Session DrupalCamp Paris 2019 - Les bonnes pratiques sous Drupal 8
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DrupalCon Chicago 2026 once again confirmed its status as a must-attend event for the Drupal community. As a committed player in the ecosystem for over 14 years, IOSAN was present to share, learn, and contribute to the discussions shaping the future of the platform. Between major announcements, insights on open-source contributions, and reflections on the impact of AI, this edition highlighted key challenges for agencies, developers, and businesses. Here are our main takeaways.
1. Community Summit: The Art of Balancing Perseverance and Collaboration in Drupal Contributions
During the Community Summit we attended, the session « How to Land an Epic Contribution in Drupal (Without Losing Your Mind) », led by Mike Herschel and Matt Glaman, underscored a fundamental truth: contributing to Drupal is about more than just code. Here are the key points:
- Contribution as a Human Process: Beyond lines of code, successful contributions rely on communication, documentation, and trust with maintainers. « Just commit, even if it’s not perfect »—the goal is to start the conversation and iterate based on feedback.
- The Art of Code Review: Achieving « RTBC » (Ready To Be Committed) status requires not only solid code but also screenshots, visual demonstrations, and a clear justification of technical choices. « Show, don’t just tell. »
- Respecting Volunteers’ Time: Core Drupal maintainers dedicate their free time to the platform. It’s essential to streamline their work by centralizing information (e.g., copying Slack discussions into GitHub issues) and avoiding « bikeshedding » (endless debates over minor details).
At IOSAN, we apply these principles daily, both in our contributions to modules and within our client projects. This community-proven approach enhances our teams’ efficiency and production quality.
2. AI: A Double-Edged Revolution for Drupal
Dries Buytaert’s keynote placed AI at the heart of the discussion, balancing opportunities and challenges for the community.
- Drupal CMS 2.1 and Technical Efficiency: With 50% fewer SQL queries for uncached pages, Drupal 11.3 and « Drupal CMS 2.1 » mark a major leap in performance. « Average is cheap now, but expertise is priceless. »
- AI as a Productivity Lever: External tools (e.g., code generation, prototyping) accelerate development, but Dries emphasized the need to integrate AI directly into Drupal (e.g., « Drupal Canvas AI » for building pages from a brief). « AI is the storm and the way through it. »
- The Risk of Disintermediation: While AI commoditizes production, value shifts toward expertise and judgment. Agencies must reinvent themselves to guide clients in adopting these tools, as illustrated by Jürgen Haas’s AI-assisted React redesign of the ECA UI.
At IOSAN, we see AI as an accelerator for our B2B e-commerce projects—for example, rapidly integrating components or simplifying ETL implementation.
3. Toward an « Agentic » Experience (AX): Rethinking Interaction with Drupal
The « AX and AI Driven » session introduced the concept of « Agentic Experience » (AX), an evolution of UX/DX where software agents interact with systems.
- The 3 AX Surfaces in Drupal:
- Action: Stable APIs, clear CLI (Drush), and tools like MCP to connect external systems.
- Governance: Permissions, audits, and traceability of actions (« Who did what, and why? »).
- Context: Centralized documentation (AGENTS.md), concrete examples, and shared skills to avoid redundancy.
- Goal: « Make actions boring »—predictable, reliable processes where agents (human or AI) operate with confidence.
This approach aligns with IOSAN’s philosophy, where we prioritize clear workflows for our B2B clients and consistent information governance for their projects.
4. Display Builder and HTMX: The Return of Server-Side Rendering
The « Display Builder » project stood out for its minimalist and efficient approach, presented enthusiastically by Pierre Dureau:
- Why HTMX?: A lightweight alternative to heavy front-end frameworks, with server-side state management and dynamic updates via HTML attributes. « Headless fatigue is real. »
- Advantages:
- No duplication of business logic.
- Native integration with Drupal concepts (plugins, entities).
- Front-end friendly: UI/UX developers work with SDC (Single Directory Components) without worrying about the CMS.
- Comparison with Drupal Canvas: Display Builder focuses on simplicity (300 days of development, few dependencies) and full compatibility with Drupal’s core features (e.g., translation, workflow), whereas Canvas (React) requires more resources and lacks compatibility with many community-provided features.
This philosophy of simplicity aligns with our approach at IOSAN. We’ve collaborated with Pierre before and contribute to this module and its related ui_patterns module to enhance the user experience.
5. RAG and Semantic Search: Beyond « Chunk and Pray »
The « Beyond Chunk and Pray » session demystified « Retrieval-Augmented Generation » (RAG) techniques for Drupal:
- Limitations of Classic « Chunking »: Splitting content into fixed chunks can break semantic coherence. Advanced solutions (e.g., « recursive semantic chunking ») preserve context.
- Hybrid Search: Combining keyword-based search (e.g., product codes) and semantic search (e.g., natural language queries) for optimal precision.
- Evaluation and Refinement: Using « cross-encoders » (like Colbert) or LLM-based query rewriting to improve results.
6. Contribution Day: IOSAN’s Concrete Commitment
The « Contribution Day » was an opportunity for IOSAN to release stable versions of several modules:
- css_size_field (1.0.0) and eca_breadcrumbs (1.0.0): Two mature tools for managing file sizes or fine-tuning breadcrumb trails in ECA with no code.
- ajax_link (1.0.5): Performance and stability improvements.
- Security Coverage for eca_expression_language: The module is now supported by Drupal’s security team.
Our team also collaborated with Pierre Dureau to discuss the future of the ui_patterns module, addressing its design and performance challenges.
Celebrating 25 Years of Drupal: An Unforgettable Community Evening
At the end of the second day, the community gathered to celebrate Drupal’s 25th anniversary during a festive and convivial evening. After a moving speech by Dries Buytaert, recounting the project’s origins and evolution, attendees mingled, strengthened bonds, and shared ideas over drinks. These moments of camaraderie, as important as the technical sessions, remind us that Drupal is first and foremost a human adventure, driven by a passionate and united community.
Conclusion: Drupal, a Platform in Motion and On-Trend
DrupalCon Chicago 2026 confirmed that Drupal remains a constantly evolving platform, where technical innovation (AI, AX, HTMX) and community spirit reinforce each other. For agencies like IOSAN, these advancements open exciting prospects:
- For Clients: More powerful, intuitive solutions better aligned with their business needs.
- For Developers: Tools that simplify work without sacrificing flexibility.
- For the Community: An ecosystem where contribution remains accessible and rewarding.
« Chicago rebuilt its foundations, we can too. » — Dries Buytaert
