Release Notes

XP 8 introduces a new admin UI built on the Enonic UI design system. The new UI is faster, more responsive, and provides a more consistent user experience across tools. The first tools to be migrated are the XP menu and the Dashboard. The remaining tools will be migrated in future releases.

Web APIs are now first-class citizens of Enonic XP. A uniform implementation pattern can be used to implement and expose APIs across the platform, including direct exposure via the brand new /api service endpoint.

Borrowing the manifest-and-mount pattern from Kubernetes, APIs are registered with a unique name and automatically integrated with the platform’s security and IAM. A matching set of libraries and tools makes it easy to build custom APIs and call them from any context.

APIs can be exposed on custom URLs and domains via virtual host configuration, but also contextually mounted within the admin and site services, allowing for flexible API design and organization.

TODO: Management API?

The XP 8 core runs on a refreshed stack: Java 25, Jetty 12, and Hazelcast 5.

YAML replaces XML for all CMS schemas and app descriptors. This means content types, application definitions, ID providers, etc., are now all defined in YAML. YAML is a widely adopted format that is easier to read and write than JSON, especially for complex configurations - and it supports comments. The new YAML-based descriptors are more concise and maintainable, making life easier for developers.

Permissions are now applied instantly across all branches, eliminating the need to publish content just to push permissions through. This means you can manage permissions more efficiently, without worrying about the publishing state of your content. This also applies to the underlying APIs.

The major Enonic apps have been refreshed alongside the platform and are ready for XP 8.

The Widget API has been replaced by the Extensions API, better reflecting the actual capabilities. Visible tools live in the XP menu, while extensions, you guessed it, extend them - ranging from visual widgets to API-level functionality. The new API is more flexible and powerful.

Additionally, popular extensions such as Content Studio widgets are now wrapped as web components, for complete isolation and flexibility.

TODO: LInk to docs and examples for building admin extensions.

Years of incremental additions left overlap in the Content and Node APIs. XP 8 cleans them up:

Vhost configuration files now support declaration of context values - project, branch, principal - co-locating routing decisions with the vhost they belong to. This may also be used to customize application behaviour on a per-vhost basis. See Virtual host context.

Identity keys, content IDs, names, and descriptors now follow consistent, deterministic validation rules: lowercase-only IDs, explicit regex per key type, and length caps that match what the system actually supports. The intent is to eliminate the class of bugs that came from quietly accepting characters that broke serialization, URLs, or filesystem paths downstream. The full ruleset lives in the upgrade notes.

Repositories can now be exported in full or in part - by branch and path - and repositories may be dumped and loaded individually.

Exports and dumps are written directly to ZIP archives, replacing the previous folder-based structure. The plain-file format and dry-run mode have been retired.

A handful of smaller-but-pleasing improvements:

For the full list of breaking changes and migration steps, see Breaking changes in the upgrade notes.