diff --git a/.github/workflows/maven-verify.yml b/.github/workflows/maven-verify.yml
index 1b7d432c..aaca3d0d 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/maven-verify.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/maven-verify.yml
@@ -6,18 +6,18 @@ name: sdk-java Verify
 on:
   push:
     branches:
-      - main
+      - 5.*
   pull_request:
     branches:
-      - main
+      - 5.*
 jobs:
   build:
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     steps:
-      - uses: actions/checkout@v2
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
 
       - name: Set up JDK 11
-        uses: actions/setup-java@v3
+        uses: actions/setup-java@v4
         with:
           distribution: temurin
           java-version: 11
diff --git a/.github/workflows/pre-release.yml b/.github/workflows/pre-release.yml
index ce904c75..44f54117 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/pre-release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/pre-release.yml
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ jobs:
     name: pre release
 
     steps:
-      - uses: radcortez/project-metadata-action@master
+      - uses: radcortez/project-metadata-action@main
         name: retrieve project metadata
         id: metadata
         with:
diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yml b/.github/workflows/release.yml
index ef4ee698..df7b0bc5 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yml
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ jobs:
   release:
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     name: release
-    if: ${{github.event.pull_request.merged == true}}
+    if: ${{ github.event.pull_request.merged == true }}
 
     steps:
       - uses: radcortez/project-metadata-action@main
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ jobs:
           github-token: ${{secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN}}
           metadata-file-path: '.github/project.yml'
 
-      - uses: actions/checkout@v3
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
 
       - name: Import GPG key
         id: import_gpg
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ jobs:
           passphrase: ${{ secrets.GPG_PASSPHRASE }}
 
       - name: Set up JDK 11
-        uses: actions/setup-java@v3
+        uses: actions/setup-java@v4
         with:
           distribution: temurin
           java-version: 11
@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@ jobs:
           cat release.properties
           git checkout ${{github.base_ref}}
           git rebase release
-          mvn -B release:perform -Darguments=-DperformRelease -DperformRelease -Prelease
+          mvn -B release:perform -Prelease -Darguments="-DperformRelease"
         env:
           MAVEN_USERNAME: ${{ secrets.OSSRH_USERNAME }}
           MAVEN_PASSWORD: ${{ secrets.OSSRH_PASSWORD }}
diff --git a/api/src/main/java/io/serverlessworkflow/api/mapper/BaseObjectMapper.java b/api/src/main/java/io/serverlessworkflow/api/mapper/BaseObjectMapper.java
index 2f71947d..c47f4c2c 100644
--- a/api/src/main/java/io/serverlessworkflow/api/mapper/BaseObjectMapper.java
+++ b/api/src/main/java/io/serverlessworkflow/api/mapper/BaseObjectMapper.java
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@
 
 public class BaseObjectMapper extends ObjectMapper {
 
-  private WorkflowModule workflowModule;
+  private final WorkflowModule workflowModule;
 
   public BaseObjectMapper(JsonFactory factory, WorkflowPropertySource workflowPropertySource) {
     super(factory);
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@ public BaseObjectMapper(JsonFactory factory, WorkflowPropertySource workflowProp
 
     configure(SerializationFeature.INDENT_OUTPUT, true);
     registerModule(workflowModule);
-    configure(SerializationFeature.WRITE_EMPTY_JSON_ARRAYS, false);
+    setSerializationInclusion(JsonInclude.Include.NON_EMPTY);
     configOverride(Map.class)
         .setInclude(
             JsonInclude.Value.construct(
diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index a5af87d0..c7219122 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
-<project xmlns="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xsi:schemaLocation="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0 http://maven.apache.org/maven-v4_0_0.xsd">
+<project xmlns="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0"
+         xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
+         xsi:schemaLocation="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0 http://maven.apache.org/maven-v4_0_0.xsd">
   <modelVersion>4.0.0</modelVersion>
 
   <groupId>io.serverlessworkflow</groupId>
@@ -20,7 +22,7 @@
   </developers>
   <organization>
     <name>CNCF</name>
-    <url>https://www.cncf.io//</url>
+    <url>https://www.cncf.io/</url>
   </organization>
   <licenses>
     <license>
@@ -48,40 +50,40 @@
     <java.version>11</java.version>
     <maven.compiler.source>${java.version}</maven.compiler.source>
     <maven.compiler.target>${java.version}</maven.compiler.target>
+    <maven.compiler.release>${java.version}</maven.compiler.release>
     <project.build.sourceEncoding>UTF-8</project.build.sourceEncoding>
-    <version.maven>3.6.2</version.maven>
+    <version.maven>3.9.9</version.maven>
 
