Get ready to experience a smoother, faster way to manage your digital projects at DrupalCon Chicago 2026, where we are putting a spotlight on the tools designed to make your daily work life significantly easier and more efficient.
This year isn’t just about new code; it’s about giving you control. You’ll discover how the updated platform removes the technical headaches of building professional sites, handing you a powerful visual editor that lets you adjust layouts and design pages instantly. Imagine being able to tweak a landing page or launch a new campaign in minutes, without ever needing to write a single line of code or wait days for a developer to answer a ticket.
We are also introducing a marketplace of ready-made starter sites, so you can start with a polished foundation that you can use immediately. Plus, we’ll show you how smart AI tools can handle the repetitive chores like organizing content or fixing errors and can also be used to connect digital agents into efficient workflows, so complex tasks run on autopilot. It’s all about helping you clear your to-do list faster so you can spend less time on setup and administration, and more time on the creative strategies that truly matter.
Presented by Pamela Barone (Technocrat) and Cristina Chumillas (Cambrico)
Drupal CMS 2.0 has launched, complete with Drupal Canvas and site templates! What does this mean for building Drupal sites? And what's next?
Presented by Emma Horrell (The University of Edinburgh)
How a comprehensive UX research programme is driving a product that's fundamentally changing the narrative about Drupal, turning feelings into features and accelerating innovation across our entire community.
Panel lead by Gábor Hojtsy (Acquia) - speakers to be announced later
Meet key Drupal CMS leaders to get insights on recent developments and future plans. Topics include site templates, Drupal Canvas, AI, user experience, usability documentation and more.
"We leveraged the smart defaults and intuitive admin experience of the new Drupal CMS to expedite launch while maintaining long-term scalability. Within eight weeks, we moved from discovery through design, content architecture, site building, theming, and integration with Action Network tools to launch with confidence." - Elevated Third
Presented by James Abrahams (FreelyGive)
We will demonstrate how tools like ECA and MCP empower site builders to combine intelligent AI agents with reliable workflows, enabling complex, code-free orchestrations for tasks ranging from content moderation to migration. This approach accelerates time-to-market and future-proofs your builds by reducing reliance on custom modules while maintaining strict security.
Presented by Christoph Breidert (1xINTERNET)
Master practical AI integration in this hands-on workshop, guiding you from basic setup to advanced features like RAG search and PDF processing. You will build real-world tools step-by-step, implementing automated content generation, intelligent alt text, and SEO optimizers.
Presented by Joe Shindelar (Drupalize.me)
Large Language Models like ChatGPT and Claude are increasingly used for search, support, dev tools, and content creation. Out of the box, they can read but not interact with your Drupal sites content and features. Model Context Protocol (MCP) solves this by defining a standard way for LLMs to interact with external data sources and tools. Teaching the LLM to interact with Drupal and perform searches, flag nodes, and more.
Presented by Marcus Johansson (FreelyGive)
What if you could open up the world of Agents, so that people with communication and language skills could focus on the prompt writing and the actual way the Agents interact with Drupal or its content is just an abstraction that you get access to with a click of a button.
The new Agents framework allows you to build your own business specific Agents without having to code a single line of code.
Presented by Kristen Pol (QuantCDN, Salsa Digital) and Aidan Foster (Foster Interactive)
AI can generate landing pages, service pages, and blog posts in seconds - but without the right context, the results feel generic, off-brand, or just plain wrong. Context is what takes you from AI-slop to content that is authentic and resonates with your audience. In this session, we'll show you how to configure Drupal's Context Control Center and Canvas AI to produce content that actually sounds like your organization.
Panel with Christoph Breidert (1xINTERNET), Dominique De Cooman (Dropsolid), James Abrahams (FreelyGive) and Paul Johnson (1xINTERNET)
With the launch of the Drupal AI Initiative approaching its one-year anniversary, now is the perfect time for a critical look back and an exciting preview of what's next.
The AI Summit is designed to spark innovation in open source through ethical and sustainable AI solutions. Participants will have the opportunity to collaborate with the Drupal AI Initiative team and organizations already integrating AI into Drupal projects.
Through sessions, conversations, and real-world case studies, the Summit will highlight how AI can enhance Drupal while keeping human-centered approaches at its core. Attendees will leave with fresh ideas, practical insights, and a deeper understanding of how AI can responsibly shape the future of open source.
