If you’ve ever built or installed a SAMSON Extension and found that it suddenly doesn’t load anymore after updating SAMSON (or if it never loaded in the first place), you’re not alone. This blog post will help you understand why this happens, and what version compatibility really means for SAMSON users and extension developers.
One of the most important pieces of infrastructure in the SAMSON molecular design platform is its versioning system. It’s not just a formality — it’s the backbone of how SAMSON ensures stability and compatibility across powerful workflows that include everything from quantum simulations to machine learning-based molecular modeling.
Understanding SDK Compatibility
SAMSON Extensions are plugins built using the SAMSON Software Development Kit (SDK). Whenever SAMSON starts up, it checks the version of the SDK used to build each Extension against its own SDK version to decide whether the Extension is compatible and therefore safe to load.
This is governed by a clear, semantic versioning policy: the SDK and SAMSON both adopt a major.minor.patch version format. Compatibility boils down to these two conditions:
- The major version numbers must be the same.
- The minor version used to build the Extension must be less than the one used in the current SAMSON version.
For example, if you’re running SAMSON version 1.7.8, then Extensions built with SDK version 1.3.5 or 1.7.7 will load because they were built with an earlier or same minor version of the same major version. But an Extension compiled with SDK 1.8.5 won’t load — it depends on API features that do not exist in the current SAMSON version.
Practical Implications for Users
This version check plays an essential role in preventing runtime errors and crashes. If an Extension relies on functionality introduced in a newer SDK and SAMSON hasn’t been updated to match, loading the Extension could lead to software instability. SAMSON avoids this by skipping the Extension entirely if it’s deemed incompatible.
Tip for users: If a newly installed Extension doesn’t appear or load, check the SDK version it was built with. Updating SAMSON via its automatic update mechanism often resolves the issue by ensuring compatibility with newer Extensions.
Practical Implications for Developers
If you’re building Extensions for SAMSON and want to ensure wide compatibility, consider compiling them using the earliest minor version of the SDK that includes the features you need. This way, your Extension will work with a broader range of SAMSON installations.
Automatic Updates Help — But Only Within Limits
SAMSON can automatically update Extensions when new versions are available on SAMSON Connect. But these automatic updates are only installed if the new version is compatible with your current SAMSON version. If a developer publishes a new Extension built with SDK 2.0.0, and you’re still using SAMSON 1.7.8, your installation will keep using the older, compatible Extension version (e.g., built with SDK 1.6.4).
Conclusion
The SAMSON and SDK versioning system may seem technical at first, but it’s an elegant safeguard. It makes sure that as SAMSON evolves, the ecosystem of Extensions continues to work reliably — provided we all understand how compatibility is determined.
To learn more, you can read the full documentation page on versioning here.
SAMSON and all SAMSON Extensions are free for non-commercial use. You can download SAMSON here.