8.17.0 / 2025-07-30

• feat: upgrade mongodb -> 6.18.0 #15552
• feat(mongoose): export base Connection and Collection classes #15548
• feat: make Schema.prototype.$conditionalHandlers public #15497
• types: automatically infer discriminator type #15547 #15535
• types: make versionKey: false disable __v from hydrated document #15524 #15511
• types: indicate support for mongodb abort #15549 GalacticHypernova
• types: add options property to schemas #15524
• types(schematype): make defaultOptions static and add schemaOptions to DocumentArray #15529 #15524