What's new in version 26.00?
webforJ 26.00 is here, our first major version since the 25.x series kicked off, and a big one. It brings a top-to-bottom design system refresh, new tricks for the Dialog and TabbedPane components, and a clean break from deprecated APIs, all paired with automated tooling that does most of the upgrade work for you. The highlights are below, and as always the GitHub release overview has the complete picture.
Design System 2.0
Design System 2.0 is the headline change in 26.00, a top-to-bottom refresh of the visual language behind every component in the framework. Colors, spacing, typography, and interaction states all got a second look, and the whole thing rolls out automatically when you upgrade. Same API, sharper-looking app. Head over to the styling section to browse the updated design tokens.
We've also put together a short video that walks through the design refresh alongside the biggest features from the 25.x cycle. If you haven't been following along release-by-release, it's a fast way to catch up.
Install the webforJ AI plugin and ask your assistant "Theme this app with a blue palette," or "Style this dwc-button to match our brand guidelines," and the webforj-styling-apps skill takes it from there.
webforJ AI plugin
New alongside 26.00: the webforJ AI plugin, a one-install bundle that teaches your AI coding assistant tons of webforJ details and specifics. It ships the webforJ MCP server, which gives live access to docs, project scaffolding, theme generation, and design-token validation, together with the platform's Agent Skills that tell the assistant when to reach for each of those tools and how to use them effectively.
The MCP server itself got a refresh in this cycle: new tools across project scaffolding, theme generation, and design-token validation, alongside tighter responses that cut token usage on every call so your assistant spends fewer tokens to get more accurate answers.
claude plugin marketplace add webforj/webforj-ai
claude plugin install webforj@webforj-ai
Claude Code, GitHub Copilot CLI, VS Code + Copilot, Gemini CLI, and OpenAI Codex CLI all install it through their own plugin commands. Cursor, Kiro, Goose, and the rest work with a short manual config. The upshot is an assistant even more accurately builds and styles webforJ apps.
See the webforJ AI plugin documentation for per-client install steps.
Dialog auto width
By default, a Dialog stretches to fill the available horizontal space, perfect for larger forms, overkill for a compact "Are you sure?" prompt. The new setAutoWidth(true) method flips that behavior, sizing the dialog to its content so small prompts stay small.
Code anzeigen
- Java
Dialog dialog = new Dialog();
dialog.setAutoWidth(true);
Well-suited for confirmation prompts or small edit forms. Pair it with setMaxWidth() if you want to cap how far the dialog can grow with its content.
See the Dialog auto width documentation for details.
TabbedPane segment control
The TabbedPane picks up a new rendering mode in 26.00. Flip setSegment(true) and the tabs snap into a compact segment control with a sliding pill indicator, a natural fit for toggling between a few related views or filter options.
Code anzeigen
- Java
TabbedPane pane = new TabbedPane();
pane.addTab(new Tab("Daily"));
pane.addTab(new Tab("Weekly"));
pane.addTab(new Tab("Monthly"));
pane.setSegment(true);
See the TabbedPane segment control documentation for details.
Breaking changes and deprecations
With any major version comes some housekeeping, and 26.00 starts with a couple of environment changes worth knowing about before you upgrade.
Java 21 minimum
Java 17 is no longer supported. All 26.00 projects require Java 21 or later (Java 25 is also supported). If you're on Java 17, bump your toolchain before upgrading.
Spring Boot 4
For Spring Boot users, 26.00 upgrades to Spring Boot 4.0.4 (from 3.5.7). This is a Spring Boot major version bump with its own upgrade considerations, so consult the Spring Boot 4 release notes alongside the webforJ upgrade.
Automated migration with webforj-rewrite
Install the webforJ AI plugin and ask your assistant "Upgrade this app from webforJ 25 to 26," or "Run the rewrite recipe and resolve the TODOs," and the webforj-upgrading-versions skill takes it from there.
Here's the good news: once you're on Java 21 and (if applicable) Spring Boot 4, the rest of the upgrade is mostly automated. 26.00 introduces the new webforj-rewrite module, a set of OpenRewrite recipes that refactor your 25.x code up to 26.00 for you.
Two recipes are available depending on your project type:
| Project type | Recipe |
|---|---|
| Standard webforJ | com.webforj.rewrite.v26.UpgradeWebforj |
| Spring Boot | com.webforj.rewrite.v26.UpgradeWebforjSpring |
Add the OpenRewrite plugin to your pom.xml with the recipe that matches your project:
<plugin>
<groupId>org.openrewrite.maven</groupId>
<artifactId>rewrite-maven-plugin</artifactId>
<version>6.36.0</version>
<configuration>
<activeRecipes>
<recipe>com.webforj.rewrite.v26.UpgradeWebforj</recipe>
</activeRecipes>
</configuration>
<dependencies>
<dependency>
<groupId>com.webforj</groupId>
<artifactId>webforj-rewrite</artifactId>
<version>26.00</version>
</dependency>
</dependencies>
</plugin>
Preview the changes without applying them:
mvn rewrite:dryRun
Apply them when you're ready:
mvn rewrite:run
The recipes handle dependency bumps, method renames, type changes, and return type adjustments automatically. For anything that can't be fully automated, the tool leaves TODO comments directly in your code with specific instructions, so you know exactly what still needs your attention.
See the OpenRewrite migration guide for full setup and usage details.
That's the whirlwind tour of 26.00. For every last change and fix, the GitHub release has the full changelog.