Adding 5.0 Features Guide

When performing an upgrade to 5.0, assess the below feature implementation guides. Not all features will be relevant for every project, so determine which features need to be included in the upgrade before proceeding.

Ensure you follow correct Java/Tomcat version requirements for 5.0.

New UI

No custom development work needed.

Contextual Commenting

No custom development work needed.

OpenSearch / Vector DB

Note

OpenSearch requires infrastructure provisioning. If you are a Brightspot Managed Services customer, open a support ticket to request OpenSearch setup before proceeding.

As part of the 5.0 upgrade, Brightspot has moved to a new search back-end plugin architecture under the com.brightspot.db group. For full setup instructions—including dependencies and configuration for each search back-end option—see the AI plugin Getting Started guide.

Choosing your search back-end

Which configuration to use depends on your project's infrastructure and requirements:

If you want to...	Configuration
Keep existing Solr infrastructure, add AI/vector search via OpenSearch	Solr + OpenSearch vector
Move entirely to OpenSearch for all search	OpenSearch text and vector
Use Solr for both text and vector search	Solr text and vector

Refer to the search back-end documentation for the specific dependencies for each configuration.

Upgrade-specific steps

Remove legacy search dependencies

The following com.psddev dependencies must be removed from all modules to prevent classpath conflicts with the new com.brightspot.db dependencies:

• com.psddev:opensearch
• com.psddev:solr-ai
• com.psddev:dari-solr
• com.psddev:dari-solr-v6

Remove both direct and transitive usages.

Add dari-image explicitly

dari-solr transitively pulls in dari-image. If your project is removing dari-solr (e.g., when moving to OpenSearch for text search), you must add dari-image as an explicit dependency:

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api 'com.psddev:dari-image'

Without it, you will encounter the following error at runtime:

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java.lang.NoClassDefFoundError: com/psddev/dari/util/ImageEditor$Static
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    at com.psddev.cms.ui.form.field.ImageFileFormInputType.initialize(ImageFileFormInputType.java:160)

Force AWS SDK version

The AWS SDK version bundled with some dependencies may be too old. If you encounter the following error:

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java.lang.NoSuchMethodError: 'software.amazon.awssdk.auth.credentials.InstanceProfileCredentialsProvider$Builder
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    software.amazon.awssdk.auth.credentials.InstanceProfileCredentialsProvider$Builder.staleTime(java.time.Duration)'

Force the AWS SDK version in your build.gradle:

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configurations.all {
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    resolutionStrategy.eachDependency {
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        if (it.requested.group == 'software.amazon.awssdk') {
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            it.useVersion '2.41.8'
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        }
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    }
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}

Deleting existing OpenSearch index data

If you need to clear documents from an existing OpenSearch index (for example, to reindex after schema changes), you can delete all documents without dropping the index itself:

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curl -X POST "http://localhost:8080/<index-name>/_delete_by_query" \
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  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
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  -d '{
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        "query": {
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          "match_all": {}
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        }
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      }'

warning

This requires direct cluster access (e.g., via k9s or port forwarding). It deletes documents only—not the index itself.

note

The default port is 8080. To use a different port, override it when setting up port forwarding:

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gyro opensearch --target-domain $CLUSTER_NAME --port-override=8000

Then update the port in the curl command accordingly.

AI Enhancements

The Brightspot AI plugin has been rearchitected under the com.brightspot.ai group. For full setup instructions—including provider configuration and CMS settings—see the AI plugin Getting Started guide and the Configuration guide.

warning

The AI plugin is currently in release candidate. Use version 3.0.0-rc.2026.03.10 or later for the com.brightspot.ai dependencies. Once the stable 3.x.x release is available, upgrade to it. Refer to the AI plugin documentation for the latest version.

Upgrade-specific steps

Remove legacy AI dependencies

The following com.psddev AI dependencies must be removed from all modules:

• com.psddev:ai-chat
• com.psddev:dari-ai
• com.psddev:dari-ai-db
• com.psddev:openai

Remove both direct and transitive usages. These have been replaced by com.brightspot.ai:ai and the provider-specific dependencies (com.brightspot.ai:openai or com.brightspot.ai:bedrock).

AI dependencies are optional

If your project does not require AI capabilities, the com.brightspot.ai dependencies can be safely omitted. The search back-end dependencies (com.brightspot.db) are independent and can be used without the AI plugin.

Kotlin stdlib version conflict

If your project uses the com.brightspot.ai:openai plugin, you may need to force the Kotlin stdlib version in your settings.gradle versions block:

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'org.jetbrains.kotlin:kotlin-stdlib': '1.8.21'

Jackson annotations version conflict (Brightspot-GO)

If your project uses Brightspot-GO version 0.20.3 or higher, you may need to force the Jackson annotations version in your settings.gradle versions block:

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'com.fasterxml.jackson.core:jackson-annotations': '2.20'

Create with AI Inline RTE & AI Highlight Toggle

Add RichTextToolbarAction.AI_INLINE and RichTextToolbarAction.HIGHLIGHT_AI_CONTENT_TOGGLE to the toolbar to enable this feature button.

If your project contains any of the classes listed below, add the RichTextToolbarAction.AI_INLINE option to them:

• LargeRichTextToolBar.java
• MediumRichTextToolBar.java
• SmallRichTextToolBar.java
• TinyRichTextToolBar.java
• CodeInlineBlockToolBar.java
• InfoBoxModuleToolBar.java

CMS Search Boost

Add the following dependency in core/build.gradle:

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implementation 'com.brightspot.cms-search-boost:cms-search-boost:1.0.0'

For more details, refer to the CMS Search Boost documentation.

Experimentation

Consult a Brightspot service representative if you are interested in adding or learning more about this feature.