diff --git a/apps/emqx_bridge/src/schema/emqx_bridge_webhook_schema.erl b/apps/emqx_bridge/src/schema/emqx_bridge_webhook_schema.erl
index 0f692f195..d270fc91e 100644
--- a/apps/emqx_bridge/src/schema/emqx_bridge_webhook_schema.erl
+++ b/apps/emqx_bridge/src/schema/emqx_bridge_webhook_schema.erl
@@ -69,7 +69,10 @@ request_config() ->
         {local_topic,
             mk(
                 binary(),
-                #{desc => ?DESC("config_local_topic")}
+                #{
+                    desc => ?DESC("config_local_topic"),
+                    required => false
+                }
             )},
         {method,
             mk(
diff --git a/apps/emqx_bridge/test/emqx_bridge_mqtt_config_tests.erl b/apps/emqx_bridge/test/emqx_bridge_mqtt_config_tests.erl
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..fa3fff7d9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/apps/emqx_bridge/test/emqx_bridge_mqtt_config_tests.erl
@@ -0,0 +1,229 @@
+%%--------------------------------------------------------------------
+%% Copyright (c) 2022 EMQ Technologies Co., Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
+%%
+%% Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+%% you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+%% You may obtain a copy of the License at
+%% http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+%%
+%% Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+%% distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+%% WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+%% See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+%% limitations under the License.
+%%--------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+-module(emqx_bridge_mqtt_config_tests).
+
+-include_lib("eunit/include/eunit.hrl").
+
+empty_config_test() ->
+    Conf1 = #{<<"bridges">> => #{}},
+    Conf2 = #{<<"bridges">> => #{<<"webhook">> => #{}}},
+    ?assertEqual(Conf1, check(Conf1)),
+    ?assertEqual(Conf2, check(Conf2)),
+    ok.
+
+%% ensure webhook config can be checked
+webhook_config_test() ->
+    Conf = parse(webhook_v5011_hocon()),
+    ?assertMatch(
+        #{
+            <<"bridges">> :=
+                #{
+                    <<"webhook">> := #{
+                        <<"the_name">> :=
+                            #{
+                                <<"method">> := get,
+                                <<"body">> := <<"${payload}">>
+                            }
+                    }
+                }
+        },
+        check(Conf)
+    ),
+    ok.
+
+up(#{<<"bridges">> := Bridges0} = Conf0) ->
+    Bridges = up(Bridges0),
+    Conf0#{<<"bridges">> := Bridges};
+up(#{<<"mqtt">> := MqttBridges0} = Bridges) ->
+    MqttBridges = emqx_bridge_mqtt_config:upgrade_pre_ee(MqttBridges0),
+    Bridges#{<<"mqtt">> := MqttBridges}.
+
+parse(HOCON) ->
+    {ok, Conf} = hocon:binary(HOCON),
+    Conf.
+
+mqtt_config_test_() ->
+    Conf0 = mqtt_v5011_hocon(),
+    Conf1 = mqtt_v5011_full_hocon(),
+    [
+        {Tag, fun() ->
+            Parsed = parse(Conf),
+            Upgraded = up(Parsed),
+            Checked = check(Upgraded),
+            assert_upgraded(Checked)
+        end}
+     || {Tag, Conf} <- [{"minimum", Conf0}, {"full", Conf1}]
+    ].
+
+assert_upgraded(#{<<"bridges">> := Bridges}) ->
+    assert_upgraded(Bridges);
+assert_upgraded(#{<<"mqtt">> := Mqtt}) ->
+    assert_upgraded(Mqtt);
+assert_upgraded(#{<<"bridge_one">> := Map}) ->
+    assert_upgraded1(Map);
+assert_upgraded(#{<<"bridge_two">> := Map}) ->
+    assert_upgraded1(Map).
+
+assert_upgraded1(Map) ->
+    ?assertNot(maps:is_key(<<"connector">>, Map)),
+    ?assertNot(maps:is_key(<<"direction">>, Map)),
+    ?assert(maps:is_key(<<"server">>, Map)),
+    ?assert(maps:is_key(<<"ssl">>, Map)).
+
+check(Conf) when is_map(Conf) ->
+    hocon_tconf:check_plain(emqx_bridge_schema, Conf).
+
+%% erlfmt-ignore
+%% this is config generated from v5.0.11
+webhook_v5011_hocon() ->
+"""
+bridges{
+  webhook {
+    the_name{
+      body = \"${payload}\"
+      connect_timeout = \"5s\"
+      enable_pipelining = 100
+      headers {\"content-type\" = \"application/json\"}
+      max_retries = 3
+      method = \"get\"
+      pool_size = 4
+      request_timeout = \"5s\"
+      ssl {enable = false, verify = \"verify_peer\"}
+      url = \"http://localhost:8080\"
+    }
+  }
+}
+""".
+
+%% erlfmt-ignore
+%% this is a generated from v5.0.11
+mqtt_v5011_hocon() ->
+"""
+bridges {
+  mqtt {
+    bridge_one {
+      connector {
+        bridge_mode = false
+        clean_start = true
+        keepalive = \"60s\"
+        mode = cluster_shareload
+        proto_ver = \"v4\"
+        server = \"localhost:1883\"
+        ssl {enable = false, verify = \"verify_peer\"}
+      }
+      direction = egress
+      enable = true
+      payload = \"${payload}\"
+      remote_qos = 1
+      remote_topic = \"tttttttttt\"
+      retain = false
+    }
+    bridge_two {
+      connector {
+        bridge_mode = false
+        clean_start = true
+        keepalive = \"60s\"
+        mode = \"cluster_shareload\"
+        proto_ver = \"v4\"
+        server = \"localhost:1883\"
+        ssl {enable = false, verify = \"verify_peer\"}
+      }
+      direction = ingress
+      enable = true
+      local_qos = 1
+      payload = \"${payload}\"
+      remote_qos = 1
+      remote_topic = \"tttttttt/#\"
+      retain = false
+    }
+  }
+}
+""".
