diff --git a/schemas/README.md b/schemas/README.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..8af7a4f38d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/schemas/README.md
@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+### **Summary of Key Upgrades**  
+Date: 08/22/2024 
+Original version located: `v3.0/smartapi_schema.json`
+
+1. **Schema Version**
+   - **Upgraded** from JSON Schema Draft-04 to Draft 2020-12 for better compatibility with modern standards.
+
+2. **Definitions Location**
+   - **Changed** from `#/definitions/...` to `#/$defs/...` to align with the latest JSON Schema conventions.
+
+3. **Contact Roles**
+   - **Added** a new role `"document creator"` to better document contributors.
+
+4. **Server Maturity Levels**
+   - **Added** `"testing"` as a new maturity level for better server environment categorization.
+
+5. **Paths Object Flexibility**
+   - **Removed** the requirement for the `summary` field, providing more flexibility in operation documentation.
+
+6. **Response Value Type Validation**
+   - **Enhanced** validation logic to allow flexibility with `path`/`x-path` and `valueType`/`x-valueType`.
+
+7. **Improved Flexibility**
+   - **Introduced** more flexible validation using `allOf` and `anyOf` constructs, allowing for adaptable data structures.
diff --git a/schemas/smartapi_schema.json b/schemas/smartapi_schema.json
index b3e5979b6d..35d24dab57 100644
--- a/schemas/smartapi_schema.json
+++ b/schemas/smartapi_schema.json
@@ -1,241 +1,238 @@
-{
-  "title": "The smartAPI extension to OpenAPI 3.0.",
-  "$schema": "http://json-schema.org/draft-04/schema#",
-  "type": "object",
-  "description": "This is the root document object of the smartAPI definition file.",
-  "properties": {
-    "info": {
-      "$ref": "#/definitions/info"
-    },
-    "servers": {
-      "type": "array",
-      "items": {
-        "$ref": "#/definitions/server"
-      }
-    },
-    "x-externalResources": {
-      "type": "array",
-      "items": {
-        "$ref": "#/definitions/externalResource"
-      }
-    },
-    "tags": {
-      "type": "array",
-      "items": {
-        "$ref": "#/definitions/tag"
-      }
-    },
-    "paths": {
-      "type": "object",
-      "patternProperties": {
-        "^\\/": {
-          "type": "object",
-          "patternProperties": {
-            "get|put|post|delete|options|head|patch|trace": {
-              "type": "object",
-              "required": [
-                "summary"
-              ],
-              "properties": {
-                "summary": {
-                  "type": "string"
-                },
-                "parameters": {
-                  "type": "array",
-                  "items": {
-                    "$ref": "#/definitions/Parameter"
-                  }
-                },
-                "responses": {
-                  "type": "object",
-                  "patternProperties": {
-                    "[1-5](?:\\d{2}|XX)": {
-                      "type": "object",
-                      "properties": {
-                        "x-responseValueType": {
-                          "type": "array",
-                          "items": {
-                            "$ref": "#/definitions/responseValueType"
-                          }
-                        }
-                      }
-                    }
-                  }
-                },
-                "x-accessRestriction": {
-                  "type": "string",
-                  "description": "Access restrictions to invoke the operation. values: none, limited, fee.",
-                  "enum": [
-                    "none",
-                    "limited",
-                    "fee"
-                  ]
-                }
-              }
-            }
-          }
-        }
-      }
-    }
-  },
-  "definitions": {
-    "Reference": {
-      "type": "object",
-      "required": [
-        "$ref"
-      ],
-      "properties": {
-        "$ref": {
-          "type": "string",
-          "format": "uri-reference"
-        }
-      }
-    },
-    "info": {
-      "required": [
-        "termsOfService"
-      ],
-      "properties": {
-        "x-otherContacts": {
-          "type": "array",
-          "items": {
-            "$ref": "#/definitions/contact"
-          }
-        },
-        "x-accessRestriction": {
-          "type": "string",
-          "enum": [
-            "none",
-            "limited",
-            "fee"
-          ],
-          "description": "Indicate whether there are restrictions to using the API. Values to use: none, limited, fee."
-        },
-        "x-implementationLanguage": {
-          "type": "string",
-          "description": "API Implementation Language"
-        },
-        "contact": {
-          "$ref": "#/definitions/contact"
-        },
-        "termsOfService": {
-          "type": "string",
-          "format": "uri"
-        }
-      }
-    },
-    "contact": {
-      "properties": {
-        "x-role": {
-          "type": "string",
-          "enum": [
-            "responsible organization",
-            "responsible developer",
-            "contributor",
-            "support"
-          ]
-        },
-        "x-id": {
-          "type": "string",
-          "format": "uri",
-          "description": "A resolvable HTTP URI that uniqely identifies the contact (e.g. orcid id github id)"
-        }
-      }
-    },
-    "server": {
-      "properties": {
-        "x-location": {
-          "type": "string",
-          "description": "Location, city and country of the server hosting the API."
