Release Policy

Release Channels

Note: Our release strategy includes three channels: Canary, Nightly/Pre-release, and Annual Stability Release (ASR).

🟢 Annual Stability Release (ASR)

  • Release Month: June

  • Coverage: June → May of the following year

  • Updates Included: Security patches and critical bug fixes only

  • Restrictions: No new features or breaking changes

  • Versioning: X.Y.0-asr

    • Patch updates: X.Y.1-asr, X.Y.2-asr

🔵 Nightly / Pre-release

  • All releases outside ASR

  • Include new features, improvements, and potential breaking changes

  • Versioning conventions:

    • Nightly: X.Y.Z-nightly (continuous development builds)

    • Pre-release / Beta: X.Y.Z-pre (stable candidate for upcoming ASR or major release)

🟡 Canary

  • First stop for all builds directly from CI/CD

  • Purpose: Testing, validation, early detection of issues

  • Stability: Unstable; may contain critical bugs

  • Versioning: X.Y.Z-canary

Branching Strategy

  • Main / Development Branch: Features, improvements, breaking changes

  • ASR Branch: Only security & critical bug fixes cherry-picked from main

  • Canary Branch: Direct builds from CI/CD pipeline

  • Tags:

    • -asr for ASR releases

    • -nightly / -pre for development builds

    • -canary for immediate build releases

Workflow

  1. Continuous: All builds should go first to Canary (X.Y.Z-canary)

  2. Testing / Stabilization: Canary builds feed into Nightly / Pre-release if stable

  3. May: Freeze code for upcoming ASR

  4. June: Release ASR (X.Y.0-asr)

  5. June → Next May: ASR branch only receives security/critical patches

  6. June → Next May: Main branch continues Nightly/Pre-release builds with features and improvements

  7. Next June: Release next ASR, replacing the previous ASR

Release Timeline (Yearly Overview)

Months:      J   F   M   A   M   J   J   A   S   O   N   D
             |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---

ASR:                     [==================== ASR ====================]
                         June → Next May
                         Security patches & critical bug fixes only

Nightly / Pre-release:   [ Nightly / Pre-release Continuous Development ]
                         Features, improvements, breaking changes

Canary:                  [ Canary Builds - Immediate from CI/CD ]
                         Fastest channel, unstable, all changes first

Patch Flow:
- Critical fixes & security patches → cherry-picked to ASR
- Nightly / Pre-release builds promoted from Canary

Current ASR

ℹ️ Current Annual Stability Release (ASR):

  • Codename: Astral Ocelot (v2.1)

  • Release Month: April 2025

  • Support Window: June 2025 → May 2026

  • Updates: Security patches and critical bug fixes only

This is the recommended release for production use.

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