Version 1.19 of ArcGIS Experience Builder Developer Edition Now Available
Version 1.19 of ArcGIS Experience Builder developer edition is now available for download. This version brings major theme system enhancements, new widgets – Login and Image Collection Explorer, along with other highly anticipated improvements from the October 2025 release of ArGIS Experience Builder in ArcGIS Online. Under the hood, Version 1.19 upgrades the framework to React 19. For theme developers, this version offers expanded resources and capabilities, including an introduction to the enhanced theme design system and guidance on migrating widgets to the new theme variables. Let’s explore these developer-focused advancements.
Enhanced Theme System
The new theme system is a game-changer for developers, offering a better structure for defining colors, typography, and other style settings. It’s built on a three-layer architecture:
- Source layer: Defines base colors (brand, neutral, functional)
- Reference layer: Auto-generates color palettes and typography
- System layer: Provides semantic styling for component (this is where you will spend most of your time as a widget developer)
This structure makes it easier to maintain consistent styling across your apps while giving you more creative control. Check out the Theme Development documentation for step-by-step guidance on creating and customizing themes.
StoryBook Theme
To make theme development smoother, StoryBook now adds a Theme section, including
- CSS variables as design tokens – For colors, typography, and more.
- CSS utility classes – Simplify consistent styling across your theme.
- Calcite token and Jimu theme token mapping – The framework automatically handles Calcite components styling used in your widgets.
- Theme variable viewer - Lets you explore how theme variables look.
Upgrade Your Widgets to the Enhanced Theme
Migrating your widgets to the new theme valuables is highly recommended. Follow the Upgrade to New Theme guidance to ensure your widgets take full advantages of the new design capabilities.
React 19 Upgrade
Under the hood, Experience Builder now runs on React 19, which:
- Fully supports for custom elements.
- Eliminates the need for React wrapper components when using ArcGIS Maps SDK for JavaScript components in your widgets, as demonstrated below.
- Improves event handling and property handling.
See the Web Components widget sample for details. We recommend building custom widgets using components. For more information, see this blog post.
Storybook Components
More components have been added to Storybook, including:
- Image
- ImageViewer
- Paper
- Surface
- Typography
- NotificationProvider
- Notification
Breaking Changes
There are breaking changes that may affect your apps. For example:
- React 19 introduces type-breaking changes
- React wrapper components have been removed from these entries:
- arcgis-charts-components
- arcgis-coding-components
- arcgis-map-components
- arcgis-portal-components
Review the breaking changes before upgrading to avoid potential issues.
More Resources
- Optimizing Custom Widgets in ArcGIS Experience Builder with Jimu UI, Calcite, and Map Components – Discover best practices for combining UI frameworks and map components for maximum efficiency.
- Building Future-Proof Custom Widgets for Experience Builder – Explore strategies to ensure your widgets remain compatible and maintainable as the platform evolves.
For more information about the 1.19 release, see What’s new. You can reach us at experiencebuilder@esri.com.
Thank you,
The ArcGIS Experience Builder Team
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