Overall update summary
2026.3 focuses on three things: making governed master data straightforward for AI agents to reach, bringing more context and assistance into the New UI, and extending the reach of PDX syndication and onboarding. The Consumer MCP Server can now be activated from the Self-Service UI, configured through DaaS Easy-Setup, and described automatically through a Semantic Data Graph. The New UI gains structured references, multi-context attribute maintenance, a Translation tab, AI Prompt Creation and a CoPilot chat interface. PDX adds broader multi-language support, while PIES 8.0 support, Match & Merge scalability and improved unmerge behavior strengthen data exchange and data quality at scale.
Consumer MCP Server — accelerating AI access to trusted data
Platform / Included in Base / Improved / Admin, Developer, Business User / Share / 26.3 Highlight
What changed
2026.2 introduced the Consumer MCP Server so AI agents could safely access governed and trusted master data, but making that data available required considerable effort across solution activation, data publishing configuration, and the creation of MCP services and semantic schemas. In 2026.3 the path is much shorter: Data as a Service and the Consumer MCP Server can be enabled directly from the Self-Service UI for any STEP environment; DaaS Easy-Setup configures STEP-to-DaaS publishing from the STEP Workbench and publishes a sample dataset in minutes; and the Semantic Data Graph automatically generates MCP-ready services and semantic schemas from the STEP data model and metadata.
Why it matters
- Moves customers from setup to value faster and with minimal effort.
- Removes manual configuration from activation, publishing and schema creation.
- Gives AI the business context it needs to return more accurate and meaningful results.
Additional resources
New UI CoPilot interface
PXDC / Limited Availability / Available with the ProductGen AI license / New / Business User / Manage / 26.3 Highlight
What changed
Finding product data today can mean navigating screens and tabs, starting searches, or understanding the Stibo Systems platform data model. 2026.3 introduces a CoPilot chat interface in the New UI in Limited Availability. Users can search and explore products in natural language, view product details and compare products in chat, ask for data quality validation, open clickable product links directly from responses, and keep a history of their preferences.
Why it matters
- Product data can be found and explored faster and more intuitively, without navigating to screens.
- Reduces the time needed to retrieve and analyze data and makes product data more approachable for non-expert users.
- Establishes the foundation for broader AI capabilities in the New UI.
Additional resources
AI Prompt Creation in the New UI
PXDC / Available with the ProductGen AI license / New / Business User / Manage / 26.3 Highlight
What changed
Creating AI prompts has required technical setup and manual configuration, which slows adoption and limits how quickly teams can act. 2026.3 introduces New UI-based AI Prompt Creation (Phase 1): prompts can be created, tested and managed directly in the New UI, inputs, outputs and instructions can be defined without technical setup, and prompts can be applied to product data for tasks such as translation and content generation.
Why it matters
- Customers can activate and scale AI use cases without technical dependencies.
- Faster adoption and more consistent outputs.
- Establishes a foundation for future AI automation.
Additional resources
Enhanced overview for complex product relations
PXDC / Included in Base / Improved / Business User / Manage / 26.3 Highlight
What changed
Working with product relations means piecing together data spread across views, which costs navigation time and gets worse as complexity increases. In 2026.3, references in the Details view become structured and actionable: referenced object data and reference metadata are shown in context, table, gallery and chip views support different scenarios, references can be added, edited and removed inline, and administrators can configure layout, order and which data is displayed.
Why it matters
- Relationships can be managed directly in the Details view, without leaving the workspace.
- Fewer clicks and less navigation in reference-heavy scenarios.
- Better context improves data quality and confidence in connected data.
Additional resources
Enriching product data across contexts
PXDC / Included in Base / New / Business User / Manage / 26.3 Highlight
What changed
Global organizations manage product data that varies by context, such as language or country, but the New UI still requires switching contexts manually to view, edit or compare values. 2026.3 introduces the Multi-Context Tab through a phased rollout. Phase 1 delivers better attribute value inheritance across the product and dimension hierarchy, together with the ability to view and maintain attribute values across multiple contexts in a unified interface. Phase 2, in a later release, will extend this to reference metadata across contexts.
