Annoying bug fixed: resizing png images with transparent backgrounds using query string parameters (such as w, h, mw, mh) now preserves transparency in preview mode. Previously, the background appeared black.

Sitecore Accelerate Cookbook has got another release done with 17 recipes between new & updates for XM Cloud and Content Hub.

Content Hub
- Go Live Checklist
- Hypercare Strategy
- Identifying the Most Searched Terms on the Assets Page
- SSO on Content Hub
- Automatically set meta data on your entity on pre-commit

XM Cloud
- Go-Live checklist
- Enhancing search with documents
- Publishing Optimization, including updates to links in 𝘗𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘌𝘥𝘨𝘦
- Scope & Governance Framework approaches including updates to 𝘔𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘚𝘢𝘢𝘚, 𝘙𝘦𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘎𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘊𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘈𝘶𝘥𝘪𝘵, 𝘊𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘔𝘪𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 and 𝘗𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯 𝘟𝘔 𝘊𝘭𝘰𝘶𝘥 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘫𝘦𝘤𝘵.
- Further ASP.NET Core updates including 𝘚𝘦𝘵𝘶𝘱 𝘚𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘊𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘚𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘻𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 and 𝘔𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘈𝘳𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦.

ASP.NET Core SDK now supports MetaData Editing mode in XM Cloud

You can now, when logged into the XM Cloud Pages app, use the editing host selector to change over and connect directly to a locally running instance of your head.

Read more: https://tinyurl.com/2s62epaf

1.6.858 base released featuring a very diverse range of fixes:

- In patch configuration file, you can now define the maximum number of items returned in paginated GraphQL queries with the setting name GraphQL.DefaultPageSize.

- While configuring insert option rules for page branches, clicking specified now correctly opens the action setup process.

- Resolved a case-sensitive validation issue that prevented sitemap media items from regenerating after a site name change.

- The workflow state of the Home item no longer affects redirect results in Preview or Edge responses.

- The Navigation Contents Resolver now respects the Use Context Item setting, ensuring compatibility with Faster Publishing (Publishing V2).

- A Content Hub image configured as the background image of a Container now appears as expected on the canvas.

- The resolution of Redirect Map for Edge has been optimized to prevent SQL Server overload.

- The ItemPathsCache is now thread-safe, meaning it will no longer become corrupted and throw an exception during concurrent requests.

- New configurable cache-clearing logic helps ensure caches are properly invalidated and field values are correctly resolved.

- GRPC resource exhaustion issue during publishing is fixed.

The table of differences of JSS SDK and Content SDK for XM Cloud

Sitecore Cloud SDK v0.5.2 got updates for search

It improves search capabilities with the new sources attribute, which lets you add a list of source IDs when you request content from Sitecore Search. If you do this, results will only be retrieved from the sources you listed, which is especially useful when filtering search results in a multi-site setup.

To get started, locate the IDs of the Sitecore Search sources you want to return results from, and add them to the source attribute for the relevant widget items, such as those used to request search results, recommendation content, or suggestions.

References:
- https://tinyurl.com/32ww4whk
- https://tinyurl.com/4jds94z3
- https://tinyurl.com/ycy89u8h
- https://tinyurl.com/2hujazh4

Did you know you can try XM Cloud free for 14 days?

Yes, you can! Start from here: https://www.sitecore.com/products/xm-cloud/free-trial

Hooray!
Content SDK released its version 1.0.0.
We can use it now commercially and honestly, SHOULD use it!
https://github.com/Sitecore/content-sdk

Migration guide: https://tinyurl.com/7unfjyub

The page builder now publishes a page with its components' data sources

Publishing a page now also publishes the data sources referenced by the components of the page. This includes only data sources that are in the same language version as the page and in the final workflow state (if a workflow is assigned to the page).

More info about released Content SDK 1.0.0 for XM Cloud

A clean, modern Starter Kit includes three new templates and a minimal head app built to Next.js standards. It’s designed to help teams get up and running quickly and build with confidence.

Starter Kit: https://github.com/Sitecore/xmcloud-starter-js

Content SDK: https://github.com/Sitecore/content-sdk

Release Notes: https://tinyurl.com/3xefmc6d

Content SDK key features

- Unified Sitecore client - the new SitecoreClient acts as a single entry point for all Sitecore service interactions, including layout, dictionary, personalization, and editing. No more scattered utilities; just one consistent interface.

- Modern component model - components like SitecoreProvider offer a clean, SDK-native identity with improved clarity and usability.

- CLI-driven setup - the npx create-content-sdk-app command enables fast, opinionated project bootstrapping with minimal configuration.

- Unified configuration - centralized config files (sitecore.config.ts and sitecore.cli.config.ts) streamline both build-time and runtime behaviour.

- Composable middleware - the new defineMiddleware utility introduces a modular, transparent approach to request handling.

- Environment variable standardization - variables have been renamed for clarity and consistency.

- Cloud-optimized architecture - tailored to deliver a scalable and performant experience.

- Lightweight head application - removed default components and styling artifacts (like standard or unused .scss, .css, and .tsx files) for a clean, minimal head application that aligns closely with Next.js standards. Example components and advanced use cases are now provided in the xmcloud-starter-js repository, keeping the core app focused and easy to understand.

