diff --git a/.github/workflows/check-go-dependencies-task.yml b/.github/workflows/check-go-dependencies-task.yml
index be478ab..6cb341d 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/check-go-dependencies-task.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/check-go-dependencies-task.yml
@@ -65,7 +65,7 @@ jobs:
 
     steps:
       - name: Checkout repository
-        uses: actions/checkout@v3
+        uses: actions/checkout@v4
         with:
           submodules: recursive
 
@@ -76,12 +76,12 @@ jobs:
           version: 3.x
 
       - name: Install Go
-        uses: actions/setup-go@v3
+        uses: actions/setup-go@v5
         with:
           go-version: ${{ env.GO_VERSION }}
 
       - name: Install Task
-        uses: arduino/setup-task@v1
+        uses: arduino/setup-task@v2
         with:
           repo-token: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
           version: 3.x
@@ -102,9 +102,10 @@ jobs:
       # Some might find it convenient to have CI generate the cache rather than setting up for it locally
       - name: Upload cache to workflow artifact
         if: failure() && steps.diff.outcome == 'failure'
-        uses: actions/upload-artifact@v3
+        uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
         with:
           if-no-files-found: error
+          include-hidden-files: true
           name: dep-licenses-cache
           path: .licenses/
 
@@ -115,7 +116,7 @@ jobs:
 
     steps:
       - name: Checkout repository
-        uses: actions/checkout@v3
+        uses: actions/checkout@v4
         with:
           submodules: recursive
 
@@ -126,12 +127,12 @@ jobs:
           version: 3.x
 
       - name: Install Go
-        uses: actions/setup-go@v3
+        uses: actions/setup-go@v5
         with:
           go-version: ${{ env.GO_VERSION }}
 
       - name: Install Task
-        uses: arduino/setup-task@v1
+        uses: arduino/setup-task@v2
         with:
           repo-token: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
           version: 3.x
diff --git a/.github/workflows/check-license.yml b/.github/workflows/check-license.yml
index 77c6d18..9fcd4cf 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/check-license.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/check-license.yml
@@ -63,7 +63,7 @@ jobs:
 
     steps:
       - name: Checkout repository
-        uses: actions/checkout@v3
+        uses: actions/checkout@v4
 
       - name: Install Ruby
         uses: ruby/setup-ruby@v1
diff --git a/.github/workflows/check-markdown-task.yml b/.github/workflows/check-markdown-task.yml
index 9b53c3a..5f2a772 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/check-markdown-task.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/check-markdown-task.yml
@@ -69,18 +69,18 @@ jobs:
 
     steps:
       - name: Checkout repository
-        uses: actions/checkout@v3
+        uses: actions/checkout@v4
 
       - name: Setup Node.js
-        uses: actions/setup-node@v3
+        uses: actions/setup-node@v4
         with:
           node-version: ${{ env.NODE_VERSION }}
 
       - name: Initialize markdownlint-cli problem matcher
-        uses: xt0rted/markdownlint-problem-matcher@v2
+        uses: xt0rted/markdownlint-problem-matcher@v3
 
       - name: Install Task
-        uses: arduino/setup-task@v1
+        uses: arduino/setup-task@v2
         with:
           repo-token: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
           version: 3.x
@@ -95,15 +95,15 @@ jobs:
 
     steps:
       - name: Checkout repository
-        uses: actions/checkout@v3
+        uses: actions/checkout@v4
 
       - name: Setup Node.js
-        uses: actions/setup-node@v3
+        uses: actions/setup-node@v4
         with:
           node-version: ${{ env.NODE_VERSION }}
 
       - name: Install Task
-        uses: arduino/setup-task@v1
+        uses: arduino/setup-task@v2
         with:
           repo-token: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
           version: 3.x
diff --git a/.github/workflows/check-taskfiles.yml b/.github/workflows/check-taskfiles.yml
index cc41d93..d369f69 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/check-taskfiles.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/check-taskfiles.yml
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ env:
 