Why it matters
- Reduces manual context switching and improves visibility of localized, market-specific data.
- Side-by-side comparison and editing reduce errors and improve consistency.
- Supports faster decisions and smoother collaboration across markets and teams.
Additional resources
Product translations in the New UI
PXDC / Included in Base / New / Business User / Manage / 26.3 Highlight
What changed
Managing and delivering localized product data across languages and regions has been fragmented in the New UI, with manual overhead and limited visibility into multilingual content. 2026.3 introduces a Translation tab that lets users review and approve translations across multiple target languages in a single interface, using predefined source-target relationships. Future releases will extend the tab to reference metadata and to the creation of translation relationships.
Why it matters
- Streamlines multilingual workflows in one place.
- Improves translation accuracy and consistency, and speeds localization and time to market.
- Strengthens multilingual data governance and collaboration across global teams.
Additional resources
Accelerated STEP to PDX syndication
PXDC / Available with the PDX Syndication license / New / Admin / Share / 26.3 Highlight
What changed
Setting up STEP to PDX syndication has been complex, requiring manual configuration and technical setup that slows adoption and introduces errors. 2026.3 improves the accessibility and usability of syndication with a simplified integration experience and improved defaults, clear entry points in the New UI to discover and start syndication, and support for channel-issued external product IDs in STEP.
Why it matters
- Getting started with syndication takes less setup effort.
- Fewer configuration errors.
- Faster adoption and time to value.
Additional resources
PIES 8.0 support
PXDC / Available with the Auto Care license / New / Admin, Business User / Acquire, Share / 26.3 Highlight
What changed
Auto Care officially released PIES 8.0 in March 2026, and automotive customers who rely on PIES for product data exchange face growing pressure to adopt it, while PIES 8.0 files cannot currently be processed reliably. In 2026.3 the Stibo Systems platform supports PIES 8.0, with updated schema definitions across key segments, importer and exporter alignment with version-aware processing, and support for digital asset file hashing and sequencing, multi-package handling, and extended packaging information (EPR).
Why it matters
- Enables seamless exchange using the latest automotive standard.
- Reduces the risk of import failures, data inconsistencies and workarounds.
- Supports richer, more compliant product data and evolving automotive data standards.
Additional resources
Extended multi-language support in PDX
PXDC / Available with the PDX Onboarding license and/or the PDX Syndication license / Improved / Business User / Share / 26.3 Highlight
What changed
Search and automation rules in PDX have operated only in the default language, so teams could not search data in other languages and needed workarounds to automate on language-specific values. 2026.3 extends multi-language capabilities with search across all language layers and multi-language support in rules and automation.
Why it matters
- Teams can work across languages more efficiently.
- Less manual effort and fewer errors.
- Improved automation, search and global onboarding speed.
Additional resources
Improved unmerge of manual edits
CXDC, BPDC, SDC / Included in Base / Improved / Business User / Manage / 26.3 Highlight
What changed
When unmerging from a golden record, manually edited values and references from other deactivated golden records were not reapplied automatically — users had to select them from “unused” values, which is inefficient and risks the wrong values being chosen. In 2026.3 the unmerge algorithm is extended to reevaluate survivorship rules from deactivated golden records to the active golden record.
Why it matters
- Manually edited values and references are reapplied automatically after unmerge.
- Users no longer need to select values from “unused” values.
- Removes the risk of selecting the wrong values and references.
Additional resources
Usability improvements in the New UI
PXDC / Included in Base / Improved / Business User / Manage / 26.3 Highlight
What changed
As the New UI is used for more daily product work, small inefficiencies in navigation and layout have a growing impact on productivity. 2026.3 refines usability and clarity across the New UI with more room for product editing, an improved attribute tab structure and layout, more intuitive navigation and cleaner design, and a more reader-friendly look and feel.
