Release Notes v.3.6.0.256
As the leaves turn and the busy season starts to gather pace, Helm has been reinforcing its foundations. This release is built around two themes: a stronger, safer front door for every account, and a Public API that does considerably more for the integrations you rely on.
Alongside those, you will find clearer split orders, tidier label handling, more accurate stock and purchase order figures, and a new home for manufacturer details. Everything here is designed to give you firmer footing heading into peak.
A Stronger, Safer Front Door
This section brings together a set of security refinements across sign-in, passwords and file handling. Most of them work quietly in the background; the password rules are the one change your team will notice.
Stronger Password Rules
A single, consistent set of Password Rules now applies everywhere a Helm password can be set: the password reset page, My Account, User Setup, the Public API and the user import. New passwords must be at least 12 characters long. Passwords under 16 characters need a mix of at least three of lower case letters, upper case letters, numbers and symbols, while longer passphrases are welcome without the extra complexity.
Commonly used and easily guessed passwords are now declined, as are passwords built from the account's own name, email address or company name. Existing passwords are untouched, so nobody is locked out; the rules simply apply the next time a password is set. A memorable phrase of three or four random words is an easy way to meet them.
Tighter Control Over File Uploads
Files uploaded against orders and purchase orders are now checked by Helm itself, not just by the browser. Two new settings under Settings > Misc Settings let you decide what is accepted: Allowed Upload Extensions and Allowed Upload File Size (KB). The accepted formats are shown alongside the upload button, so your team always knows what will go through.
Behind-The-Scenes Browser Protections
Helm now sends a fuller set of modern browser security protections on every page, and the external scripts it loads are verified before they run. A couple of outdated third-party scripts have been retired along the way. You should not notice any difference, other than the reassurance that it is there.
A Richer, More Dependable Public API
The Public API has gained several new capabilities in this release, along with a round of refinements that make its behaviour match the Helm screens more closely.
New Endpoints For Statuses & Order Logs
A new GET /statuses endpoint returns your list of order statuses, so integrations no longer need to hard-code status IDs. Order logs are now available too: GET /order/{id}/logs reads an order's history and POST /order/{id}/add_log adds a new entry, making it simple for an integration to leave a clear audit trail on the orders it touches.
Archive Filters For Orders & Inventory
The /orders list can now include archived orders, which is ideal for historical reporting and analytics. The inventory list (GET /inventory) now matches the Inventory screen and leaves archived products out by default, so stock reports built from it only show live products. On both lists, filters[show_archived]=1 returns live and archived records together and filters[archived_only]=1 returns archived records only, and every inventory item now carries an is_archived field.
If any of your integrations need archived products in the inventory list, simply add filters[show_archived]=1 to the request.
Enable API Access For Users
A new Enable API Access option in User Setup lets administrators decide exactly which users may sign in to the Public API, with a clear reminder of what that user will be able to see. On upgrade, the option is switched on for existing Administrators and Supervisors and off for other user levels. If one of your integrations signs in as a user at another level, tick Enable API Access for that user and it will carry on as before. The Mobile App and App Store apps are not affected.
Smarter Order & Label Handling
Orders can now be moved back out of Cancelled through POST /order/{id}/update, in the same way as on the order page, and setting the cancelled status through the same call now cancels the order properly. cancel_label now cancels a pre-generated label while leaving the order in its current status, ready to be booked again.
When an order is created without a payment_currency, or with it left empty, Helm now uses your account's Default Currency, just as the manual order screen does. Lower-case currency codes are accepted, and an invalid code returns a clear message.
Refinements To Inventory & Users
Package configurations now accept a barcode when they are created or updated, so outer and case configurations can be set up in full in a single call. Products also accept the new cpsc_certifier_id field described below.
Stock can no longer be created on a tote, the assembly location or a zone through the Public API, matching the Add Stock Location rules on the product screen. Normal shelf locations work exactly as before, and the API returns a clear message if a restricted location is chosen.