 # See: https://docs.github.com/actions/using-workflows/events-that-trigger-workflows
 on:
+  create:
   push:
     paths:
       - ".github/workflows/check-taskfiles.ya?ml"
@@ -26,9 +27,37 @@ on:
   repository_dispatch:
 
 jobs:
+  run-determination:
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    permissions: {}
+    outputs:
+      result: ${{ steps.determination.outputs.result }}
+    steps:
+      - name: Determine if the rest of the workflow should run
+        id: determination
+        run: |
+          RELEASE_BRANCH_REGEX="refs/heads/[0-9]+.[0-9]+.x"
+          # The `create` event trigger doesn't support `branches` filters, so it's necessary to use Bash instead.
+          if [[
+            "${{ github.event_name }}" != "create" ||
+            "${{ github.ref }}" =~ $RELEASE_BRANCH_REGEX
+          ]]; then
+            # Run the other jobs.
+            RESULT="true"
+          else
+            # There is no need to run the other jobs.
+            RESULT="false"
+          fi
+
+          echo "result=$RESULT" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+
   validate:
     name: Validate ${{ matrix.file }}
+    needs: run-determination
+    if: needs.run-determination.outputs.result == 'true'
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    permissions:
+      contents: read
 
     strategy:
       fail-fast: false
@@ -39,10 +68,10 @@ jobs:
 
     steps:
       - name: Checkout repository
-        uses: actions/checkout@v3
+        uses: actions/checkout@v4
 
       - name: Setup Node.js
-        uses: actions/setup-node@v3
+        uses: actions/setup-node@v4
         with:
           node-version: ${{ env.NODE_VERSION }}
 
@@ -50,8 +79,8 @@ jobs:
         id: download-schema
         uses: carlosperate/download-file-action@v2
         with:
-          # See: https://github.com/SchemaStore/schemastore/blob/master/src/schemas/json/taskfile.json
-          file-url: https://json.schemastore.org/taskfile.json
+          # Source: https://github.com/SchemaStore/schemastore/blob/master/src/schemas/json/taskfile.json
+          file-url: https://taskfile.dev/schema.json
           location: ${{ runner.temp }}/taskfile-schema
 
       - name: Install JSON schema validator
diff --git a/.github/workflows/sync-labels.yml b/.github/workflows/sync-labels.yml
index 70085bd..78723a3 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/sync-labels.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/sync-labels.yml
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ on:
 
 env:
   CONFIGURATIONS_FOLDER: .github/label-configuration-files
-  CONFIGURATIONS_ARTIFACT: label-configuration-files
+  CONFIGURATIONS_ARTIFACT_PREFIX: label-configuration-file-
 
 jobs:
   check:
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ jobs:
 
     steps:
       - name: Checkout repository
-        uses: actions/checkout@v3
+        uses: actions/checkout@v4
 
       - name: Download JSON schema for labels configuration file
         id: download-schema
@@ -71,13 +71,13 @@ jobs:
           file-url: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/arduino/tooling-project-assets/main/workflow-templates/assets/sync-labels/${{ matrix.filename }}
 
       - name: Pass configuration files to next job via workflow artifact
-        uses: actions/upload-artifact@v3
+        uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
         with:
           path: |
             *.yaml
             *.yml
           if-no-files-found: error
-          name: ${{ env.CONFIGURATIONS_ARTIFACT }}
+          name: ${{ env.CONFIGURATIONS_ARTIFACT_PREFIX }}${{ matrix.filename }}
 
   sync:
     needs: download
@@ -106,18 +106,19 @@ jobs:
           echo "::set-output name=flag::--dry-run"
 
       - name: Checkout repository
-        uses: actions/checkout@v3
+        uses: actions/checkout@v4
 
-      - name: Download configuration files artifact
-        uses: actions/download-artifact@v3
+      - name: Download configuration file artifacts
+        uses: actions/download-artifact@v4
         with:
-          name: ${{ env.CONFIGURATIONS_ARTIFACT }}
+          merge-multiple: true
+          pattern: ${{ env.CONFIGURATIONS_ARTIFACT_PREFIX }}*
           path: ${{ env.CONFIGURATIONS_FOLDER }}
 
-      - name: Remove unneeded artifact
-        uses: geekyeggo/delete-artifact@v2
+      - name: Remove unneeded artifacts
+        uses: geekyeggo/delete-artifact@v5
         with:
-          name: ${{ env.CONFIGURATIONS_ARTIFACT }}
+          name: ${{ env.CONFIGURATIONS_ARTIFACT_PREFIX }}*
 
