Publishing a Java library to Maven Central has historically been a complex process involving staging repositories and manual approvals. In 2026, Sonatype has streamlined this with the Central Publisher Portal, which simplifies the workflow and reduces friction for developers. This guide walks through the essential steps: setting up your project metadata, configuring authentication, and deploying artifacts directly to the portal. Key changes include the deprecation of the old issues.sonatype.org and s01.oss.sonatype.org endpoints, making the new portal the single entry point. For open-source maintainers and library authors, understanding this new process is crucial to ensure smooth releases and avoid common pitfalls like incorrect POM configuration or missing GPG signatures. The article provides a clear, actionable path from zero to a published artifact, making it an essential reference for anyone distributing Java code.
Learn the updated 2026 workflow for publishing Java libraries to Maven Central using Sonatype Central Portal, replacing the legacy OSSRH process.