Drupal is streamlining its admin experience by adopting the Gin theme as the default administration UI in Drupal 11.3, set for release in December 2025. Currently, Claro is the core default, while Gin is used in the Drupal CMS distribution—creating design fragmentation. This duality has increased the burden on UX teams who must maintain compatibility with both themes.
Gin, originally based on Claro, has matured far beyond its experimental roots. It now offers a modern, polished interface that better reflects current design expectations. With Claro falling behind in development and adoption, the Drupal community has decided it’s time for Gin to take the lead.
What’s Next?
Development is underway in a dedicated Gin 6.x branch outside of core. Key tasks include:
Removing Gin’s dependency on Claro
Stripping out unnecessary features not needed in core
Streamlining code to align with core versions
Adding full test coverage
Collaboration with core maintainers in UX, frontend, product, and release management is essential to identify and resolve blockers. If all goes to plan, Gin will be merged into core before the beta deadline in November 2025.
What About Claro?
Claro will no longer be the default theme for new installations starting with 11.3, though it will remain in Drupal 11 for backward compatibility. It’s expected to be removed entirely in Drupal 12, with a potential future as a contributed theme for those who wish to continue using it.
How to Get Involved
Contributors are needed to help meet the ambitious timeline. Two meta issues are tracking the effort:
#3530849 (Gin 6.x development)
#3530852 (Admin theme modernization in core)
Sponsorships are also welcome to support Gin maintainers who are leading this effort.