Why it matters
- Better flow and clearer context when working with product data.
- Improved productivity and usability in everyday tasks.
- Greater confidence in the New UI for managing product data at scale.
Additional resources
Match & Merge import worker scalability
CXDC, BPDC, SDC / Included in Base / Improved / Admin / Acquire / 26.3 Highlight
What changed
2026.2 improved how workers are allocated to background processes, but the Match & Merge Importer could not take full advantage of it because of contingencies in concurrency handling, so throughput did not increase linearly as workers were added. In 2026.3 those contingencies are significantly reduced, and throughput now increases near-linearly as more workers are allocated.
Why it matters
- Higher throughput in Match & Merge imports for customers with larger data volumes.
- Added worker capacity translates more directly into processing speed.
Additional resources
- YouTube chapter: Watch
FAQ
2026.3 simplifies AI access to trusted data through self-service activation of the Consumer MCP Server, DaaS Easy-Setup and an automatically generated Semantic Data Graph. It brings structured references, multi-context attribute maintenance, a Translation tab, AI Prompt Creation and a CoPilot chat interface into the New UI. It also extends multi-language support in PDX, adds PIES 8.0 support, and improves Match & Merge throughput and unmerge behavior.
Most updates target business users working with product data in the New UI and in PDX. Administrators are the primary audience for STEP to PDX syndication setup and Match & Merge import scalability, and the Consumer MCP Server updates target administrators, developers and business users.
Manage is affected most — references in the Details view, multi-context enrichment, translations, AI Prompt Creation, CoPilot, New UI usability and unmerge. Share covers STEP to PDX syndication and multi-language support in PDX. Acquire covers Match & Merge import scalability, and PIES 8.0 support spans both Acquire and Share. The Consumer MCP Server updates are platform-level.
It depends on the update. The Consumer MCP Server updates, references in the Details view, multi-context enrichment, translations in the New UI, New UI usability improvements, Match & Merge import scalability and the unmerge improvement are included in base. AI Prompt Creation and the New UI CoPilot interface require the ProductGen AI license. PIES 8.0 support requires the Auto Care license. STEP to PDX syndication requires the PDX Syndication license, and extended multi-language support requires the PDX Onboarding and/or PDX Syndication license.
Yes. The New UI CoPilot interface is introduced in Limited Availability. The Multi-Context Tab is a phased rollout, with Phase 1 in 2026.3 and reference metadata across contexts planned for a later release. AI Prompt Creation is Phase 1, and the Translation tab will be extended to reference metadata and translation relationships in future releases.
Links to the 2026.3 update notes, overview video, YouTube chapters and overview deck are listed under Supporting assets.
Action required: SaaS customers should use the SaaS Self-Service UI to create an Update Preview Sandbox and/or update one of their existing environments.
Implementation notes: Customers on Continuous Updates should have their production environment updated by December 3, 2026. 2026.3 adopts the Java platform default locale data based on the Unicode CLDR, replacing the legacy COMPAT locale data provider — this applies to all environments, not only those with a customized java.locale.providers setting, so date, time, and number formatting may change and should be validated before updating production. Web UI integration with Qlik and Tableau is no longer supported: the Analytics Widget and Analytics Screen are deprecated and will be removed in a future update — contact your Account Manager or Customer Success Manager to plan the transition. 'Basic Authentication' is deprecated for new PDX Syndication delivery method configurations; existing configurations continue to work, but switching to token-based authentication in the near term is strongly recommended.
Upgrade considerations: 2026.3 is only available on SaaS. On-premises customers should contact their Stibo Systems representative to start migrating their solution to SaaS. As with every update, test integrations, Extension API extensions, and Stibo Systems-maintained customizations against the latest third-party software library upgrades, and review the 2026.3 STEP Client Requirements topic. 2026.3 is supported for nine months and reaches end of life on June 23, 2027.