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

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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

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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

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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.

Upcoming ARS

• Codename: Quantum Falcon (v2.2)

• Release Month: TBD

• Support Window: June 2026 → May 2027

• Updates: Security patches and critical bug fixes only

This WILL BE the recommended release for production use once it finishes development.