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1.1. HelpSpot 5.8.1

Updated: Jun 22 2026, 11:34 AM

Release Date: June 22nd 2026

This is a maintenance release for HelpSpot 5.8.0 containing bug fixes and an updated SQL Server requirement.

Important: SQL Server 2016 Now Required

HelpSpot now requires SQL Server 2016 or later with the database compatibility level set to at least 130. HelpSpot 5.8.0 began using JSON query functions (JSON_VALUE) that are only available on SQL Server 2016+ at compatibility level 130 or higher. Installs that satisfied the previous SQL Server 2012 requirement could pass the requirements check and then fail at runtime with a “json_value is not a recognized built-in function name” error.

The installer and upgrade requirements check now enforce this. If your database is on an older compatibility level, you can raise it with:

ALTER DATABASE [your_database] SET COMPATIBILITY_LEVEL = 130;

MySQL installations are unaffected by this change.

Bug Fixes

• Inbound email failure when converting TO addresses to CC: With the “convert TO addresses to CC” option enabled, a message delivered without a TO header (for example, mail received via BCC) raised a fatal error that aborted inbound mail processing. The TO header lookup is now null-guarded so these messages are ingested normally.
• Fresh install blocked by missing application key: On a brand-new install with no application key set, every artisan command — including the key:generate command needed to create that key — could fail at boot with a MissingAppKeyException. Passport key loading is now skipped when no application key is present, resolving the bootstrap deadlock.
• Passport key generation crash on Windows upgrades: Upgrading from 5.7.3 to 5.8.0 on Windows could fail during the Passport key migration when the OpenSSL extension could not locate its configuration file. The RSA keypair is now generated in pure PHP, so the upgrade completes regardless of the server’s OpenSSL configuration.
• Dependency Updates - Various dependency updates.