diff --git a/CHANGELOG.rst b/CHANGELOG.rst
index 110c42315..263963c84 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.rst
+++ b/CHANGELOG.rst
@@ -6,8 +6,20 @@ History
 
 All release highlights of this project will be documented in this file.
 
+4.4.17 - December 21, 2023
+__________________________
+
+**Added**
+
+    - ``SAClient.upload_annotations()`` added default values to the annotations during the upload.
+
+**Updated**
+
+    - Fixed `SAClient.search_project() search with special characters.`
+    - ``pandas`` dependency  ``pandas~=2.0``
+
 4.4.16 - November 12, 2023
-_______________________
+__________________________
 
 **Added**
 
@@ -16,9 +28,9 @@ _______________________
 **Updated**
 
     - Documentation updates
-    - pillow dependency ``pillow>=9.5,~=10.0``.
-    - opencv dependency  replaced by ``opencv-python-headless~=4.7``.
-    - pydantic dependency ``pydantic>=1.10,!=2.0.*``.
+    - ``pillow`` dependency ``pillow>=9.5,~=10.0``.
+    - ``opencv`` dependency  replaced by ``opencv-python-headless~=4.7``.
+    - ``pydantic`` dependency ``pydantic>=1.10,!=2.0.*``.
 
 4.4.15 - August 20, 2023
 ________________________
diff --git a/requirements.txt b/requirements.txt
index 88a3562b5..d3fae5493 100644
--- a/requirements.txt
+++ b/requirements.txt
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ opencv-python-headless~=4.7
 packaging~=23.1
 plotly~=5.14
 email-validator~=2.0
-pandas~=1.3
+pandas~=2.0
 ffmpeg-python~=0.2
 pillow>=9.5,~=10.0
 tqdm~=4.66.1
diff --git a/src/superannotate/__init__.py b/src/superannotate/__init__.py
index 2f25a3f8d..aae84e184 100644
--- a/src/superannotate/__init__.py
+++ b/src/superannotate/__init__.py
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 import sys
 
 
-__version__ = "4.4.16"
+__version__ = "4.4.17"
 
 sys.path.append(os.path.split(os.path.realpath(__file__))[0])
 
diff --git a/src/superannotate/lib/app/interface/sdk_interface.py b/src/superannotate/lib/app/interface/sdk_interface.py
index a467bbe8e..162940830 100644
--- a/src/superannotate/lib/app/interface/sdk_interface.py
+++ b/src/superannotate/lib/app/interface/sdk_interface.py
@@ -1668,6 +1668,7 @@ def upload_annotations(
             folder=folder,
             annotations=annotations,
             keep_status=keep_status,
+            user=self.controller.current_user,
         )
         if response.errors:
             raise AppException(response.errors)
diff --git a/src/superannotate/lib/core/usecases/annotations.py b/src/superannotate/lib/core/usecases/annotations.py
index 6fa39da63..f3b5d963a 100644
--- a/src/superannotate/lib/core/usecases/annotations.py
+++ b/src/superannotate/lib/core/usecases/annotations.py
@@ -295,6 +295,7 @@ def __init__(
         folder: FolderEntity,
         annotations: List[dict],
         service_provider: BaseServiceProvider,
+        user: UserEntity,
         keep_status: bool = False,
     ):
         super().__init__(reporter)
@@ -304,6 +305,7 @@ def __init__(
         self._service_provider = service_provider
         self._keep_status = keep_status
         self._report = Report([], [], [], [])
+        self._user = user
 
     def validate_project_type(self):
         if self._project.type == constants.ProjectType.PIXEL.value:
@@ -439,6 +441,9 @@ def execute(self):
                 annotation_name = annotation["metadata"]["name"]
                 item = name_item_map.get(annotation_name)
                 if item:
+                    annotation = UploadAnnotationUseCase.set_defaults(
+                        self._user.email, annotation, self._project.type
+                    )
                     items_to_upload.append(
                         ItemToUpload(item=item, annotation_json=annotation)
                     )
diff --git a/src/superannotate/lib/infrastructure/controller.py b/src/superannotate/lib/infrastructure/controller.py
index 82e139d36..98a9d343f 100644
--- a/src/superannotate/lib/infrastructure/controller.py
+++ b/src/superannotate/lib/infrastructure/controller.py
@@ -568,6 +568,7 @@ def upload_multiple(
         folder: FolderEntity,
         annotations: List[dict],
         keep_status: bool,
+        user: UserEntity,
     ):
         use_case = usecases.UploadAnnotationsUseCase(
             reporter=Reporter(),
@@ -576,6 +577,7 @@ def upload_multiple(
             annotations=annotations,
             service_provider=self.service_provider,
             keep_status=keep_status,
+            user=user,
         )
         return use_case.execute()
 
diff --git a/src/superannotate/lib/infrastructure/services/http_client.py b/src/superannotate/lib/infrastructure/services/http_client.py
index 5935b4662..071a907c5 100644
--- a/src/superannotate/lib/infrastructure/services/http_client.py
+++ b/src/superannotate/lib/infrastructure/services/http_client.py
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@
 
