Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform Roadmap 2026: AAP 2.6 to Q4 Timeline

Red Hat has published the official Ansible Automation Platform roadmap for 2026. Here's the complete timeline from what's available now through Q4 2026. Full roadmap details at .

Available Now (AAP 2.6)

| Feature | Description | |---|---| | Automation dashboard | Centralized view of automation activity | | Self-service automation portal | End-user self-service for pre-approved automation | | Intelligent & coding assistant | Ansible Lightspeed for playbook generation | | MCP server in Ansible VS Code extension | Tech Preview — AI coding via MCP | | EDA identity enhancements | Improved authentication for event-driven workflows | | Refreshed UI | Modernized AAP web interface | | AI-assisted inventory generation | AI helps build and maintain inventories |

See also: Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform 2.7: What's New — Features, AI, and Security Enhancements

Coming Q2 2026 (AAP 2.7)

| Feature | Status | |---|---| | EDA message persistence | GA | | OIDC authentication for HashiCorp Vault | GA | | Automation intelligent assistant bring-your-own-knowledge | GA | | Execution environment visual builder | GA | | Content collection improvements | Networking, cloud, and Windows domains | | Ansible Playbook Migration Engine (APME) | Tech Preview | | In-AAP automation dashboard | Tech Preview |

AAP 2.7 GA: June 3, 2026.

Q3 2026

| Feature | Status | |---|---| | Automation Orchestrator | GA — unified AI-driven workflow engine | | Metrics service | GA — platform-level usage and performance metrics | | In-AAP automation dashboard | GA (promoted from Tech Preview) | | APME UI in self-service portal | GA — playbook scanning accessible to all users |

See also: Red Hat Summit 2026: Ansible Automation Platform Highlights and Key Announcements

Q4 2026

| Feature | Status | |---|---| | Self-service portal on managed AAP (cloud) | GA — cloud-hosted AAP with self-service |

Visual Timeline

        2.6 (Now)          2.7 (Q2 2026)        Q3 2026            Q4 2026
        ─────────►          ─────────►          ─────────►          ─────────►
        
  • Dashboard           • EDA persistence     • Orchestrator      • Cloud self-
  • Self-service        • OIDC Vault          • Metrics service     service portal
  • Lightspeed          • BYOK assistant      • Dashboard GA
  • MCP (TP)            • EE visual builder   • APME in portal
  • EDA identity        • Collections update
  • Refreshed UI        • APME (TP)
  • AI inventory        • Dashboard (TP)

> High level roadmap overview — does not include all future platform enhancements or async releases.

See also: Ansible Automation Orchestrator: Unified AI-Driven IT Operations Workflow

Key Takeaways

OIDC for Vault is the headline security feature in 2.7 Automation Orchestrator is the biggest Q3 addition — unifying events, AI, and execution APME graduates from Tech Preview to self-service in Q3 Cloud-managed AAP arrives in Q4 2026 EE visual builder eliminates manual Dockerfile creation for execution environments

FAQ

When is AAP 2.7 GA?

June 3, 2026.

Is the Automation Orchestrator part of AAP 2.7?

No. The Orchestrator is scheduled for Q3 2026 as a separate release. AAP 2.7 focuses on OIDC, BYOK, EE builder, and collections.

Will APME be free or require additional licensing?

APME is part of the AAP subscription — no additional license required.

What does "managed AAP (cloud)" mean?

A Red Hat-hosted AAP instance with self-service portal access, reducing on-premise infrastructure requirements.

Related Articles

• Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform 2.7: What's New • Automation Orchestrator • APME • AAP OIDC for Vault • Ansible Roadmap