Updating a user through the Public API now only changes the fields you send. Leaving out the password keeps the current one, and leaving out the user level or warehouses keeps them as they are, so a simple change of name or email no longer affects anything else.
Manufacturer Details For Product Compliance
Manufacturer Addresses
A new Manufacturers list lets you record manufacturer names and addresses and link them to your products. Manufacturers can be managed on screen, imported and exported, and created or updated through the Public API using the new inventory_manufacturers endpoints. When a product is shipped, the linked manufacturer's address is included in the courier data; where no manufacturer is linked, Helm uses the product's primary supplier address instead.
CPSC Certifier ID
Products now have a CPSC Certifier ID field, which can be set on the product page, through imports and exports, and through the Public API. It is passed to Voila with your shipments, helping consignments into the United States carry the product safety details they need.
Clearer Splits & Smarter Order Rules
Split Orders, Clearly Linked
When an order is split, its page now shows a Split Orders panel listing every order created from it, along with the original order and any sibling orders. Deleted orders are clearly marked, and the order logs record each split. Following an order's journey after a split is now a matter of a single click.
Orders split by an order rule now name the rule in their log, so it is always clear why a split happened. Split Orders By Unallocatable Items now explains clearly when an order cannot be split this way, rather than leaving your team guessing.
Order Rules & Default Packaging
The Not Contains condition in order rules now behaves exactly as intended, so a rule set to skip orders containing a particular SKU will do just that. A product's default packaging is now preselected on the packing screen whenever an order has no standard requested packaging, even when an order rule has added an auxiliary item such as a leaflet.
Requested packaging on master orders now offers only packaging owned by the warehouse, keeping fulfilment client packaging reserved for that client's own orders, in line with the Public API and order rules.
Back Order Stock Count
A new Back Order Stock Count option under Settings > Stock Control lets you choose how stock is counted when back orders are checked. Leave it on All on-hand locations to keep today's behaviour, or choose Pickable locations only, so stock sitting in non-pickable locations such as Picked no longer moves back orders to Despatch Ready before they can actually be picked.
Very Large Orders On The Packing Terminal
The Packing Terminal now handles exceptionally large orders with ease. An order with thousands of items and over a thousand parcels opens in seconds and can be despatched from start to finish without the page slowing down.
Tidier Label Handling
Cancelling a pre-generated label from the order page now works smoothly in every pre-despatch status. The label is cancelled, the order keeps its status and the Cancel Label button clears straight away.
The bulk action formerly known as Cancel Pregenerated Labels is now simply Cancel Label, and it handles batch labels as well. Orders with a batch label that have not yet been despatched are returned to Despatch Ready, ready to be batched again, and a summary shows any orders that could not be cancelled and why.
Stock & Reporting You Can Rely On
Moving batch-numbered stock between locations now records the correct quantities in both the Batch Logs and Location Logs. Everything that draws on those logs, including the Stock Logs screen, the Stock Transaction export, the Stock History Report and stock history on the Mobile App, now shows the right figures.
The Batch Deliveries Report now includes every batch delivery, including those booked in on a handheld, so it lines up with the Purchase Order Report for the same period and client.
Removing a line from a purchase order now updates the gross total straight away, so the total always matches the lines that remain.
The Jobs pages now have working date pickers again, making it quick to filter jobs by date.
Plugin Enhancements
The Stock Value History Report plugin now calculates available stock accurately for batch-numbered products, so historical On Hand and Available figures line up with your stock logs.
On the Multi Pick Pack Terminal, switching off Show Group Info now hides bundle details on the order lines as well. Pickers and packers see just the products and quantities they need, keeping the screen clear and the picks accurate.
Every change in this release is about firmer foundations: safer accounts, an API your integrations can lean on, and figures you can trust as the busy season arrives. Thank you for trusting us with your operations. We build every release to make your working day a little smoother, and if anything here raises a question, the team behind Helm is always happy to help.
Your team at Helm