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Gateway Releases

202620252024

Welcome to our Gateway release summary page!

Here, you can learn more about the Gateway's newest features, improvements, and updates, through periodic summaries that are designed to be more digestible than our full ticket by ticket release notes. If you are interested in the detail, our full release notes can be accessed here. Our Technology Team is committed to continuously enhancing the Gateway, delivering regular updates and improvements through agile, user-focused development. Explore each detailed release to discover how the Gateway is evolving, or await the higher level summaries that we aim to publish once per quarter.

To learn more about what is planned on our development roadmap please see the 'What next?' section here. If you would like to share feedback or suggest improvements to add to the Gateway roadmap, please contact us through our Support Centre.

Version 1.8.0 (Web & NLP) / 1.12.0 (API) — July 2026

Key Highlights

  • Smarter concept search — concept search for formulating queries now contains synonym lookup, returning more relevant matches.
  • Fixes for search accuracy and query group handling.

Changes for Researchers

New

  • None this release.

Changed

  • Concept search has been rebuilt on a dedicated NLP service, with synonym lookup against OMOP tables so searches surface clinically related terms, not just exact matches.
  • General performance improvements to data loading, including a new “warm” state to speed up repeat searches.

Deprecated

  • None this release.

Changes for Data Custodians

New

  • Improved alerts, so the HDR UK can be notified in real time of key collection events.
  • Automatic notification to HDR UK admins when a collection that had gone offline comes back online.

Changed

  • None this release.

Deprecated

  • None this release.

Changes for Programmatic Users

New

  • New Term Directory API endpoint, supporting search, filter, and sort operations over OMOP concepts.

Changed

  • The query parser now passes collection IDs and flags through to concept-search requests, improving consistency between the query builder and the underlying NLP service.

Deprecated

  • None this release.

Changes for Open-Source Collaborators

New

  • Introduced a lightweight migration-style system for running one-off commands as part of automated deployments.
  • New standalone deployment workflow for the dev environment, triggerable manually or on tag push.

Changed

  • General CI/CD reliability improvements, including fixes for intermittent CI failures and removal of duplicate pipeline arguments.
  • Deployment pipelines updated so the standalone dev environment can be triggered independently of the main pipeline.
  • Cloud database backup now runs automatically ahead of each release.

Deprecated

  • None this release.

Bug Fixes

  • Fixed an issue where search results sometimes did not correctly match on term name.
  • Fixed the flattening of rule groups in the query builder, which improves query performance.
  • Fixed the import command used in data-loading workflows.
  • composer.lock is now committed to the repository, improving build reproducibility.

Feedback & Community

We’d love to hear what you think of this release. If you spot a bug, have a feature request, or want to get involved:

  • GitHub: github.com/HDRUK/cohort-discovery-service-web / -api / -nlp
  • Reach out to the Cohort Discovery team via the HDR UK Gateway or Cohort Discovery support channels (the yellow ‘Need Support’ button on every page).
  • Contributions and issue reports are always welcome.

Thank you for being part of the Cohort Discovery community!

Covering release v2.37.0 – v2.47.2 — July 2026

Key highlights

  • Added enhanced analytics tracking for Gateway widgets to help us better understand usage patterns and improve the user experience. [github.com]
  • Developing a new Data Custodian dashboard – currently undergoing user testing before release. [github.com]
  • Continued investment in the Gateway search platform to support future improvements to performance, scalability and search relevance. [github.com]
  • Made a number of platform reliability and operational improvements behind the scenes. [github.com]

Changes for Researchers

Changed

  • We’ve made improvements to the search service to support future enhancements and improve the scalability of search across the Gateway. Users will not notice any immediate changes, but these updates provide the foundation for future search improvements. [github.com]

Deprecated

  • No researcher-facing features have been deprecated in this release.

Changes for Data Custodians

New

  • Developing a new Data Custodian dashboard functionality, currently behind a feature flag while we run usability testing prior to release. [github.com]

Changed

  • We’ve continued to improve the underlying services that support automated metadata synchronisation using Predefined Integrations, helping to improve maintainability and reliability. [github.com]

Deprecated

  • No Data Custodian features have been deprecated in this release.

Changes for Programmatic Users

Changed

  • Improvements have been made to the Gateway search infrastructure, including work to support more flexible search provider management and future search capabilities. API consumers should not need to make any changes as a result of this release. [github.com]
  • Analytics tracking has been extended to support improved monitoring and reporting of widget usage. [github.com]

Deprecated

  • No APIs or integrations have been deprecated in this release.

Changes for Open-Source Collaborators

Changed

  • Continued development of the search architecture, including work supporting future search technologies and provider integrations. [github.com]
  • Improvements to operational tooling, monitoring and release automation processes to support more reliable delivery of Gateway services. [github.com]

Deprecated

  • No packages, services or public interfaces have been deprecated in this release.

Bug fixes

  • Fixed issues in the platform’s release and deployment automation processes to improve reliability and reduce operational overhead. [github.com]
  • Addressed a number of minor issues and completed routine maintenance updates across the platform. [github.com]

Feedback & Community

We welcome feedback on any of the changes in this release. If you encounter issues or have suggestions for future improvements, please contact the Gateway support team or raise an issue.

Alternatively, sign-up for our newsletter to stay up to date on news, events and research community surveys.

Thank you for helping us improve the Gateway.

The first eight weeks of 2026 have continued our focus on responding to user needs and fostering community discussion about the Gateway’s evolution. Here’s what’s new: 
 

February roadmap session 

On 11 February, we held our monthly Gateway roadmap drop-in event. Attendees heard about current platform features, upcoming plans, and had the opportunity to provide real-time feedback to inform future releases. Thank you to everyone who participated – your input is directly shaping the future of the Gateway. Upcoming sessions: 

  • Wednesday 8 April 3-4pm 

Sign up here 

API and developer foundations 

With APIv2 now fully in place, we’ve continued making backend refinements and performance improvements to strengthen Gateway’s technical foundations. These updates support improved discoverability and access-enabling features across the platform. 

Improved user satisfaction experience  

Based on feedback, we’ve reduced the frequency of the customer satisfaction (CSAT) survey to a quarterly schedule. We’ve also refined how the survey appears to make it easier to complete, ensuring your feedback continues to shape future improvements without disrupting your experience. 

15 bugs squashed 

We’ve solved 15 issues, including:  

  •  Memory performance issues 
  • Dataset endpoint fixes in the API 
  • Loading performance problems 
  • Metadata form hydration behaviour from schemas 
  • Metadata distribution improvements. 
     

These fixes improve reliability and overall user experience.  

Widgets adopted by Barts Health 

Gateway widgets are now in use by Barts Health allowing them to display their Gateway assets directly on their website. This improves dataset visibility, avoids duplication of effort, and ensures that researchers always and easily see accurate and up-to-date information.  See it in action here and learn how to set up your own here. 

Cohort Discovery landing page updates 

The Cohort Discovery landing pages and access guidance have been updated to improve clarity and user understanding. We’ve also added clearer guidance on the validation process for accessing the NHS Research SDE Network datasets through the Cohort Discovery Service. 

Accessibility enhancements  

We’ve continued to improve accessibility across the site, including:  

  • Improved keyboard‑focus contrast for users navigating the site with a keyboard to clearly see elements 
  • More structured and consistent content 
  • Better navigation support for screen‑reader users 

These updates support a more inclusive experience for all users.