Migrating from Camunda 7 to Camunda 8 usually means juggling docs, tools, prompts, and manual checks yourself. Camunda now provides the migration skill to minimize those manual efforts. It provides AI coding tools for a guided workflow, so you're not the one orchestrating every step.
What it actually does
The skill runs in phases: assess your project, convert models, automate code changes, then guide you through validation.
- Assesses your project before anything changes
- Handles both code migration and BPMN/DMN model migration
- Pairs deterministic automation with AI for the messier follow-up work
- Guides validation and review once changes are in
- Runs inside Claude Code and any other Agent Skills-compatible tool
No more bouncing between different docs to figure out your next step.
Why it's worth using
It won't replace migration expertise, that's not the point. What it does is package Camunda's migration knowledge into something you can actually run. Instead of manually stitching together recipes, conversion steps, and review work, you get:
- A faster start
- Fewer orchestration mistakes
- The right migration path for your project
- Humans still making the calls that matter
- The same repeatable approach across every project
That's the gap between "migration is possible" and "we're migrating today."
How it speeds things up
Four ways the migration skill cuts through friction:
- It gives you a real starting point. The skill helps assess scope, flags the relevant C7 code and models, and estimates complexity before you touch anything, so you don't burn time on the wrong approach.
- It combines deterministic tools with AI where each is strongest. It uses our code rewrite recipes to handle most of the adjustments. It also downloads and uses Camunda's diagram converter to migrate BPMN and DMN files. Then it kicks in to help take care of the TODOs left by these tools.
- It's not just code. Real migrations touch process models, decision models, config, tests, and validation. The skill treats migration as a project-wide effort, not a narrow code refactor.
- It keeps you on decisions, not mechanics. It asks the right questions, recommends an approach, and sequences the steps, so your time goes into reviewing outcomes, not figuring out which tool to run next.
Where it fits with the rest of the tooling
The migration skill isn't a separate universe, it's the workflow layer on top of what Camunda already gives you:
- Migration skill: guided end-to-end workflow for migrating your solution, it runs inside your AI agentic tool (Claude Code, Copilot, etc.)
- Diagram Converter: analyzing and converting BPMN/DMN models
- Code Conversion Utilities: mappings, patterns, recipes, deeper technical reference
Start with the skill. Go deeper into the others only when you need to.
But we don’t stop there. We also provide a tool to move your live and historical data across Camunda versions. The Data Migrator helps you move runtime instances and history from C7 to C8.
What this looks like in practice
Want to see what this looks like in practice, check out this video.
Before you start, we recommend you add your project under git if you haven’t done that and do the migration on a feature branch, so you can easily review the changes and compare them to the original one. If you decide to use git, the skill requires a clean state meaning, so no untracked changes are in the project.
On a small sample project, the flow plays out in a few minutes. The skill starts by asking a handful of quick questions: which project to migrate, which Camunda 8 version to target, whether to cover code, models, or both, and which approach to use for each. Sensible defaults are recommended at every step, so there's no research required to get moving.
Once the choices are locked in, it scans the project on its own, finds the code, the BPMN and DMN models, and puts together an assessment report before anything is touched. That report becomes the single place to track progress as things move forward, right through to the end.
From there it runs in phases. Models come first: the diagram converter takes the existing BPMN and DMN files and produces Camunda 8 versions, flagging anything that needs a second look. Code comes next: the automated recipes handle the bulk of the rewrite, swapping in the Camunda 8 client, updating dependencies and config, and AI cleanup follows behind for the parts that don't reduce to a mechanical rule.
Along the way, it pauses at the moments that matter, after the assessment, after the models are converted, after the code lands, and asks whether to commit or keep going. It also flags a short list of items worth a second look, like expressions in the converted models, and takes a pass at fixing the safe ones on its own.
By the end, the project compiles, the tests pass, and the migration report reads like a clear record of what changed and why, without anyone having had to remember which tool handles which step.
Getting started
- Install the migration skill in your AI coding tool
claude plugin marketplace add camunda/camunda-7-to-8-migration-tooling claude plugin install camunda-migration
OR
copilot plugin marketplace add camunda/camunda-7-to-8-migration-tooling
copilot plugin install camunda-migration@camunda
- Open your Camunda 7 project
- Run the skill, start with assessment-only if you want a safe first step
- Move into code, models, or both once you're ready
Especially useful if you're running a medium-to-large project, handling multiple migrations as a partner, or just want a repeatable way to modernize.
Bottom line
The migration skill doesn't make the decisions for you. It clears the friction around making progress: faster assessment, more automation, clearer guidance the whole way through.
If you're looking for the fastest way into a C7 to C8 migration, start with the migration skill.
