Liferay DXP 2026.Q3 has been available since August 19. Before we look at what's new, some context is important: Q3 is a regular quarterly release – not an LTS version.
Why this is relevant
2026.Q1 is the current LTS version with three years of Premium and two years of Limited Support. Quarterly releases such as 2026.Q3, on the other hand, receive only one year of Premium Support.
For long-term production use, we therefore recommend the LTS line. Interim releases are primarily suitable for testing and preparation: they show early on which new features could find their way into the next LTS.
From LTS to LTS
Looking at Q1, Q2 and Q3, three areas emerge that Liferay is continuously developing. In Q3, several of them reach an important milestone.
The new CMS: For several quarters, it was only available via a feature flag. With Q3, it becomes part of the regular feature set. This includes Spaces with their own members, roles and settings, a unified editing interface, shared search and filter functions, the management of taxonomies and translations, and a recycle bin. For us, this is the biggest functional change in the release.
AI and MCP: The MCP Server was initially available as a beta and is significantly expanded with Q3. New additions include OAuth 2.0 as well as additional functions for permissions and data protection. In parallel, Liferay already made the AI Hub generally available in June.
Marketing and sales: The Content Marketing Platform was still in beta in Q1 and Q2 and reaches regular release status with Q3. Digital Sales Rooms also move from beta to “General Availability”. The Liferay Data Platform has also become production-ready in this cycle.
If you only look at the LTS versions, you experience this development as a big leap. The quarterly releases let you recognize the direction much earlier.
The most important new features in detail
The new CMS becomes the standard
With the removal of the feature flag come numerous improvements for everyday editorial work. These include bulk restore in the recycle bin, the export and import of content structures, and the option to share content for a limited time with external people who do not have a Liferay account.
Editorial teams also receive notifications about content that is expiring or due for review. In addition, there are preview functions for external systems and display page templates.
A comprehensive SEO package
Several smaller changes add up to a considerable SEO update:
- The prefix
/webcan be removed from public URLs. - Category pages get meaningful, localizable slugs instead of numeric IDs.
- Old ID-based URLs are redirected automatically.
- XML sitemaps can be grouped by asset type.
- Redirected URLs are no longer included in sitemaps.
- Search results pages generate cleaner URLs.
- Administrators can define which facet states may be indexed.
This is complemented by a strict virtual host mode. It prevents a site from being reachable via domains that are not assigned to it. Especially for large, multilingual site landscapes, this is likely to be one of the most practically relevant parts of the release.
More control over AI access
The MCP Server now supports OAuth 2.0. Two further new features address questions that we regularly encounter in customer conversations as well.
With MCP Server Profiles, you can define which actions an AI assistant is allowed to perform. The permissions can be grouped by scope of application and restricted down to field level.
Data Masking ensures that sensitive information such as email addresses, phone numbers and card numbers is masked before a response is sent to an AI provider. The operations are additionally documented in an audit trail.
There is also llms.txt in beta. It allows operators to provide guidance on how LLM crawlers should use the content of their websites.
Progress in consent management
If the cookie policy changes – for example the cookie list, purpose or duration –, Liferay automatically requests consent again.
Global Privacy Control is also detected and respected without users having to make an additional choice. Banners and the preference panel can already be checked in a preview during configuration.
In projects, many of these requirements have so far been covered by custom extensions or external consent solutions.
What needs to be licensed additionally
Not all of the announced features are part of the regular platform license.
The Content Marketing Platform and Digital Sales Rooms require an Enterprise Subscription. The Content Marketing Platform is additionally purchased via the Marketplace. The AI Hub is a standalone SaaS product and does not require a DXP subscription.
In the release communication, these products are presented together with the platform features. Commercially, however, they need to be considered separately.
Hardly any changes to the Compatibility Matrix
We compared the Q3 Compatibility Matrix with that of Q2. Apart from two minor changes, both versions are identical.
There are no changes to Java, application servers, databases or the search engine. If you already operate a certified Q2 infrastructure, you can therefore set up Q3 without fundamental changes to the system environment. For test environments and evaluation projects, this is a good starting point.
Our assessment
Liferay DXP 2026.Q3 is above all a release for testing, evaluating and preparing – less for long-term production use. This is not a criticism, but corresponds to the role of a quarterly release in the Liferay model.
Q3 is nevertheless worth a look. The new CMS is leaving the trial phase, AI access is getting a clearer framework for permissions and data protection, and marketing and sales functions are moving closer to the platform.
In the coming weeks, we will take a closer look at the individual areas.
Portalworks is a Liferay Service Partner for the DACH region and supports portal and upgrade projects from architecture through to operations