+
+%% erlfmt-ignore
+%% a more complete version
+mqtt_v5011_full_hocon() ->
+"""
+bridges {
+  mqtt {
+    bridge_one {
+      connector {
+        bridge_mode = false
+        clean_start = true
+        keepalive = \"60s\"
+        max_inflight = 32
+        mode = \"cluster_shareload\"
+        password = \"\"
+        proto_ver = \"v5\"
+        reconnect_interval = \"15s\"
+        replayq {offload = false, seg_bytes = \"100MB\"}
+        retry_interval = \"12s\"
+        server = \"localhost:1883\"
+        ssl {
+          ciphers = \"\"
+          depth = 10
+          enable = false
+          reuse_sessions = true
+          secure_renegotiate = true
+          user_lookup_fun = \"emqx_tls_psk:lookup\"
+          verify = \"verify_peer\"
+          versions = [\"tlsv1.3\", \"tlsv1.2\", \"tlsv1.1\", \"tlsv1\"]
+        }
+        username = \"\"
+      }
+      direction = \"ingress\"
+      enable = true
+      local_qos = 1
+      payload = \"${payload}\"
+      remote_qos = 1
+      remote_topic = \"tttt/a\"
+      retain = false
+    }
+    bridge_two {
+      connector {
+        bridge_mode = false
+        clean_start = true
+        keepalive = \"60s\"
+        max_inflight = 32
+        mode = \"cluster_shareload\"
+        password = \"\"
+        proto_ver = \"v4\"
+        reconnect_interval = \"15s\"
+        replayq {offload = false, seg_bytes = \"100MB\"}
+        retry_interval = \"44s\"
+        server = \"localhost:1883\"
+        ssl {
+          ciphers = \"\"
+          depth = 10
+          enable = false
+          reuse_sessions = true
+          secure_renegotiate = true
+          user_lookup_fun = \"emqx_tls_psk:lookup\"
+          verify = verify_peer
+          versions = [\"tlsv1.3\", \"tlsv1.2\", \"tlsv1.1\", \"tlsv1\"]
+        }
+        username = \"\"
+      }
+      direction = egress
+      enable = true
+      payload = \"${payload.x}\"
+      remote_qos = 1
+      remote_topic = \"remotetopic/1\"
+      retain = false
+    }
+  }
+}
+""".
diff --git a/apps/emqx_connector/src/mqtt/emqx_connector_mqtt_schema.erl b/apps/emqx_connector/src/mqtt/emqx_connector_mqtt_schema.erl
index 50f5ee5df..93bd846e4 100644
--- a/apps/emqx_connector/src/mqtt/emqx_connector_mqtt_schema.erl
+++ b/apps/emqx_connector/src/mqtt/emqx_connector_mqtt_schema.erl
@@ -42,17 +42,17 @@ fields("config") ->
         [
             {"ingress",
                 mk(
-                    hoconsc:union([none, ref(?MODULE, "ingress")]),
+                    ref(?MODULE, "ingress"),
                     #{
-                        default => undefined,
+                        required => {false, recursively},
                         desc => ?DESC("ingress_desc")
                     }
                 )},
             {"egress",
                 mk(
-                    hoconsc:union([none, ref(?MODULE, "egress")]),
+                    ref(?MODULE, "egress"),
                     #{
-                        default => undefined,
+                        required => {false, recursively},
                         desc => ?DESC("egress_desc")
                     }
                 )}
@@ -147,7 +147,10 @@ fields("ingress") ->
         {"local",
             mk(
                 ref(?MODULE, "ingress_local"),
-                #{desc => ?DESC(emqx_connector_mqtt_schema, "ingress_local")}
+                #{
+                    desc => ?DESC(emqx_connector_mqtt_schema, "ingress_local"),
+                    is_required => false
+                }
             )}
     ];
 fields("ingress_remote") ->
@@ -177,7 +180,8 @@ fields("ingress_local") ->
                 binary(),
                 #{
                     validator => fun emqx_schema:non_empty_string/1,
-                    desc => ?DESC("ingress_local_topic")
+                    desc => ?DESC("ingress_local_topic"),
+                    required => false
                 }
             )},
         {qos,
@@ -210,12 +214,18 @@ fields("egress") ->
         {"local",
             mk(
                 ref(?MODULE, "egress_local"),
-                #{desc => ?DESC(emqx_connector_mqtt_schema, "egress_local")}
+                #{
+                    desc => ?DESC(emqx_connector_mqtt_schema, "egress_local"),
+                    required => false
+                }
             )},
         {"remote",
             mk(
                 ref(?MODULE, "egress_remote"),
-                #{desc => ?DESC(emqx_connector_mqtt_schema, "egress_remote")}
+                #{
+                    desc => ?DESC(emqx_connector_mqtt_schema, "egress_remote"),
+                    required => true
+                }
             )}
     ];
 fields("egress_local") ->
@@ -225,6 +235,7 @@ fields("egress_local") ->
                 binary(),
                 #{
                     desc => ?DESC("egress_local_topic"),
+                    required => false,
                     validator => fun emqx_schema:non_empty_string/1
                 }
             )}