       - name: Merge label configuration files
         run: |
diff --git a/properties.go b/properties.go
index b7cccb6..216fdee 100644
--- a/properties.go
+++ b/properties.go
@@ -76,6 +76,8 @@ import (
 	"reflect"
 	"regexp"
 	"runtime"
+	"sort"
+	"strconv"
 	"strings"
 	"unicode/utf8"
 
@@ -630,6 +632,9 @@ func (m *Map) ExtractSubIndexSets(root string) []*Map {
 //	  "tre.discovery.required.1": "itemA",
 //	  "tre.discovery.required.2": "itemB",
 //	  "tre.discovery.required.3": "itemC",
+//	  "quattro.discovery.required.1": "itemA",
+//	  "quattro.discovery.required.4": "itemB",
+//	  "quattro.discovery.required.5": "itemC",
 //	}
 //
 // calling ExtractSubIndexLists("uno.discovery.required") returns the array:
@@ -644,23 +649,45 @@ func (m *Map) ExtractSubIndexSets(root string) []*Map {
 //
 //	[ "itemA", "itemB", "itemC" ]
 //
+// also the list may contains holes, so calling ExtractSubIndexLists("quattro.discovery.required") returns:
+//
+//	[ "itemA", "itemB", "itemC" ]
+//
 // Numeric subindex cannot be mixed with non-numeric, in that case only the numeric sub
 // index sets will be returned.
 func (m *Map) ExtractSubIndexLists(root string) []string {
-	// First check the properties with numeric sub index "root.N.xxx"
+	isNotDigit := func(in string) bool {
+		for _, r := range in {
+			if r < '0' || r > '9' {
+				return true
+			}
+		}
+		return false
+	}
+
+	// Extract numeric keys
+	subProps := m.SubTree(root)
+	indexes := []int{}
+	for _, key := range subProps.o {
+		if isNotDigit(key) {
+			continue
+		}
+		if idx, err := strconv.Atoi(key); err == nil {
+			indexes = append(indexes, idx)
+		}
+	}
+	sort.Ints(indexes)
+
 	res := []string{}
-	portIDPropsSet := m.SubTree(root)
-	idx := 0
 	haveIndexedProperties := false
-	for {
-		k := fmt.Sprintf("%d", idx)
-		idx++
-		if v, ok := portIDPropsSet.GetOk(k); ok {
+	for i, idx := range indexes {
+		if i > 0 && idx == indexes[i-1] {
+			// de-duplicate cases like "05" and "5"
+			continue
+		}
+		if v, ok := subProps.GetOk(strconv.Itoa(idx)); ok {
 			haveIndexedProperties = true
 			res = append(res, v)
-		} else if idx > 1 {
-			// Always check sub-id 0 and 1 (https://github.com/arduino/arduino-cli/issues/456)
-			break
 		}
 	}
 
diff --git a/properties_test.go b/properties_test.go
index 1283c64..16a4c01 100644
--- a/properties_test.go
+++ b/properties_test.go
@@ -357,32 +357,24 @@ func TestExtractSubIndexLists(t *testing.T) {
 		"quattro.discovery.required.1": "itemB",
 		"quattro.discovery.required.2": "itemC",
 		"cinque.discovery.something":   "itemX",
+		"sei.discovery.something.1":    "itemA",
+		"sei.discovery.something.2":    "itemB",
+		"sei.discovery.something.5":    "itemC",
+		"sei.discovery.something.12":   "itemD",
+		"sette.discovery.something.01": "itemA",
+		"sette.discovery.something.2":  "itemB",
+		"sette.discovery.something.05": "itemC",
+		"sette.discovery.something.5":  "itemD",
 	}
 	m := NewFromHashmap(data)
 
