Top 5 takeaways from Umbraco Codegarden 2025

Mark Hawkins and James Durrant were on the ground soaking it all in – connecting with fellow Umbraco partners, geeking out over new features, and bringing home a fresh dose of inspiration.

So, what stood out the most? Here are our top five takeaways from this year’s event:

MCP Server – AI that knows your project

Without a doubt, the most exciting innovation was the launch of Model Context Protocol (MCP) Server – a huge leap forward for AI in the Umbraco world.
Imagine tools like GitHub Copilot or Claude, but with full awareness of your specific project context. We’re talking smart suggestions, content tweaks, and automated updates that are actually relevant to your CMS instance. No more generic prompts – this is AI that works with your solution, not outside it.

Umbraco Compose – bringing it all together

Currently in development and demoed live, Umbraco Compose will soon offer a new orchestration layer for content coming from multiple sources. It’s built for composable DXP setups, helping teams streamline complex content pipelines. In short, it’s going to make large-scale content management a whole lot simpler – and we can’t wait to see this roll out.

Umbraco Engage – personalisation, but smarter

Umbraco Engage continues to mature into a highly usable personalisation and experimentation toolkit. Key enhancements include:

• Behavioural tracking
  Data-driven persona iteration
  
• Streamlined A/B testing

What stood out is how lightweight and accessible it is – lowering the barrier for both marketing teams and developers to run experiments and deliver tailored experiences without heavy lifting. Watch our recent Umbraco Engage Webinar with Leon De Wildt to learn more.

AI-powered workflows – from tedious to effortless

AI was a recurring theme throughout Codegarden, with practical use cases shown in back-office tools and editorial workflows. Think:

• Instant content suggestions
  
• Seamless auto-translations
  
• Bug detection in the codebase
  
• Even automating tasks inside the CMS backoffice

These tools are designed to help teams move faster, reduce errors, and stay focused on the work that matters most.

XLTS and easier upgrade paths

And finally, the new Extended Long-Term Support (XLTS) model means Umbraco clients can now enjoy five years of official support – a huge win for enterprise teams. But what we found especially helpful was how Umbraco is reframing upgrades: not as a pain, but as a chance to improve. With smarter tooling and even AI assistance, version upgrades now come with clearer, faster paths – and far less friction.

Final thoughts

Codegarden 2025 made one thing clear: the future of Umbraco is AI-enabled, composable, and focused on making digital teams more powerful and productive.

We left the event energised and full of ideas. If you’re exploring what’s next for your digital experience, now is a great time to talk about how Umbraco – and Bluegrass – can help you get there. Let’s chat.

Bluegrass Digital is an Umbraco Gold Partner helping ambitious brands build smarter websites and apps through strategy, design and software development. Check us out at www.bluegrassdigital.com.