Nintex Automation K2 5.9 is now available!

Here is what it means for your projects

Nintex Automation K2 5.9 is now officially available for download following its release on 2 December. While this is not a dramatic shift in direction for the platform, it brings a collection of useful refinements that will help teams improve maintainability, accessibility and integration flexibility in the solutions they deliver.

For organisations still running K2 BlackPearl (4.7), the timing is important, as end of life and end of extended support will arrive on 31 December 2025. K2 5.9 provides a clear and supported migration path without introducing disruptive changes in architecture or design approach.

Clear support window

K2 5.9 comes with a “2+2” years support period, including two years of Standard Support and two years of Extended Support for critical security issues. This long runway allows teams to plan upgrades around their own technology cycles rather than rushing to meet deadlines.

Improved accessibility and Runtime behaviour

Nintex has refined the underlying HTML structure of SmartForms to better support WCAG 2.1 principles. Navigation is cleaner, screen readers behave more consistently, and high-contrast views render more predictably. Designers also gain an Accessibility Text property to define labels specifically for assistive technologies.

What this means for you: If your organisation has internal accessibility standards, you can now meet those requirements more reliably without custom work. A form that was previously difficult to navigate using a screen reader will now follow a more logical structure, improving usability for a broader set of users.

A modernised approach to custom controls

The move to JavaScript-based Web Components replaces the old C Sharp DLL model. Controls can be uploaded directly into the K2 Management site, removing the need to deploy assemblies to servers.

What this means for you:

• If you build a custom date picker or a data visualisation widget, you can distribute it to all environments simply by uploading it once through Management.
• When you update the control, you no longer need IT to push DLLs through your deployment pipeline.

Sample controls provided include an Arabic calendar, multi-file upload and CAPTCHA, all available in the growing Nintex K2 Gallery. These examples can be accessed online through the Gallery and act as practical starting points for teams designing their own custom components.

More predictable integration behaviours

Several refinements across service brokers and SmartObjects offer better control and more detailed error handling.

• SharePoint permissions: You can now remove all permissions from lists, items or folders and retrieve existing permissions before applying workflow logic.
  What this means for you: If you have workflows that move documents through approval stages, you can enforce strict access resets programmatically rather than relying on manual configuration.
• REST error codes: Workflows can branch based on specific error responses.
  What this means for you: If an external API returns a “rate limit exceeded” error, your workflow can automatically retry rather than failing entirely.
• JavaScript Service Provider (JSP): Workflows can now pass files to JavaScript-based integrations.
  What this means for you: You can send a PDF or image to an AI model for classification without writing server-side extensions.
• OData v4 support: Nested entities are now supported.
  What this means for you: If you integrate with Microsoft Dynamics 365, you can map more complex data structures into SmartObjects without flattening the data manually.

Migration support for Nintex for SharePoint

The new migration accelerator helps teams move away from Nintex for SharePoint ahead of its deprecation in July 2026. It is designed to speed up early discovery rather than deliver a full one-to-one conversion.

What this means for you: If you manage hundreds of SharePoint workflows, this tool helps you identify patterns, group processes and understand where complexity sits before designing your migration plan.

Practical improvements for administrators and developers

K2 5.9 introduces several smaller enhancements that remove day-to-day friction.

• Environment report: A consolidated view within Management shows workflow counts, last-run metrics and asset statistics.
  What this means for you: Administrators can quickly spot unused workflows or identify environments that need cleanup.

• Faster identity lookups: Improved performance when using large identity providers.
  What this means for you: Forms loading user lists or role memberships will respond more quickly, particularly in enterprise-scale setups.

• Modern scripting support: Support for newer ECMAScript and CSS syntax allows front-end developers to work with contemporary languages.
  What this means for you: If your team embeds custom logic into forms, you can now use more up-to-date JavaScript features without compatibility issues.

What is next

Upcoming work on OpenID Connect and SCIM will bring smoother alignment with identity providers such as Okta, Ping Identity and Keycloak. This will reduce the need for custom identity workarounds and simplify user provisioning. These enhancements are not part of 5.9 but are expected to mature through 2026.

Final thoughts

K2 5.9 is a steady, incremental release that brings practical improvements rather than dramatic change. It helps teams modernise parts of their implementation, reduce friction in integrations and prepare for future upgrades. For organisations still operating legacy environments, it offers a stable and supported target for migration.

If you are planning your upgrade path or need support evaluating your environment, our team always happy to help you navigate the options and design an approach that aligns with your roadmap.

For the full release notes see link here
If you need any information about the Nintex K2 platform, our team will be more than happy to help. Get in touch!