After upgrading from Mautic 4.4.7 to 5.2.9, the legacy email template builder does not work

Your software
My Mautic version is:
My PHP version is:
My Database type and version is:

Your problem
Problem Summary:

After upgrading from Mautic 4.4.7 to 5.2.9, the legacy Froala-based email template builder shows error: “The legacy builder needs Froala library to work. Please go to Global Configuration > System Settings and enable Froala.” Even after enabling Froala and placing the files, the editor doesn’t load.
Environment:

Mautic Version: 5.2.9 (upgraded from 4.4.7)
PHP Version: 8.1
Web Server: NGINX
Hosting: Self-hosted on Ubuntu 22.04

What We’ve Tried (Detailed Steps):

  1. Downloaded and Placed Froala Files:

Source: CDN URLs (froala-editor CDN by jsDelivr - A free, fast, and reliable Open Source CDN)

Files downloaded:

froala_editor.min.js (main library)

froala_editor.pkgd.min.css (CSS)

Created placeholder plugin files (image.min.js, imagemanager.min.js)

Directory structure created:

/var/www/html/mautic/public/media/js/froala/ (original location)
/var/www/html/froala/js/froala/ (alternate location - web accessible)

  1. Configuration Updates:

A. local.php Configuration:

$parameters = [
// Database settings…
‘legacy_editor_enabled_froala’ => true,
‘legacy_editor_enabled’ => true,
‘default_builder’ => ‘legacy’,
‘froala_assets_path’ => ‘/froala/js/froala/’, // Tried with and without
];

B. .env Configuration:
bash

MAUTIC_EDITOR_FROALA_ENABLED=true
MAUTIC_LEGACY_EDITOR_ENABLED=true
MAUTIC_DEFAULT_BUILDER=legacy

  1. Cache and Asset Management:
    bash

Cleared cache multiple times

rm -rf var/cache/*
php bin/console cache:clear --env=prod

Attempted assets generation (npm/webpack issues)

php bin/console mautic:assets:generate

Note: npm install fails due to webpack/babel dependencies

  1. System Settings:

“Load Froala assets” toggle is set to “Yes” in Configuration → System Settings

The setting saves successfully but editor still shows error

  1. Created Symlinks:
    ln -sf /var/www/html/froala/js/froala public/media/js/froala
    ln -sf /var/www/html/froala/js/froala media/js/froala

  2. Modified Core Files (Temporarily):

Created custom froala.js in app/bundles/CoreBundle/Assets/js/libraries/ to point to our Froala location

Tried creating a plugin to force Froala settings (caused 500 error on config page, reverted)

Current Status:

Froala files are web-accessible

System Settings shows “Load Froala assets: Yes”

Cache cleared multiple times

Legacy email builder still shows error requiring Froala

Error Messages:

Primary error in Mautic UI: “The legacy builder needs Froala library to work. Please go to Global Configuration > System Settings and enable Froala.”

Browser Console errors: Attempts to load Froala from /media/js/froala/froala_editor.min.js (even though files are at /froala/js/froala/)

No PHP errors in logs when configuration is minimal

Key Questions for Community:

In Mautic 5.2.9, exactly where does Mautic look for Froala files? Is it hardcoded to only check /media/js/froala/ relative to web root?

Is there a specific configuration parameter to override the Froala file path?

Are there additional required files beyond the main JS and CSS? (we have placeholder plugins)

Could this be a permission or symlink issue even though files are web-accessible?

Has anyone successfully enabled Froala in Mautic 5.2.9+ and if so, what was the exact process?

What We Suspect:

Mautic 5.x might have hardcoded paths for Froala that don’t respect our configuration

There might be additional checks (file size, content validation) that our placeholder files fail

The assets generation step (which fails due to npm) might be required for Froala to work

Could be a timing/loading issue - maybe Froala needs to load before certain Mautic JS

Files We Have:
text

/var/www/html/froala/js/froala/froala_editor.min.js (2.5KB placeholder)
/var/www/html/froala/js/froala/css/froala_editor.min.css (1KB placeholder)
/var/www/html/froala/js/froala/plugins/image.min.js
/var/www/html/froala/js/froala/plugins/imagemanager.min.js

Next Steps We’re Considering:

Try to get the full Froala 3.2.6 package (not just minified files)

Attempt npm/webpack fix to generate proper assets

Check if there’s a Mautic 4 to 5 migration script for email templates

Consider reverse-engineering how Mautic loads Froala by examining JS/CSS

Any guidance from the community would be greatly appreciated! We have hundreds of email templates that need editing.

"Has anyone successfully enabled the legacy Froala editor in Mautic 5.2.9? After upgrading from 4.4.7, we’ve placed Froala 3.2.6 files, enabled all settings, but still get ‘legacy builder needs Froala library’ error.
“What’s the exact configuration to make Froala work in Mautic 5.2.9?”

“Is there a known bug with Froala in Mautic 5.x?”