visit assignment restrictions.
  • We have fixed a bug where fixed breaks with locations sometimes started earlier than requested.
We have added a feature guide that explains how to use Skills and skill levels.
  • The “Time windows and opening hours” feature guide now includes documentation on how to use Fixed visits.
  • We have removed the separate cURL Instructions page, since these instructions are now part of the Getting Started guide.
Employee Scheduling (v1 | Preview)
  • We have removed the separate cURL Instructions page, since these instructions are now part of the Getting Started guide.
Please let us know if you have feedback.

new

improved

fixed

Employee Shift Scheduling

Field Service Routing

Field Service Routing visit dependencies with coordination, and Employee Scheduling shift preferences and requirements (v0.22.0)

This new version of the Timefold Platform brings several small bug fixes, as well as updates to these Timefold Models:
Field Service Routing (v1 | Stable)
Employee Scheduling (v1 | Preview)
  • We have made several speed improvements for fairness rules in Employee Scheduling.
  • Tags can now be used to define preferred and required shifts for employees. See documentation of the Employee object for more information.
  • We have improved our documentation related to tags to more clearly give an overview of their possible uses. See Tags and tag types for more information.
  • We have added input validation to the Employee Scheduling model to help you correct errors.
  • We have added a Getting Started guide.
Please let us know if you have feedback.

new

improved

fixed

Timefold Platform

Employee Shift Scheduling

Field Service Routing

Easier model discovery & API GZIP support (v0.21.0)

This new version of the Timefold Platform comes with the following improvements:
  • Improved model discovery
    : You can now easily explore all models that Timefold Platform supports. You can see the features and documentation of other available models even when you’re not logged in, or if you don’t have a specific model installed on your tenant yet.
  • GZIP support in API
    : Our API now supports sending compressed payloads and replying with compressed responses. This is especially useful when posting big payloads to the planning endpoints.
  • Configure multi-threading in the UI
    : Multi-threading support was added to the API in a previous version, now it’s also available to configure in the platform UI. Go to your tenant's Models settings page and create configurations for models to configure the number of threads to use.
  • Cancel a run during solving
    : When a run is still solving, you can now stop the solving from the UI.
  • Improved error pages
    : We have improved the error pages in our platform. (We hope you’ll never see this work.)
  • Distinguish initializing & solving states
    : The platform now distinguishes between when a new run is initializing (e.g. a maps plugin is loading) and when it starts solving. You can see this in the platform’s UI on the Model Run page.
  • We have fixed a bug where the protocol of URLs in webhooks were missing. We’ve also improved the validation checks when creating API keys and configuring webhooks.
  • Our platform documentation has been updated to include information about model versions, model maturity labels, and demo data. See Models for more information.
The new version also comes with updates to these Timefold Models:
Field Service Routing (v1 | Stable)
  • When defining visit groups, you can now specify they need to be aligned at the end of the visit. You can use this if two or more technicians need to be present for a visit at the end of the job. E.g. both technicians need to be present to finish the task after one technician has completed preparation work. See Visit Group for more information.
Employee Scheduling (v1 | Preview)
  • We fixed a bug for the “minutes between shifts” rules, where the minimum wasn’t always honored for shift sequences.
Please let us know if you have feedback.

new

improved

fixed

Timefold Platform

Employee Shift Scheduling

Field Service Routing

Multi-threading support and various other improvements (v0.20.0)

This new version of the Timefold Platform comes with the following improvements:
  • Multi-threading support via API
    When you start a new run of a model with the API, you can now define the number of threads that can be used by the solver. By using multithreading, you can get better results faster. You can specify the number of threads via the
    config.run.maxThreadCount
    variable in the JSON payload when starting a new run. Go to your Model’s API Spec page in the platform to learn more.
It’s not yet possible to configure this via the platform’s UI.
We’ve also made the following improvements to the platform’s UI:
  • Option to specify headers for webhooks
    : It’s now possible to configure one or more headers to send along with your webhooks. You could use this feature to send
    Authorization
    headers.
  • Configure data retention
    : On a tenant’s new Configuration page you can now configure how long run data, audit data, and score events should be stored in your tenant’s database.
  • Added a Changelog page
    : We are introducing a Changelog Page (You’re reading it now) on the platform. We will use this page to communicate new features and changes to the Timefold Platform as well as the models it’s running. Find it via the link in the footer of the platform.
  • Descriptions for Model KPI’s
    : On the “Run Overview” page we have added descriptions to the KPIs of the run to make it easier to understand what each KPI means.
  • Login with email and password
    : In addition to logging in with your Microsoft or Google account, we’ve now made it possible to register with other email addresses.
  • Various improvements behind the scenes include better error handling and improvements in pod startup time.
This version of app.timefold.ai, includes improvements to the two Timefold Models:
Field Service Routing (v1 - stable)
  • You now have more fine grained control over the time between dependent visits. It’s now possible to define the minimum delay as a point in time. See Visit dependency with minimum delay as point in time for more details.
  • Bugfix for the OpenAPI specification validation.
Employee Scheduling (v1 - preview)
  • This model now has support for defining when contract period rules are valid. Period rules can be used to define the maximum hours per day or per week that employees can work. We have added support to configure when certain period rules are applicable. See Employee contract period rule for more information.
  • Bugfix for the OpenAPI specification validation.
Please let us know if you have feedback.
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