Building layouts in Drupal has historically been a fragmented and inconsistent experience.
For years, we’ve had to jump between Block Layout for page structures, Manage Display for entities, and Field Formatters for specific data—often ending up with a mess of template overrides just to achieve a specific design.
While Layout Builder was a promising step forward, its evolution has stalled, leaving developers frustrated by its rigid architecture and limitations when implementing modern frontend workflows.
In this space, we have seen ambitious projects like Canvas, which offers a massive, comprehensive display-building environment. However, for many projects, Canvas can feel "too big" or overly complex.
Nearly a year ago, after working on Drupal core Icon API and UI Icons, I started working on an alternative for the UI Suite ecosystem with @pdureau, @just_like_good_vibes, @christianwiedemann, @grimreaper: Display Builder, the missing UI Builder for UI Suite.
Our goal was to create something leaner and more deeply integrated with Drupal’s emerging standards to be Design System first.
Check some presentation videos
A Native Design System Approach
Display Builder isn't just another layout tool; it is a core piece of the UI Suite ecosystem. By leveraging Drupal Core SDC (Single Directory Components) and the UI Patterns API, it provides a powerful, native bridge to your design system.
- Unified Workflow: It replaces the inconsistent "block vs. entity" logic with a single, cohesive way to build displays.
- API-First: Instead of fighting against Drupal’s rendering layer, it embraces it, allowing you to map fields directly to component slots and attributes.
- Lean & Powerful: Unlike "all-in-one" heavy builders, Display Builder acts as a smart orchestrator for your existing components.
The Roadmap: From Beta 1 to Beta 5
The development journey has been focused on stability and developer experience. After a long alpha phase, we reached several key milestones:
- January 12, 2026: We released 1.0.0-beta1, establishing the foundational architecture.
- March 10, 2026: After rigorous testing, we hit 1.0.0-beta4, stabilizing the "islands" region system and SDC interactions.
- Now & Beyond: We are currently preparing for the release of 1.0.0-beta5, focusing on some internals. The next step will be refining the UX.