Capacitor App Upgrade v8 to v9

Capacitor 9 is a prerelease (next dist-tag, 9.0.0-alpha.x as of October 2026). Install with @next; switch to @latest / ^9.0.0 once 9.0.0 is GA. Tell the user it is not GA before upgrading a production app, and work on a branch.

Canonical source: https://capacitorjs.com/docs/updating/9-0

When to Use

TRIGGER when:

• App is on @capacitor/core 8.x and the user wants Capacitor 9
• Build errors after moving to Xcode 27 / Swift 6, AGP 9, or Gradle 9 in a Capacitor 8 app
• npx cap run -l --host ... no longer works (--url replaced it)
• Push notifications presentationOptions: ['alert'] stopped showing banners on iOS
• Cordova-plugin-free app fails on CapacitorCordova / com.getcapacitor.cordova references after upgrading

Do not use:

• App still on 7 or older -> capacitor-app-upgrades (chain majors first)
• Only the 8.4 -> 8.5 UIScene step -> capacitor-uiscene-migration
• Plugin library repo -> capacitor-plugin-upgrade-v8-to-v9
• CocoaPods to SPM move -> cocoapods-to-spm (recommended, separate step)

Live Project Snapshot

!node -e "const fs=require('fs');if(!fs.existsSync('package.json'))process.exit(0);const pkg=JSON.parse(fs.readFileSync('package.json','utf8'));const out=[];for(const section of ['dependencies','devDependencies']){for(const [name,version] of Object.entries(pkg[section]||{})){if(name.startsWith('@capacitor/'))out.push(section+'.'+name+'='+version)}}out.push('node='+process.version);const p='ios/App/App/';out.push('ios.SceneDelegate='+fs.existsSync(p+'SceneDelegate.swift'));out.push('ios.Podfile='+fs.existsSync('ios/App/Podfile'));console.log(out.sort().join('\n'))"

Procedure

1. Preflight (stop and report if any fails)

node --version                     # must be >= 24
xcodebuild -version                # must be Xcode 27+
java -version                      # use the JDK bundled with Android Studio 2026.1.1+
grep -c UIApplicationSceneManifest ios/App/App/Info.plist
git status --short                 # clean tree, so the migration diff is reviewable

• Node < 24 or Xcode < 27: ask the user to upgrade tooling first.
• No scene manifest or no SceneDelegate.swift: the app has not adopted UIScene. Run the capacitor-uiscene-migration skill on 8.5 first, verify it, then return here. Doing both at once hides which step broke deep links.
• Inventory native customizations before migrating: custom AppDelegate/SceneDelegate code, custom CAPBridgeViewController subclass, local plugins in ios/App/App or android/app/src, extra variables in variables.gradle, Cordova plugins (npx cap ls).

2. Packages and automated migration

npm i -D @capacitor/cli@next
npx cap migrate

cap migrate updates dependencies and the template-shaped native files, and prints what it could not do. It is not built for monorepos; migrate those by hand. Then bump every other @capacitor/* package to @next (official plugins are 9.0.0 too) and check Capgo/third-party plugins for a Capacitor 9 compatible release (npm view <pkg> peerDependencies).

3. Manual checklist (verify each, even if migrate reported success)

• iOS -> references/ios.md: Xcode 27, iOS 16.0 in pbxproj + Podfile, @main, removed CAPBridge/bridge APIs in app code, SPM recommendation.
• Android -> references/android.md: gradle.properties cleanup, variables.gradle values, remove targetSdkVersion, proguard-android-optimize.txt, explicit rootProject.ext defs, core-ktx, Kotlin plugin removal, jcenter(), AGP 9.2.1, Gradle 9.5.1, google-services 4.5.0.
• Plugins, CLI, config -> references/plugins-and-cli.md: official plugin variable bumps, push alert, splash launchFadeOutDuration, cap run --url, Cordova runtime now optional.

4. Sync, build, verify

npx cap sync, then run everything in references/verification.md: leftover-symbol greps, both native builds, device checks. Report results per platform.

Traps

• android.builtInKotlin=false or android.sdk.defaultTargetSdkToCompileSdkIfUnset=false left in gradle.properties (the AGP Upgrade Assistant writes them) breaks the build. Delete the whole AGP 8 compatibility block.
• proguard-android.txt fails at configuration time even with minifyEnabled false.
• Leaving apply plugin: 'kotlin-android' next to AGP 9's built-in Kotlin fails with a duplicate-plugin error, also inside local plugin modules.
• Apps with zero Cordova plugins no longer get CapacitorCordova / capacitor-cordova-android. Native code importing those symbols stops compiling; there is no flag to force-include them.
• Pre-UIScene AppDelegate code (CAPBridge.handleOpenUrl, application(_:open:) custom logic) both fails to compile and would never be called. Move it to the SceneDelegate.
• CocoaPods Trunk is expected to go read-only on December 2, 2026. Offer cocoapods-to-spm after the upgrade is green.

Error Handling

References

Only load a reference when its topic is in play.

Related skills: capacitor-uiscene-migration, capacitor-app-upgrades, capacitor-plugin-upgrade-v8-to-v9, cocoapods-to-spm, capacitor-push-notifications, capacitor-splash-screen.