-    <!-- Plugin versions, please keep in alphabetical order -->
-    <version.buildnumber.plugin>3.2.0</version.buildnumber.plugin>
-    <version.checkstyle.plugin>3.3.1</version.checkstyle.plugin>
-    <version.compiler.plugin>3.13.0</version.compiler.plugin>
-    <version.deploy.plugin>3.1.2</version.deploy.plugin>
-    <version.enforcer.plugin>3.0.0-M2</version.enforcer.plugin>
-    <version.failsafe.plugin>3.2.5</version.failsafe.plugin>
-    <version.fmt-maven-plugin>2.23</version.fmt-maven-plugin>
-    <version.gpg.plugin>3.2.4</version.gpg.plugin>
-    <version.jar.plugin>3.4.1</version.jar.plugin>
+    <!-- Plugin versions -->
+    <version.buildnumber.plugin>3.2.1</version.buildnumber.plugin>
+    <version.checkstyle.plugin>3.6.0</version.checkstyle.plugin>
+    <version.compiler.plugin>3.14.0</version.compiler.plugin>
+    <version.deploy.plugin>3.1.4</version.deploy.plugin>
+    <version.enforcer.plugin>3.5.0</version.enforcer.plugin>
+    <version.failsafe.plugin>3.5.3</version.failsafe.plugin>
+    <version.fmt-maven-plugin>2.25</version.fmt-maven-plugin>
+    <version.gpg.plugin>3.2.7</version.gpg.plugin>
+    <version.jar.plugin>3.4.2</version.jar.plugin>
     <version.jdk>${java.version}</version.jdk>
-    <version.jsonschema2pojo-maven-plugin>1.1.2</version.jsonschema2pojo-maven-plugin>
-    <version.javadoc.plugin>3.6.3</version.javadoc.plugin>
-    <version.release.plugin>3.0.1</version.release.plugin>
+    <version.jsonschema2pojo-maven-plugin>1.2.2</version.jsonschema2pojo-maven-plugin>
+    <version.javadoc.plugin>3.11.2</version.javadoc.plugin>
+    <version.release.plugin>3.1.1</version.release.plugin>
     <version.source.plugin>3.3.1</version.source.plugin>
-    <version.surefire.plugin>3.2.5</version.surefire.plugin>
+    <version.surefire.plugin>3.5.3</version.surefire.plugin>
 
-
-    <!-- Dependencies versions, please keep in alphabetical order -->
-    <version.ch.qos.logback>1.5.6</version.ch.qos.logback>
-    <version.com.fasterxml.jackson>2.17.1</version.com.fasterxml.jackson>
-    <version.com.networknt>1.4.0</version.com.networknt>
+    <!-- Dependency versions -->
+    <version.ch.qos.logback>1.5.18</version.ch.qos.logback>
+    <version.com.fasterxml.jackson>2.18.3</version.com.fasterxml.jackson>
+    <version.com.networknt>1.5.6</version.com.networknt>
     <version.commons.lang>3.14.0</version.commons.lang>
     <version.graphviz>0.17.0</version.graphviz>
     <version.hamcrest>1.3</version.hamcrest>
     <version.jakarta.validation>3.1.0</version.jakarta.validation>
     <version.jsonassert>1.5.0</version.jsonassert>
     <version.org.assertj>3.26.0</version.org.assertj>
-    <version.org.junit.jupiter>5.10.2</version.org.junit.jupiter>
-    <version.org.mockito>5.12.0</version.org.mockito>
-    <version.org.slf4j>2.0.13</version.org.slf4j>
+    <version.org.junit.jupiter>5.12.2</version.org.junit.jupiter>
+    <version.org.mockito>5.17.0</version.org.mockito>
+    <version.org.slf4j>2.0.17</version.org.slf4j>
     <version.plantuml>8059</version.plantuml>
     <version.thymeleaf>3.1.2.RELEASE</version.thymeleaf>