-	s1 := m.ExtractSubIndexLists("uno.discovery.required")
-	require.Len(t, s1, 1)
-	require.Equal(t, s1[0], "item")
-
-	s2 := m.ExtractSubIndexLists("due.discovery.required")
-	require.Len(t, s2, 3)
-	require.Equal(t, s2[0], "item1")
-	require.Equal(t, s2[1], "item2")
-	require.Equal(t, s2[2], "item3")
-
-	s3 := m.ExtractSubIndexLists("tre.discovery.required")
-	require.Len(t, s3, 3)
-	require.Equal(t, s3[0], "itemA")
-	require.Equal(t, s3[1], "itemB")
-	require.Equal(t, s3[2], "itemC")
-
-	s4 := m.ExtractSubIndexLists("quattro.discovery.required")
-	require.Len(t, s4, 2)
-	require.Equal(t, s4[0], "itemB")
-	require.Equal(t, s4[1], "itemC")
-
-	s5 := m.ExtractSubIndexLists("cinque.discovery.required")
-	require.Len(t, s5, 0)
+	require.Equal(t, []string{"item"}, m.ExtractSubIndexLists("uno.discovery.required"))
+	require.Equal(t, []string{"item1", "item2", "item3"}, m.ExtractSubIndexLists("due.discovery.required"))
+	require.Equal(t, []string{"itemA", "itemB", "itemC"}, m.ExtractSubIndexLists("tre.discovery.required"))
+	require.Equal(t, []string{"itemB", "itemC"}, m.ExtractSubIndexLists("quattro.discovery.required"))
+	require.Equal(t, []string{}, m.ExtractSubIndexLists("cinque.discovery.required"))
+	require.Equal(t, []string{"itemA", "itemB", "itemC", "itemD"}, m.ExtractSubIndexLists("sei.discovery.something"))
+	require.Equal(t, []string{"itemB", "itemD"}, m.ExtractSubIndexLists("sette.discovery.something"))
 }
 
 func TestLoadingNonUTF8Properties(t *testing.T) {
diff --git a/strings.go b/strings.go
index f64b15e..4eae333 100644
--- a/strings.go
+++ b/strings.go
@@ -39,9 +39,29 @@ import (
 // to use spaces in a single element of the split using quote characters.
 //
 // For example the call:
-//   SplitQuotedString(`This 'is an' "Hello World!" example`, `'"`, false)
+//
+//	SplitQuotedString(`This 'is an' "Hello World!" example`, `'"`, false)
+//
 // returns the following array:
-//   []string{"This", "is an", "Hello World!", "example"}
+//
+//	[]string{"This", "is an", "Hello World!", "example"}
+//
+// The quoteChars parameter is a string containing all the characters that
+// are considered as quote characters. If a quote character is found, the
+// function will consider the text between the quote character and the next
+// quote character as a single element of the split.
+//
+// The acceptEmptyArguments parameter is a boolean that indicates if the
+// function should consider empty arguments as valid elements of the split.
+// If set to false, the function will ignore empty arguments.
+//
+// If the function finds an opening quote character and does not find the
+// closing quote character, it will return an error. In any case, the function
+// will return the split array up to the point where the error occurred.
+//
+// The function does not support escaping of quote characters.
+//
+// The function is UTF-8 safe.
 func SplitQuotedString(src string, quoteChars string, acceptEmptyArguments bool) ([]string, error) {
 	// Make a map of valid quote runes
 	isQuote := map[rune]bool{}
@@ -83,7 +103,7 @@ func SplitQuotedString(src string, quoteChars string, acceptEmptyArguments bool)
 	}
 
 	if escapingChar != 0 {
-		return nil, fmt.Errorf("invalid quoting, no closing `%c` char found", escapingChar)
+		return result, fmt.Errorf("invalid quoting, no closing `%c` char found", escapingChar)
 	}
 
 	return result, nil
diff --git a/strings_test.go b/strings_test.go
index 2f5319d..9245f04 100644
--- a/strings_test.go
+++ b/strings_test.go
@@ -64,8 +64,11 @@ func TestSplitQuotedStringWithUTF8(t *testing.T) {
 }
 
 func TestSplitQuotedStringInvalid(t *testing.T) {
-	_, err := SplitQuotedString(`'this is' a 'test of quoting`, `"'`, true)
-	require.Error(t, err)
-	_, err = SplitQuotedString(`'this is' a "'test" of "quoting`, `"'`, true)
-	require.Error(t, err)
+	res, err := SplitQuotedString(`'this is' a 'test of quoting`, `"'`, true)
+	require.EqualError(t, err, "invalid quoting, no closing `'` char found")
+	require.Equal(t, res, []string{"this is", "a"})
+
+	res, err = SplitQuotedString(`'this is' a "'test" of "quoting`, `"'`, true)
+	require.EqualError(t, err, "invalid quoting, no closing `\"` char found")
+	require.Equal(t, res, []string{"this is", "a", "'test", "of"})
 }