Grav 2.0 RC launches with new admin UI, REST API, refreshed default theme, and MCP server

Grav 2.0 Release Candidate is now available after nearly two years of development, delivering the most substantial update yet for this flat-file content management system (CMS). This version modernizes the platform’s foundation, requiring PHP 8.3 or newer and adopting the latest releases of Symfony, Twig, and other supporting libraries.

A central change is the introduction of a first-party REST API, which now underpins all aspects of Grav’s architecture. This API enables full headless CMS capabilities, replacing the previous Twig-rendered admin with a contemporary, API-driven interface and broadening integration options.

Following the backend improvements, Grav 2.0 introduces the Quark 2 theme. This default theme is rebuilt from scratch using Pico CSS v2 and Font Awesome 7. It brings light, dark, and auto appearance modes, a configurable accent color, advanced mobile navigation, and enhanced accessibility features.

Building on these upgrades, the release adds AI-ready workflows via the MCP server, exposing 67 semantic tools over 11 areas for agentic automation by clients such as Claude Code. For existing users, a Migrate plugin now enables importing content from Grav 1.7 or 1.8 into new 2.0 sites. Plugin and theme developers, as well as site owners, are encouraged to test the release candidate and report any bugs or issues that arise.