-        },
-        "x-maturity": {
-          "type": "string",
-          "enum": [
-            "development",
-            "staging",
-            "production"
-          ]
-        }
-      }
-    },
-    "externalResource": {
-      "type": "object",
-      "additionalProperties": false,
-      "description": "information about external documentation",
-      "required": [
-        "x-url",
-        "x-type"
-      ],
-      "properties": {
-        "x-description": {
-          "type": "string",
-          "description": "A short description of the target documentation. CommonMark syntax can be used for rich text representation."
-        },
-        "x-url": {
-          "type": "string",
-          "format": "uri"
-        },
-        "x-type": {
-          "type": "string",
-          "enum": [
-            "api documentation",
-            "website",
-            "developer forum",
-            "mailing list",
-            "social media",
-            "publication"
-          ]
-        }
-      }
-    },
-    "Parameter": {
-      "properties": {
-        "x-valueType": {
-          "type": "array",
-          "description": "a list of semantic identifiers of the parameter from identifiers.org, e.g. [http://identifiers.org/ncbigene/]",
-          "items": {
-            "type": "string",
-            "format": "uri"
-          },
-          "uniqueItems": true
-        },
-        "x-parameterType": {
-          "type": "string",
-          "description": "Type of parameter, e.g. InputParameter, NumberOfResultsReturned, OffsetParameter, SortParameter."
-        }
-      }
-    },
-    "responseValueType": {
-      "required": [
-        "path",
-        "valueType"
-      ],
-      "properties": {
-        "path": {
-          "type": "string",
-          "description": "The path, using dot notation, to the element of interest"
-        },
-        "valueType": {
-          "type": "string",
-          "description": "The value type as specified by a concept URI for the element of interest"
-        }
-      }
-    },
-    "tag": {
-      "properties": {
-        "x-id": {
-          "type": "string",
-          "description": "The name of the tag. Recommend that you use URI to specify the concept."
-        }
-      }
-    },
-    "schema": {
-      "properties": {
-        "x-url": {
-          "type": "string",
-          "description": "The URL to a non-JSON schema."
-        }
-      }
-    }
-  }
-}
+{
+    "title": "The smartAPI extension to OpenAPI 3.0.",
+    "$schema": "https://json-schema.org/draft/2020-12/schema",
+    "type": "object",
+    "description": "This is the root document object of the smartAPI definition file.",
+    "properties": {
+        "info": {
+            "$ref": "#/$defs/info"
+        },
+        "servers": {
+            "type": "array",
+            "items": {
+                "$ref": "#/$defs/server"
+            }
+        },
+        "x-externalResources": {
+            "type": "array",
+            "items": {
+                "$ref": "#/$defs/externalResource"
+            }
+        },
+        "tags": {
+            "type": "array",
+            "items": {
+                "$ref": "#/$defs/tag"
+            }
+        },
+        "paths": {
+            "type": "object",
+            "patternProperties": {
+                "^\\/": {
+                    "type": "object",
+                    "patternProperties": {
+                        "get|put|post|delete|options|head|patch|trace": {
+                            "type": "object",
+                            "properties": {
+                                "summary": {
+                                    "type": "string"
+                                },
+                                "parameters": {
+                                    "type": "array",
+                                    "items": {
+                                        "$ref": "#/$defs/Parameter"
+                                    }
+                                },
+                                "responses": {
+                                    "type": "object",
+                                    "patternProperties": {
+                                        "[1-5](?:\\d{2}|XX)": {
+                                            "type": "object",
+                                            "properties": {
+                                                "x-responseValueType": {
+                                                    "type": "array",
+                                                    "items": {
+                                                        "$ref": "#/$defs/responseValueType"
+                                                    }
+                                                }
+                                            }
+                                        }
+                                    }
+                                },
+                                "x-accessRestriction": {
+                                    "type": "string",
+                                    "description": "Access restrictions to invoke the operation. values: none, limited, fee.",
+                                    "enum": [
+                                        "none",
+                                        "limited",
+                                        "fee"
+                                    ]
+                                }
+                            }
+                        }
+                    }
+                }
+            }
+        }
+    },
+    "$defs": {
+        "Reference": {
+            "type": "object",
+            "required": [
+                "$ref"
+            ],
+            "properties": {
+                "$ref": {
+                    "type": "string",
+                    "format": "uri-reference"
+                }
+            }
+        },
+        "info": {
+            "properties": {
+                "x-otherContacts": {
+                    "type": "array",
+                    "items": {
+                        "$ref": "#/$defs/contact"
+                    }
+                },
+                "x-accessRestriction": {
+                    "type": "string",
+                    "enum": [
+                        "none",
+                        "limited",
+                        "fee"
+                    ],
+                    "description": "Indicate whether there are restrictions to using the API. Values to use: none, limited, fee."