- A new starter repo - containing the well-known Skatepark site template along with three brand new site templates. The new repo aligns with common naming convention across all our starter repos.

- Broad compatibility - fully compatible with Next.js 15, React 19, and Node 22

Sitecore Marketplace is now let use extend your XM Cloud environments by building Custom Apps

Unlike public apps, custom apps are only available in the Cloud Portal organization where they were created, plus any additional organizations you authorize—allowing you to deliver unique functionality while enabling optional multi-organization sharing.

There are 5 extension points:
- Standalone applications in the Portal
- Full screen experiences in XM Cloud
- XMC Site dashboard widgets
- Page builder panel applications
- Page builder custom fields

Use the Sitecore Marketplace SDK to quickly create and integrate apps with XM Cloud. We provide examples, references, and configuration guidance to accelerate development, ensure smooth integration, and streamline registration, installation, and maintenance.

Docs: https://tinyurl.com/55nb4sj2
SDK: https://tinyurl.com/3pp789kb

Introducing the XM Cloud connector with Sitecore Connect

This new connector enables seamless integration between XM Cloud and marketing sites, social media, content management systems, or third-party applications such as Salesforce.

The connector includes several out-of-the-box actions:

Create asset in Media Library – use this to create an asset based on information from a third-party system.
Fetch asset from Media Library – use this to fetch a Media Library asset and upload it to a third-party system.
Get an item – retrieve a Sitecore item by name. Useful to fetch content details into Power BI or Tableau dashboards.
Create an item – add a new item to Sitecore. Ideal for automating content creation with external CMSs or form submissions.
Update an item – modify the title and text of an existing item in Sitecore. Perfect for syncing updates from tools such as Google Sheets.
Delete an item – remove a Sitecore item by name, helping ensure compliance by removing expired or sensitive content.
Custom action – invoke any Sitecore XM Cloud Authoring API endpoint to build custom solutions by providing an appropriate GraphQL mutation.

Documentation

You can now upload PDFs and Microsoft Word files directly from the Page builder

New publishing jobs table user interface and advanced API capabilities

This is something we've been missing since XP and eventually, we've got the visibility over the publishing operations and history.

- Gain immediate visibility of your publishing operations for the past 30 days, for ongoing peace of mind.

- Identify whether a particular job is queued, and where it is in the queue, so you can report confidently on its progress.

- Track publishing jobs from start to finish with status updates. Know exactly when your content is being published or if an issue needs your attention, so you can troubleshoot in the moment and avoid missed deadlines.

- See who triggered each publishing job and when. This level of clarity ensures effortless to help address issues before they become obstacles.

- Access additional job details, such as the specific publishing type and publishing options selected. Each job is uniquely identified by an internal job ID, enabling you to easily locate it in the publishing logs for further investigation.

- See the start and finish time of each job, along with comprehensive metrics such as total duration, queue time, and running time.

- Accidentally started a publishing job or spotted an issue? Cancel jobs at any time, without the need for disruptive environment restarts.

- Designed for marketers, not just admins. Everyone on your team can access and do whatever they need to deliver content without delays.

Read more

Lots of improvements into Pages builder!

- A new button in the context toolbar lets you swap an existing component for another directly in the Page builder canvas.

- The right-hand configuration panel now shows the workflow state of the content item assigned to the selected component.

- The Page builder now respects the validation rules configured for fields. After you change the workflow state of a page, the popup now shows the correctly incremented version number.

- Local datasource items can now be created on pages that originate from a page branch.

- The Help panel is now also available from the top navigation toolbar in the Page builder.

Sitecore Cloud SDK is now an open-source project available on GitHub. Current version is 0.5 and is available on npm.

The Cloud SDK works hand in hand with the already open-sourced Content SDK and our starter solutions, giving you visibility into the full application stack, from head implementation to content delivery and behavioral data handling.

You can now filter using the _latestversion predicate set to true or false in search queries in the Preview GraphQL schema, and the result will be the highest version available in the system for a given item.

Wow! Martin Miles has reversed engineered Sitecore PowerShell Remoting and re-implemented that back in a shape of a new cloud SitecoreAI Marketplace!

This is a very first PoC video confirming that IS in fact POSSSIBLE and seeking for a feedback. Based on the feedback, it could be laid on as a blueprint template for SitecoreAI Marketplace apps using PowerShell Extension.

Watch it yourself: https://youtu.be/bZGxODHq9rs

Blok design system based on Tailwind and Shadcn has officially moved out of Beta and reached General Availability!

What’s new and why GA matters:
- Production-ready stability - fully validated for enterprise use.
- Consistent, scalable design language across Sitecore solutions.
- Enhanced developer experience with streamlined components and improved documentation.

Highlights from the Beta phase:
- Added more getting started guides based on community feedback.
- Extended and fixed MCP documentation for clarity and completeness.
- Redesigned the website for better intuitiveness and usability.
- Introduced sub-navigation for easier variant browsing.
- Added code tabs to improve developer experience.
- Created overview pages for better component discoverability.
- And much more refinements to make Blok future-prove, robust and developer-friendly.

Link