# Product roadmap

## Upcoming releases

### Orbeon Forms 2026.1

For Orbeon Forms 2026.1, we are planning to work on the following items:

* Form Builder user interface:
  * **Improved actions editor:** We would like to improve the current editor to progressively support more of the action syntax. Actions are powerful but not always easy to use, and we want to make them more accessible to users of all levels. Our plan is to do this in three steps:
    1. Start by migrating the older action format to 2018.2 action syntax at runtime, see [#3855](https://github.com/orbeon/orbeon-forms/issues/3855).
    2. Then perform this migration at design time and update the existing Actions Editor to support the new syntax.
    3. Finally create a new editor supporting more of the Action Syntax, see [#1298](https://github.com/orbeon/orbeon-forms/issues/1298).
  * **Workflow editor:** This has been a long-standing item, and we would like to make it possible to edit simple workflows in the Form Builder UI. See [#2256](https://github.com/orbeon/orbeon-forms/issues/2256).
  * **More user-friendly formulas:** See [#2282](https://github.com/orbeon/orbeon-forms/issues/2282).
* Form Runner user interface:
  * **Styles/theme editor:** With 2025.1, we have refactored the CSS to use variables. This was a major step, and we now want to provide a more modern theme, and enable users to create their own themes. Our plan is to do this in three steps:
    1. Put in place a system that allows properties to define themes and to select a theme, with each theme being a set of (CSS variable → value). Use this system to create a default theme with the existing CSS variables values, which we could call "2025.1".
    2. Create a new, more modern theme, which we could call "2026.1", and make it the default. While doing so, we might find that we need new CSS variables, or existing variables to be changed.
    3. Create a high level UI allowing users to configure to customize the main aspects of a theme, see [#4140](https://github.com/orbeon/orbeon-forms/issues/4140).
  * **Properties editor:** Similarly, we now have a powerful API to define configuration properties. We'd like to add a UI to edit those properties so that administrators, form authors, and end users alike can change settings without having to edit server-side configuration files. See [#2238](https://github.com/orbeon/orbeon-forms/issues/2238).
* Additional form controls:
  * **Improved phone number control:** See [#6734](https://github.com/orbeon/orbeon-forms/issues/6734).
* Other
  * **Additional demo forms:** we plan to continue creating more demo forms to show the capabilities of Orbeon Forms.
  * **Additional integrations:** A candidate is to add support for Google Sheets as a data destination, which would be a great addition to the existing support for databases and HTTP services.

See also the tentative [2026.1 items](https://github.com/users/orbeon/projects/29/views/1) for details.

As usual, we also are considering:

* [low-hanging fruits](https://github.com/orbeon/orbeon-forms/issues?q=is%3Aopen+is%3Aissue+label%3A%22Low-Hanging+Fruit%22)
* [dogfood items](https://github.com/orbeon/orbeon-forms/labels/Area%3A%20Dogfood)
* [maintenance items](https://github.com/orbeon/orbeon-forms/issues?q=is%3Aopen+is%3Aissue+label%3A%22Type%3A+Maintenance%22+)
* [spare time items](https://github.com/orbeon/orbeon-forms/issues?q=is%3Aopen+is%3Aissue++label%3A%22Priority%3A+Spare+Time%22+)
* [top issues](https://github.com/orbeon/orbeon-forms/issues?q=is%3Aopen+is%3Aissue+label%3A%22Top+issue%22)
* [top RFEs](https://github.com/orbeon/orbeon-forms/issues?q=is%3Aopen+is%3Aissue+label%3A%22Top+RFE%22)

**Please remember that the following schedule is a plan, not a promise:**

* 2026-12: tentative release date

## Past releases

See the [Orbeon Forms release history](https://doc.orbeon.com/release-history).