+                },
+                "x-implementationLanguage": {
+                    "type": "string",
+                    "description": "API Implementation Language"
+                },
+                "contact": {
+                    "$ref": "#/$defs/contact"
+                },
+                "termsOfService": {
+                    "type": "string",
+                    "format": "uri"
+                }
+            }
+        },
+        "contact": {
+            "properties": {
+                "x-role": {
+                    "type": "string",
+                    "enum": [
+                        "responsible organization",
+                        "responsible developer",
+                        "contributor",
+                        "support",
+                        "document creator"
+                    ]
+                },
+                "x-id": {
+                    "type": "string",
+                    "format": "uri",
+                    "description": "A resolvable HTTP URI that uniquely identifies the contact (e.g. orcid id github id)"
+                }
+            }
+        },
+        "server": {
+            "properties": {
+                "x-location": {
+                    "type": "string",
+                    "description": "Location, city and country of the server hosting the API."
+                },
+                "x-maturity": {
+                    "type": "string",
+                    "enum": [
+                        "development",
+                        "staging",
+                        "production",
+                        "testing"
+                    ]
+                }
+            }
+        },
+        "externalResource": {
+            "type": "object",
+            "additionalProperties": false,
+            "description": "information about external documentation",
+            "required": [
+                "x-url",
+                "x-type"
+            ],
+            "properties": {
+                "x-description": {
+                    "type": "string",
+                    "description": "A short description of the target documentation. CommonMark syntax can be used for rich text representation."
+                },
+                "x-url": {
+                    "type": "string",
+                    "format": "uri"
+                },
+                "x-type": {
+                    "type": "string",
+                    "enum": [
+                        "api documentation",
+                        "website",
+                        "developer forum",
+                        "mailing list",
+                        "social media",
+                        "publication"
+                    ]
+                }
+            }
+        },
+        "Parameter": {
+            "properties": {
+                "x-valueType": {
+                    "type": "array",
+                    "description": "a list of semantic identifiers of the parameter from identifiers.org, e.g. [http://identifiers.org/ncbigene/]",
+                    "items": {
+                        "type": "string",
+                        "format": "uri"
+                    },
+                    "uniqueItems": true
+                },
+                "x-parameterType": {
+                    "type": "string",
+                    "description": "Type of parameter, e.g. InputParameter, NumberOfResultsReturned, OffsetParameter, SortParameter."
+                }
+            }
+        },
+        "responseValueType": {
+            "description": "The responseValueType field is now deprecated, switch to x-bte extensions for semantic annotation of the API response.",
+            "allOf": [
+                {
+                    "anyOf": [
+                        { "required": ["path"] },
+                        { "required": ["x-path"] }
+                    ]
+                },
+                {
+                    "anyOf": [
+                        { "required": ["valueType"] },
+                        { "required": ["x-valueType"] }
+                    ]
+                }
+            ]
+        },
+        "tag": {
+            "properties": {
+                "x-id": {
+                    "type": "string",
+                    "description": "The name of the tag. Recommend that you use URI to specify the concept."
+                }
+            }
+        },
+        "schema": {
+            "properties": {
+                "x-url": {
+                    "type": "string",
+                    "description": "The URL to a non-JSON schema."
