topic Re: 4.x Documentation is no longer accessible. There should be an archive we can access of the older docs in ArcGIS JavaScript Maps SDK Questions

4.x Documentation is no longer accessible. There should be an archive we can access of the older docs

BrentPorter — Tue, 10 Mar 2026 16:39:47 GMT

Hello All

I am helping teach some developers who started with JavaScript API 4.3x about 2 months ago. When the update to 5 happened, the older documentation disappeared.

Are there any plans to make accessible the previous version or the previous n-2 versions of the documentation for the API? This is very disruptive and hard to navigate.

As a hack, I can see some of the material from the Internet Archive (aka Wayback Machine) but every page/link I click has to go back to the timeline which is not sustainable.

Re: 4.x Documentation is no longer accessible. There should be an archive we can access of the older docs

MichaelVolz — Tue, 10 Mar 2026 17:13:02 GMT

When did ESRI start adopting JavaScript API 5.x?

Will JavaScript API 4.x apps start having issues in newer web browsers?

Re: 4.x Documentation is no longer accessible. There should be an archive we can access of the older docs

BrentPorter — Tue, 10 Mar 2026 17:16:55 GMT

I don't think that's the issue - the CDN still has accessible versions of the earlier software. But for learning/documentation of existing projects, the older documentation is very hard to work with or not accessible. There is probably some link I am missing or something. But I can't find it so here I (we) are. 🙂

Re: 4.x Documentation is no longer accessible. There should be an archive we can access of the older docs

BrentPorter — Tue, 10 Mar 2026 17:20:43 GMT

Forgot to add - it was the week of February 26 that they started using 5.0. Just in time for the Developer Summit in March (this week)

Re: 4.x Documentation is no longer accessible. There should be an archive we can access of the older docs

WesleyO — Tue, 10 Mar 2026 19:03:33 GMT

Hi @BrentPorter , the documentation for older versions are accessible through downloads: https://developers.arcgis.com/javascript/latest/downloads/

@MichaelVolz , The move from 4.x to 5.x is just a semantic versioning change. Major updates, including deprecation and breaking changes, are expected in 5.0, but it will not require a complete application rewrite. You can learn more about our decision to do this here: https://www.esri.com/arcgis-blog/products/js-api-arcgis/announcements/arcgis-maps-sdk-for-javascript-is-moving-to-semantic-versioning

I don't see any reason for the recent versions of 4.x to be running into issues with web browser updates. If this is a concern, I recommend that your app is regularly updated to the latest version of the Maps SDK.

Let me know if there are any questions.

Re: 4.x Documentation is no longer accessible. There should be an archive we can access of the older docs

BrentPorter — Tue, 10 Mar 2026 19:44:53 GMT

Thanks for the links! I'll check it out and respond back here if everything seems to be available with working links, etc.

Re: 4.x Documentation is no longer accessible. There should be an archive we can access of the older docs

BjornSvensson — Wed, 11 Mar 2026 18:16:07 GMT

As @WesleyO mentioned above, the SDK documentation for older versions are available for downloads.

In addition, starting hopefully next week, the 4.34 documentation will also be available on a public archive site so that you will not have to download and host it yourself.

Re: 4.x Documentation is no longer accessible. There should be an archive we can access of the older docs

BrentPorter — Thu, 12 Mar 2026 17:07:55 GMT

Hi Bjorn!

Thanks - that is great news. The instructions for self-hosting are a little onerous. Having a h

Re: 4.x Documentation is no longer accessible. There should be an archive we can access of the older docs

BrentPorter — Thu, 09 Apr 2026 20:40:25 GMT

Hello again Bjorn! Any luck with getting the older versions available on a public archive site?

-Brent

Re: 4.x Documentation is no longer accessible. There should be an archive we can access of the older docs

BjornSvensson — Thu, 09 Apr 2026 21:16:22 GMT

There's are some broken links that we'd like to get fixed before officially announcing but if you don't mind that, you can look at the 4.34 docs on the archive site: https://archive.developers.arcgis.com/javascript/v4-34/

Re: 4.x Documentation is no longer accessible. There should be an archive we can access of the older docs

BrentPorter — Thu, 09 Apr 2026 22:13:45 GMT

Thank you - I will gladly take a few broken links in the interim to be able to access this.

Much obliged,

Brent