"The best decision I made was participating in DrupalCon. Met some wonderful people and learned an incredible amount in a very short time." - Chris Pedersen
Presented by Lauri Timmanee (Acquia)
For years, the Drupal community has talked about a component-driven future. The Drupal Canvas is where that future finally becomes a reality. This is more than just an evolution of Layout Builder or Paragraphs; it's a fundamental paradigm shift in how we think about building with Drupal.
Presented by Ted Bowman (Acquia)
Enabling ambitious site builders has always been a superpower of Drupal and the introduction of Drupal Canvas has taken this to another level. This session will explore advanced site-building techniques utilizing the new Drupal Canvas module. Attendees will learn how to combine the power of Canvas with existing core modules like Views and popular contrib modules, all without writing any code! We will demonstrate how to build a demo site that leverages Drupal's robust information architecture capabilities alongside the streamlined user experience offered by Drupal Canvas.
Presented by Bálint Kléri (balintbrews)
Drupal Canvas introduced Code Components last year, opening a new avenue for Drupal frontend engineering by shipping a zero-setup, in-browser code editor, and out-of-the-box support for React and Tailwind CSS. A lot has happened since then. This session will discuss different approaches and techniques for working with Code Components in Drupal Canvas, as well as the current state of all features, experiments, and plans for the future.
Presented by Feliksas Mazeikis (Acquia)
This technical session covers the high-level architecture and inner workings of Drupal Canvas. The session focuses on the back-end aspects that Drupal developers need to know when developing with future Canvas adoption in mind. Learn the basics of the Canvas data model, the rationale behind its architecture, and which APIs are intended for module developers.
Presented by Boyan Borisov (Jakala)
Explore practical strategies for adopting Drupal's Drupal Canvas in existing platforms, ensuring a smooth transition without compromising current investments. For organizations with established Drupal sites utilizing tools like Layout Builder or Paragraphs, transitioning to Drupal Canvas presents both opportunities and challenges. This session will explore practical strategies for adopting Drupal Canvas in existing platforms, ensuring a smooth evolution without compromising current investments.
Training with Mike Herchel (Dripyard) & Andy Blum (Lullabot)
Drupal theming is evolving quickly, and this training prepares you for the future. Through practical exercises, you’ll explore Single Directory Components, Drupal Canvas, and modern CSS/JS techniques that shape the next era of Drupal theming. Learn to build reusable components, integrate Storybook for workflow efficiency, and create themes that are fast, accessible, and easy to maintain. You’ll also gain strategies for avoiding common pitfalls with page builders while ensuring flexible, future-ready designs.
"We are all in on Drupal Canvas at Syracuse University. We have two sites going to production in January 2026, with a hundred more slated for the year. With over 20 years of Drupal experience, this solves many problems that Drupal teams have been trying to solve for years. The Drupal future is incredibly bright." - Jay Griggs
Presented by Andy Giles (Dripyard) and Adam Globus-Hoenich (Acquia)
Site templates are a big deal. They have the potential to open Drupal up to more people than ever by delivering functional and beautiful starter sites. But it's up to the Drupal community to create them. And, as with anything in the Drupal world, there are a few ways to go about it. In this session, we'll cover two main ways to build site templates. Through real-world examples and a live demo of our recipe stack, you’ll leave with practical knowledge and the confidence to structure site templates that meet your organization’s needs today while remaining adaptable for the future.
Presented by Jim Birch (Kanopi Studios)
Drupal's Recipes Initiative is redefining how we build and share functionality, moving beyond distributions toward lightweight, composable recipes and site templates. We are continuing to refine the recipes and default content APIs and config actions and expanded capabilities, but the real story is how the community can now find, author, and contribute recipes that make site building faster and more approachable.
Presented by Tim Lehnen (Drupal Association)
Previously we announced a pilot program to launch the very first site templates, together with some early Template Makers drawn from the Drupal Certified Partners by DrupalCon Chicago. We'll talk about what we've learned from the Marketplace pilot, how this will impact the roadmap for Drupal CMS, Drupal Canvas, and Drupal Site Templates in general, and what the roadmap looks like for scaling up to many more site templates.
Training with Jim Birch (Kanopi Studios) & Adam Globus-Hoenich (Acquia)
Drupal Recipes introduce a powerful way to package, reuse, and share site features in Drupal’s composable future. In this training, you’ll gain hands-on experience authoring, combining, and implementing recipes to accelerate development and increase collaboration. From content types and views to complete site templates, Recipes allow you to define functionality declaratively and reuse it across projects with ease.