+                }
+            }
+        }
+    }
+}
diff --git a/schemas/v3.0/smartapi_schema.json b/schemas/v3.0/smartapi_schema.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..b3e5979b6d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/schemas/v3.0/smartapi_schema.json
@@ -0,0 +1,241 @@
+{
+  "title": "The smartAPI extension to OpenAPI 3.0.",
+  "$schema": "http://json-schema.org/draft-04/schema#",
+  "type": "object",
+  "description": "This is the root document object of the smartAPI definition file.",
+  "properties": {
+    "info": {
+      "$ref": "#/definitions/info"
+    },
+    "servers": {
+      "type": "array",
+      "items": {
+        "$ref": "#/definitions/server"
+      }
+    },
+    "x-externalResources": {
+      "type": "array",
+      "items": {
+        "$ref": "#/definitions/externalResource"
+      }
+    },
+    "tags": {
+      "type": "array",
+      "items": {
+        "$ref": "#/definitions/tag"
+      }
+    },
+    "paths": {
+      "type": "object",
+      "patternProperties": {
+        "^\\/": {
+          "type": "object",
+          "patternProperties": {
+            "get|put|post|delete|options|head|patch|trace": {
+              "type": "object",
+              "required": [
+                "summary"
+              ],
+              "properties": {
+                "summary": {
+                  "type": "string"
+                },
+                "parameters": {
+                  "type": "array",
+                  "items": {
+                    "$ref": "#/definitions/Parameter"
+                  }
+                },
+                "responses": {
+                  "type": "object",
+                  "patternProperties": {
+                    "[1-5](?:\\d{2}|XX)": {
+                      "type": "object",
+                      "properties": {
+                        "x-responseValueType": {
+                          "type": "array",
+                          "items": {
+                            "$ref": "#/definitions/responseValueType"
+                          }
+                        }
+                      }
+                    }
+                  }
+                },
+                "x-accessRestriction": {
+                  "type": "string",
+                  "description": "Access restrictions to invoke the operation. values: none, limited, fee.",
+                  "enum": [
+                    "none",
+                    "limited",
+                    "fee"
+                  ]
+                }
+              }
+            }
+          }
+        }
+      }
+    }
+  },
+  "definitions": {
+    "Reference": {
+      "type": "object",
+      "required": [
+        "$ref"
+      ],
+      "properties": {
+        "$ref": {
+          "type": "string",
+          "format": "uri-reference"
+        }
+      }
+    },
+    "info": {
+      "required": [
+        "termsOfService"
+      ],
+      "properties": {
+        "x-otherContacts": {
+          "type": "array",
+          "items": {
+            "$ref": "#/definitions/contact"
+          }
+        },
+        "x-accessRestriction": {
+          "type": "string",
+          "enum": [
+            "none",
+            "limited",
+            "fee"
+          ],
+          "description": "Indicate whether there are restrictions to using the API. Values to use: none, limited, fee."
+        },
+        "x-implementationLanguage": {
+          "type": "string",
+          "description": "API Implementation Language"
+        },
+        "contact": {
+          "$ref": "#/definitions/contact"
+        },
+        "termsOfService": {
+          "type": "string",
+          "format": "uri"
+        }
+      }
+    },
+    "contact": {
+      "properties": {
+        "x-role": {
+          "type": "string",
+          "enum": [
+            "responsible organization",
+            "responsible developer",
+            "contributor",
+            "support"
+          ]
+        },
+        "x-id": {
+          "type": "string",
+          "format": "uri",
+          "description": "A resolvable HTTP URI that uniqely identifies the contact (e.g. orcid id github id)"
+        }
+      }
+    },
+    "server": {
+      "properties": {
+        "x-location": {
+          "type": "string",
+          "description": "Location, city and country of the server hosting the API."
+        },
+        "x-maturity": {
+          "type": "string",
+          "enum": [
+            "development",
+            "staging",
+            "production"
+          ]
+        }
+      }
+    },
+    "externalResource": {
+      "type": "object",
+      "additionalProperties": false,
+      "description": "information about external documentation",
+      "required": [
+        "x-url",
+        "x-type"
+      ],
+      "properties": {
+        "x-description": {
+          "type": "string",
+          "description": "A short description of the target documentation. CommonMark syntax can be used for rich text representation."
+        },
+        "x-url": {
+          "type": "string",
+          "format": "uri"
+        },
+        "x-type": {
+          "type": "string",
+          "enum": [
+            "api documentation",
+            "website",
+            "developer forum",
+            "mailing list",
+            "social media",
+            "publication"
+          ]
+        }
+      }
+    },
+    "Parameter": {
+      "properties": {
+        "x-valueType": {
+          "type": "array",
+          "description": "a list of semantic identifiers of the parameter from identifiers.org, e.g. [http://identifiers.org/ncbigene/]",
+          "items": {
+            "type": "string",
+            "format": "uri"
+          },
+          "uniqueItems": true
+        },
+        "x-parameterType": {
+          "type": "string",
+          "description": "Type of parameter, e.g. InputParameter, NumberOfResultsReturned, OffsetParameter, SortParameter."
+        }
+      }
+    },
+    "responseValueType": {
+      "required": [
+        "path",
+        "valueType"
+      ],
+      "properties": {
+        "path": {
+          "type": "string",
+          "description": "The path, using dot notation, to the element of interest"
+        },
+        "valueType": {
+          "type": "string",
+          "description": "The value type as specified by a concept URI for the element of interest"
+        }
+      }
+    },
+    "tag": {
+      "properties": {
+        "x-id": {
+          "type": "string",
+          "description": "The name of the tag. Recommend that you use URI to specify the concept."
+        }
+      }
+    },
+    "schema": {
+      "properties": {
+        "x-url": {
+          "type": "string",
+          "description": "The URL to a non-JSON schema."
+        }
+      }
+    }
+  }
+}