## Release strategy

* **How often do we release?** Since 2020 we have switched to one major release per year with point releases as needed.
* **What do releases contain?** Releases address both new features and bug-fixes. Point-releases (2020.1.1, 2020.1.2, etc.) essentially contain bug-fixes and sometimes very small features. They are done only when necessary, and only for the PE version of the product. Bigger features are left to the major releases (2019.1, 2019.2, 2020.1, 2021.1, etc.), and we strive to do those on a regular schedule.

## Planning strategy

* **How far ahead do we plan?** Once we've published a major release, we do the planning for the following one. You can see the future releases listed on the [open projects page](https://github.com/orbeon/orbeon-forms/projects), and from there, see what has been planned for the next release. We don't plan feature or bugs to be included in releases beyond the very next release, so we can react faster to our customers needs, deciding for every release what will best serve our customers.
* **How do we decide what improvements to include in a release?** A fair amount of the new features we develop are designed in collaboration with our customers, and sponsored by customers through a [Dev Support plan](https://www.orbeon.com/services). Other features are added to better serve existing and future users of the product. And last, but not least, for every release we strive to do work in each one of the development tracks outlined below.

## Development tracks

These are general development tracks which we consider from release to release:

* **Mobile** – Better support [responsive design](https://github.com/orbeon/orbeon-forms/issues/1181), and the ability to [run our form engine on the client](https://github.com/orbeon/orbeon-forms/issues/1221) to enable offline support and native apps.
* **Performance** – While Orbeon Forms has been proven to be able to sustain a [fair amount of load](https://doc.orbeon.com/faq/form-builder-runner#how-much-load-can-orbeon-forms-handle), we 're always striving to improve the product in that regard, including [reducing memory usage](https://github.com/orbeon/orbeon-forms/issues/1606), [reducing load time](https://github.com/orbeon/orbeon-forms/issues/1239), and [improving performance on MySQL](https://github.com/orbeon/orbeon-forms/issues/649).
* **Architecture and maintenance** – Like any project, Orbeon Forms has some technical debt. It is not possible to remove all of it at once, but, like garbage collection, we want improve the code base incrementally. In addition, we want to look to the future to use the best possible languages and frameworks. This includes: [modularizing of the code](https://github.com/orbeon/orbeon-forms/issues/1585), taking care of [issues flagged as "maintenance"](https://github.com/orbeon/orbeon-forms/issues?q=is%3Aopen+is%3Aissue+label%3AMaintenance), drop old frameworks and adopt new ones ([get rid of YUI](https://github.com/orbeon/orbeon-forms/issues/1599), [use Scala.js](https://github.com/orbeon/orbeon-forms/issues/1600)), and do more automated testing (we have almost 800 tests, but need more).
* **Integration and workflow** – We want to make it easier to [embed forms](https://github.com/orbeon/orbeon-forms/issues/1235), make it easier to use [HTTP/DB services for validation](https://github.com/orbeon/orbeon-forms/issues/1304), allow [forms to be imported/exported with dependencies](https://github.com/orbeon/orbeon-forms/issues/779), better document [standard use cases / workflows](https://github.com/orbeon/orbeon-forms/issues/228), make [integration with external systems/workflows simpler](http://wiki.orbeon.com/forms/projects/form-runner-builder/form-runner-data-envelope), include built-in [Basic workflow](https://github.com/orbeon/orbeon-forms/issues/2256), and more.
* **Form Builder modernization** – We want to push the envelope and keep improving the [usability of Form Builder](https://github.com/orbeon/orbeon-forms/issues/1675).

## What's in a release

For each release we would like to:

* have bug-fixes
* have at least one new feature (which can be small)
* book one day of work on [documentation tasks](https://github.com/orbeon/orbeon-forms/issues?direction=desc\&labels=Doc\&milestone=\&page=1\&sort=updated\&state=open)
* pick one [maintenance task](https://github.com/orbeon/orbeon-forms/issues?direction=desc\&labels=Refactoring\&milestone=\&page=1\&sort=updated\&state=open) (build system, refactoring, …)

The idea is, as some of those tasks are large, to do it incrementally when possible, so that some progress is made.


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