Protocols: @ mentions of reagents, samples and equipment, linked quantities, team aliases and usage audit by Otto

2026.10.25-mentions-objets-protocoles · 2026-10-25

Delivered build : 69495f0e33508f15457a2c53ec7ced0714083d45

Changes

• In a step's text (description, sub-actions, notes, safety notes), "@" opens a search and inserts a colored mention with a hover card, for a reagent, a recipe, a lab sample or a piece of equipment. During execution only the name remains visible, in color, without the @.
• Linked quantities: "100 µL of @PBS" links the quantity to the reagent with the same color. The quantity feeds the step's reagent link, adds up repeated mentions with unit conversion, and the materials list computes its total from the steps.
• More tolerant reagent search: acronyms both ways, French and English synonyms, typos, formats (1X, 10X), reference, CAS number, lot and supplier, with the reason for the match. A reagent already in the step or in the materials is never added twice.
• Team aliases: any user can add aliases to a reagent's record (for example "Amp" for Ampicillin). They belong to the name, so all vials share them, and they follow the reagent if it is renamed.
• Vial relay: when the linked vial is empty, expired, archived or blocked, the end-of-session deduction applies to the next vial with the same name, with the real lot traced. If there is none, the mention changes color until the protocol is edited.
• Otto can audit a reagent's usage: in how many protocols it appears (published, drafts, archived) and how much was used in the latest sessions, with the lots and relay vials. It understands aliases and no longer shows mention syntax.
• A protocol's PDF is produced on the report template, in French or English, with the real version and status, sub-actions, notes and formulas; the PDF of an approved version includes the package (hashes, signature, retained files) and the original document downloads separately. Long PDFs are up to a hundred times lighter.
• Other fixes: revision history translated, end of session readable at 375 px, a warning before leaving the editor with unsaved changes, reopened Otto conversations without the internal block.

Known limitations

• Vial relay and deduction stay on the reagent's exact name: aliases only serve search and Otto's audit.
• Samples derived from another sample are not offered by "@", and in a public protocol sample mentions are replaced by the word "sample". Otto's audit only covers reagents.
• The warning before leaving the editor does not cover the browser's back button.
• Beyond 500 steps, a protocol's PDF export is refused and the JSON export remains available.