# Release Process

The Kargo Project is released on an as-needed basis. The process is as follows:

1. An issue is proposing a new release with a changelog since the last release
2. At least on of the [OWNERS](OWNERS) must LGTM this release
3. An OWNER runs `git tag -s $VERSION` and inserts the changelog and pushes the tag with `git push $VERSION`
4. The release issue is closed
5. An announcement email is sent to `kubernetes-dev@googlegroups.com` with the subject `[ANNOUNCE] kargo $VERSION is released`

## Major/minor releases, merge freezes and milestones

* Kargo does not maintain stable branches for releases. Releases are tags, not
  branches, and there are no backports. Therefore, there is no need for merge
  freezes as well.

* Fixes for major releases (vX.x.0) and minor releases (vX.Y.x) are delivered
  via maintenance releases (vX.Y.Z) and assigned to the corresponding open
  milestone (vX.Y). That milestone remains open for the major/minor releases
  support lifetime, which ends once the milestone closed. Then only a next major
  or minor release can be done.

* Kargo major and minor releases are bound to the given ``kube_version`` major/minor
  version numbers and other components' arbitrary versions, like etcd or network plugins.
  Older or newer versions are not supported and not tested for the given release.

* There is no unstable releases and no APIs, thus Kargo doesn't follow
  [semver](http://semver.org/). Every version describes only a stable release.
  Breaking changes, if any introduced by changed defaults or non-contrib ansible roles'
  playbooks, shall be described in the release notes. Other breaking changes, if any in
  the contributed addons or bound versions of Kubernetes and other components, are
  considered out of Kargo scope and are up to the components' teams to deal with and
  document.

* Minor releases can change components' versions, but not the major ``kube_version``.
  Greater ``kube_version`` requires a new major or minor release. For example, if Kargo v2.0.0
  is bound to ``kube_version: 1.4.x``, ``calico_version: 0.22.0``, ``etcd_version: v3.0.6``,
  then Kargo v2.1.0 may be bound to only minor changes to ``kube_version``, like v1.5.1
  and *any* changes to other components, like etcd v4, or calico 1.2.3.
  And Kargo v3.x.x shall be bound to ``kube_version: 2.x.x`` respectively.
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