 import aiohttp
 import requests
+from aiohttp.client_exceptions import ClientError
 from lib.core.exceptions import AppException
 from lib.core.service_types import ServiceResponse
 from lib.core.serviceproviders import BaseClient
@@ -197,7 +198,7 @@ def serialize_response(
             if not response.ok:
                 if response.status_code in (502, 504):
                     data[
-                        "_error"
+                        "res_error"
                     ] = "Our service is currently unavailable, please try again later."
                     return content_type(**data)
                 else:
@@ -234,7 +235,13 @@ async def request(self, *args, **kwargs) -> aiohttp.ClientResponse:
         for _ in range(attempts):
             delay += self.BACKOFF_FACTOR
             attempts -= 1
-            response = await super()._request(*args, **kwargs)
+            try:
+                response = await super()._request(*args, **kwargs)
+            except ClientError:
+                if not attempts:
+                    raise
+                await asyncio.sleep(delay)
+                continue
             if response.status not in self.RETRY_STATUS_CODES or not attempts:
                 return response
             await asyncio.sleep(delay)
diff --git a/src/superannotate/lib/infrastructure/services/project.py b/src/superannotate/lib/infrastructure/services/project.py
index c304b0d48..277a2710a 100644
--- a/src/superannotate/lib/infrastructure/services/project.py
+++ b/src/superannotate/lib/infrastructure/services/project.py
@@ -44,9 +44,8 @@ def create(self, entity: entities.ProjectEntity) -> ServiceResponse:
 
     def list(self, condition: Condition = None):
         return self.client.paginate(
-            url=f"{self.URL_LIST}?{condition.build_query()}"
-            if condition
-            else self.URL_LIST,
+            url=self.URL_LIST,
+            query_params=condition.get_as_params_dict(),
             item_type=entities.ProjectEntity,
         )
 
diff --git a/tests/integration/annotations/test_upload_annotations.py b/tests/integration/annotations/test_upload_annotations.py
index 302e35519..cb10e81c7 100644
--- a/tests/integration/annotations/test_upload_annotations.py
+++ b/tests/integration/annotations/test_upload_annotations.py
@@ -71,6 +71,8 @@ def test_annotation_folder_upload_download(self):
                 assert i["annotation_status"] == "InProgress"
         assert annotation["instances"][-1]["type"] == "tag"
         assert annotation["instances"][-2]["type"] == "tag"
+        assert annotation["instances"][-2]["probability"] == 100
+        assert annotation["instances"][-2]["creationType"] == "Preannotation"
 
     def test_upload_keep_true(self):
         self._attach_items()
diff --git a/tests/integration/projects/test_search_project.py b/tests/integration/projects/test_search_project.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..f96736061
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/integration/projects/test_search_project.py
@@ -0,0 +1,62 @@
+from src.superannotate import SAClient
+from tests.integration.base import BaseTestCase
+
+sa = SAClient()
+
+
+class TestProjectSearch(BaseTestCase):
+    PROJECT_NAME = "TestProjectSearch"
+    PROJECT_DESCRIPTION = "Desc"
+    PROJECT_TYPE = "Vector"
+    PROJECT_NAME_2 = "TestProjectSearch2"
+    REPLACED_PROJECT_NAME = "TestProjectSearchReplaced"
+    PROJECT_NAME_CONTAIN_SPECIAL_CHARACTER = "TestProjectName!@#$%+"
+
+    def setUp(self, *args, **kwargs):
+        self.tearDown()
+        self._project = sa.create_project(
+            self.PROJECT_NAME, self.PROJECT_DESCRIPTION, self.PROJECT_TYPE
+        )
+        self._project_2 = sa.create_project(
+            self.PROJECT_NAME_2, self.PROJECT_DESCRIPTION, self.PROJECT_TYPE
+        )
+
+    def tearDown(self) -> None:
+        projects = []
+        projects.extend(sa.search_projects(self.PROJECT_NAME, return_metadata=True))
+        projects.extend(
+            sa.search_projects(self.REPLACED_PROJECT_NAME, return_metadata=True)
+        )
+        projects.extend(
+            sa.search_projects(
+                self.PROJECT_NAME_CONTAIN_SPECIAL_CHARACTER, return_metadata=True
+            )
+        )
+        for project in projects:
+            try:
+                sa.delete_project(project)
+            except Exception as _:
+                pass
+
+    def test_project_search(self):
+        # search before rename
+        result = sa.search_projects(self.PROJECT_NAME, return_metadata=True)
+        assert len(result) == 2
+
+        # search after rename
+        sa.rename_project(self.PROJECT_NAME, self.REPLACED_PROJECT_NAME)
+        meta = sa.get_project_metadata(self.REPLACED_PROJECT_NAME)
+        self.assertEqual(meta["name"], self.REPLACED_PROJECT_NAME)
+        result = sa.search_projects(self.REPLACED_PROJECT_NAME, return_metadata=True)
+        assert len(result) == 1
+        assert result[0]["name"] == self.REPLACED_PROJECT_NAME
+
+    def test_project_search_special_character(self):
+        sa.rename_project(
+            self.PROJECT_NAME, self.PROJECT_NAME_CONTAIN_SPECIAL_CHARACTER
+        )
+        meta = sa.get_project_metadata(self.PROJECT_NAME_CONTAIN_SPECIAL_CHARACTER)
+        self.assertEqual(meta["name"], self.PROJECT_NAME_CONTAIN_SPECIAL_CHARACTER)
+        result = sa.search_projects("!@#$%+", return_metadata=True)
+        assert len(result) == 1
+        assert result[0]["name"] == self.PROJECT_NAME_CONTAIN_SPECIAL_CHARACTER