What's new and changed in watsonx Code Assistant for Z Understand

watsonx Code Assistant for Z Understand updates can include new features and fixes. Releases are listed in reverse chronological order so that the latest release is at the beginning of the topic.

You can see a list of the new features for the platform and all of the services at What's new in IBM Software Hub.

Installing or upgrading watsonx Code Assistant for Z Understand

Ready to install or upgrade watsonx Code Assistant for Z Understand?

To install watsonx Code Assistant for Z Understand along with the other IBM® Software Hub services, see Installing IBM Software Hub.
To upgrade watsonx Code Assistant for Z Understand along with the other IBM Software Hub services, see Upgrading IBM Software Hub.
To install or upgrade watsonx Code Assistant for Z Understand independently, see watsonx Code Assistant for Z Understand.
Remember: All of the IBM Software Hub components associated with an instance of IBM Software Hub must be installed at the same version.

IBM Software Hub Version 5.4.0

A new version of watsonx Code Assistant for Z Understand was released in June 2026 with IBM Software Hub 5.4.0.

Operand version: 2.8.30

This release includes the following changes:

New features

This release of watsonx Code Assistant for Z Understand includes the following features:

Deploy Z Understand: You can now easily deploy and configure full IBM Z Understand and Refactor solution on IBM Software Hub. For more information see, Deploying Z Understand on IBM Software Hub.

Shutdown, backup and restore to a different namespace: You can now shutdown, backup, and restore to a different namespace.

Business rules analysis view: You can now view the business rule documents using the Business Rules Analysis view.

Synchronize mainframe members: You can now define how Z Understand containers synchronize members from specific mainframe libraries, including adding or removing members in project source files. For more information, see Synchronize Mainframe Members.

Automated text replacement in source files: By applying regular expression–based search-and-replace rules during preprocessing, you can now standardize code patterns, ignore unwanted constructs, or temporarily modify code structure before analysis. For more information, see Building Decisions.

Conditional compilation in COBOL: COBOL compilation directives are special instructions evaluated by the compiler during compilation (not at runtime). They control how the source code is handled and determine which sections of code are included or excluded in the final program. For more information, see Conditional compilation directives in COBOL.

API Extensibility: You can now access an analysis reflecting usage of in-house or third-party APIs using a configuration file. JSON configuration files describe how each API/Macro call is interpreted, eliminating the need to wait for development support. For more information, see API Call/Macro Extensibility.

Container sync, TLS, and Codepage configuration for PDS libraries: Administrators can now manage mainframe router credentials for z/OS® systems. The Build Client Install Configuration provides a centralized user interface to create, view, edit, update, and delete z/OS connection configurations. For more information, see Build Client Install Configuration.

Comprehensive DDL scripts: You can now use comprehensive DDL scripts for audit and cross application databases.