Claro

Claro is the administration theme in Drupal core. It styles the screens that editors and site builders use: the content list, node edit forms, the Views interface, the Media Library and the settings pages. In Drupal 11.4, the Standard installation profile sets it as the administration theme. A Gin-based replacement called Default Admin has been added to core and is planned to take its place.

How it works in Drupal 11

Drupal.org describes Claro as a clean, accessible and powerful administration theme based on the Drupal Design System. It grew out of the admin UI and JavaScript modernization initiative; the Drupal 9.4.0 announcement says it became stable and the default administration theme in that release.

In Drupal 11.4.10, claro.info.yml declares nine regions: Header, Pre-content, Breadcrumb, Highlighted, Help, Content, Page top, Page bottom and First sidebar. The last one is hidden by default. Claro extends the asset libraries of core components, among them the Views UI, the Media Library, dialogs, tables and the status report. That is how one theme gives all those screens a matching look.

Claro is marked @internal. Its markup and assets can change between minor releases and are not backward compatible. The info file names two ways to change its output: copy the whole theme under another name and maintain the copy, or create a sub-theme for minor tweaks only.

Status and roadmap

Checked on 26 October 2026: the released Drupal 11.4 line, which came out on 1 July 2026, still uses Claro. Its announcement says that the Gin administrative theme was added to core as the experimental Default Admin theme and that it will replace Claro as the look of the back end once it is stable. In 11.4.10 the info file of Default Admin still reads lifecycle: experimental.

The next releases change this. Core issue 3624359 removed the experimental flag from Default Admin on the main branch on 18 September 2026 and on the 11.x branch the next day. In 11.5.0-beta1, released on 15 October 2026, Default Admin carries no lifecycle flag, so it counts as stable, the Standard profile sets it as the administration theme, and claro.info.yml reads lifecycle: deprecated. Drupal.org's list of deprecated extensions says Claro is deprecated in Drupal 11.5.0 and removed from Drupal 12.0.0. Issue 3584639 removed Claro from the main branch on 20 September 2026; its change record lists the removal for 12.0.0 and points sites to the contributed Claro project. The Drupal 11.4.0 announcement says Drupal 12 comes with Drupal 11.5 in the week of 7 December 2026. A June 2025 core post had said that Claro would remain in Drupal 11 for existing sites and that Drupal CMS uses Gin as its admin theme.

Example

A site builder wants to test the new back end without touching the public site. On a staging copy, the builder opens the Appearance page at /admin/appearance, installs the theme to try, picks it in the Administration theme select and presses Save configuration. Editors who log in to the staging site see the new screens; visitors still see the front-end theme. Switching back is the same step with Claro selected.

Common mistakes

• Customizing Claro heavily. The info file warns that a sub-theme can break when Claro changes. With the theme leaving core, deep customizations are a poor investment.
• Treating Claro as permanent. A Drupal 12 upgrade plan should include the administration theme. Decide between Default Admin, Gin and the contributed Claro before the upgrade.
• Assuming every module follows the new theme. An issue in the Autocomplete Deluxe module queue shows the effect: the widget only recognized the Gin project, so under Default Admin it fell back to plain styling until the module was fixed. Test the admin screens that your custom and contributed modules add.

For marketing and content teams

Claro is what you look at every day when you edit: the forms, lists and toolbars. A change of administration theme alters that interface and not your published pages, so it needs a short training note rather than a content review. Ask your developer which administration theme your site uses, whether the Drupal 12 upgrade will change it, and when you will see it on staging. Compare the new screens with Gin if your team has used that before.

Sources

• Drupal.org: Claro theme documentation
• Drupal.org: Drupal 9.4.0 is available
• Drupal.org: Drupal core will adopt Gin admin theme to replace Claro
• Drupal.org: Drupal 11.4.0 is now available
• Drupal.org: Deprecated and obsolete extensions
• Drupal.org: Remove lifecycle experimental from Admin's info.yml (core issue 3624359)
• Drupal.org: Remove the Claro theme (core issue 3584639)
• Drupal.org: The Claro theme is removed (change record)
• Drupal.org: Claro project page
• Drupal.org: Autocomplete Deluxe issue 3591908, Default Admin styling
• Drupal.org: Gin Admin Theme project page
• Drupal.org: Drupal core releases
• Drupal core 11.4.10: claro.info.yml
• Drupal core 11.4.10: default_admin.info.yml
• Drupal core 11.5.0-beta1: claro.info.yml
• Drupal core 11.5.0-beta1: Standard profile theme settings
• Drupal core 11.4.10: Standard profile theme settings
• Drupal core 11.4.10: administration theme form