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This project supports documentation and meta-activities for release-management.
| Name | Development/Alpha Period | RC/Beta Period | Release Date | Stable Period | [Extended Security Period](https://civicrm.org/esr) |
| ------ | ------------------------ | --------------- |----------------| ------------- | ----------------------- |
| 6.10.x | Nov 2025 | Dec 2025 | Jan 7, 2026 | Jan 2026 | Feb 2026 - Jul 2026 (incl) <br/>(tentative) |
| 6.9.x | Oct 2025 | Nov 2025 | Dec 3, 2025 | Dec 2025 | |
| 6.8.x | Sep 2025 | Oct 2025 | Nov 5, 2025 | Nov 2025 | |
| 6.7.x | Aug 2025 | Sep 2025 | Oct 1, 2025 | Oct 2025 | |
| 6.6.x | Jul 2025 | Aug 2025 | Sep 3, 2025 | Sep 2025 | |
| 6.5.x | Jun 2025 | Jul 2025 | Aug 6, 2025 | Aug 2025 | |
| 6.4.x | May 2025 | Jun 2025 | Jul 2, 2025 | Jul 2025 | Aug 2025 - Jan 2026 (incl) <br/>(tentative) |
| 6.3.x | Apr 2025 | May 2025 | Jun 4, 2025 | Jun 2025 | |
| 6.2.x | Mar 2025 | Apr 2025 | May 7, 2025 | May 2025 | |
| 6.1.x | Feb 2025 | Mar 2025 | Apr 2, 2025 | Apr 2025 | |
| 6.0.x | Jan 2025 | Feb 2025 | Mar 5, 2025 | Mar 2025 | |
| 5.81.x | Nov 2024 | Dec 2024 | Jan 8, 2025 | Jan 2025 | Feb 2025 - Jul 2025 (incl) <br/>(tentative) |
| 5.80.x | Oct 2024 | Nov 2024 | Dec 4, 2024 | Dec 2024 | |
| 5.79.x | Sep 2024 | Oct 2024 | Nov 6, 2024 | Nov 2024 | |
| 5.78.x | Aug 2024 | Sep 2024 | Oct 2, 2024 | Oct 2024 | |
| 5.77.x | Jul 2024 | Aug 2024 | Sep 4, 2024 | Sep 2024 | |
| 5.76.x | Jun 2024 | Jul 2024 | Aug 7, 2024 | Aug 2024 | |
| 5.75.x | May 2024 | Jun 2024 | Jul 3, 2024 | Jul 2024 | Aug 2024 - Jan 2025 (incl) |
| 5.74.x | Apr 2024 | May 2024 | Jun 5, 2024 | Jun 2024 | |
| 5.73.x | Mar 2024 | Apr 2024 | May 1, 2024 | May 2024 | |
| 5.72.x | Feb 2024 | Mar 2024 | Apr 3, 2024 | Apr 2024 | |
| 5.71.x | Jan 2024 | Feb 2024 | Mar 6, 2024 | Mar 2024 | |
| 5.70.x | Dec 2023 | Jan 2024 | Feb 7, 2024 | Feb 2024 | |
| 5.69.x | Nov 2023 | Dec 2023 | Jan 3, 2024 | Jan 2024 | Feb 2024 - Jul 2024 (incl) |
| 5.68.x | Oct 2023 | Nov 2023 | Dec 6, 2023 | Dec 2023 | |
| 5.67.x | Sep 2023 | Oct 2023 | Nov 1, 2023 | Nov 2023 | |
| 5.66.x | Aug 2023 | Sep 2023 | Oct 4, 2023 | Oct 2023 | |
| 5.65.x | Jul 2023 | Aug 2023 | Sep 6, 2023 | Sep 2023 | |
| 5.64.x | Jun 2023 | Jul 2023 | Aug 2, 2023 | Aug 2023 | |
| 5.63.x | May 2023 | Jun 2023 | Jul 5, 2023 | Jul 2023 | Aug 2023 - Jan 2024 (incl) |
| 5.62.x | Apr 2023 | May 2023 | Jun 7, 2023 | Jun 2023 | |
| 5.61.x | Mar 2023 | Apr 2023 | May 3, 2023 | May 2023 | |
| 5.60.x | Feb 2023 | Mar 2023 | Apr 5, 2023 | Apr 2023 | |
| 5.59.x | Jan 2023 | Feb 2023 | Mar 1, 2023 | Mar 2023 | |
| 5.57.x | Nov 2022 | Dec 2022 | Jan 4, 2023 | Jan 2023 | Feb 2023 - Jul 2023 (incl) |
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| 5.56.x | Oct 2022 | Nov 2022 | Dec 7, 2022 | Dec 2022 | |
| 5.55.x | Sep 2022 | Oct 2022 | Nov 2, 2022 | Nov 2022 | |
| 5.54.x | Aug 2022 | Sep 2022 | Oct 5, 2022 | Oct 2022 | |
| 5.53.x | Jul 2022 | Aug 2022 | Sep 7, 2022 | Sep 2022 | |
| 5.52.x | Jun 2022 | Jul 2022 | Aug 3, 2022 | Aug 2022 | |
| 5.51.x | May 2022 | Jun 2022 | Jul 6, 2022 | Jul 2022 | Aug 2022 - Jan 2023 (incl) |
| 5.50.x | Apr 2022 | May 2022 | Jun 1, 2022 | Jun 2022 | |
| 5.49.x | Mar 2022 | Apr 2022 | May 4, 2022 | May 2022 | |
| 5.48.x | Feb 2022 | Mar 2022 | Apr 6, 2022 | Apr 2022 | |
| 5.47.x | Jan 2022 | Feb 2022 | Mar 2, 2022 | Mar 2022 | |
| 5.46.x | Dec 2021 | Jan 2022 | Feb 2, 2022 | Feb 2022 | |
| 5.45.x | Nov 2021 | Dec 2021 | Jan 5, 2022 | Jan 2022 | Feb 2022 - Jul 2022 (incl) |
| 5.44.x | Oct 2021 | Nov 2021 | Dec 1, 2021 | Dec 2021 | |
| 5.43.x | Sep 2021 | Oct 2021 | Nov 3, 2021 | Nov 2021 | |
| 5.42.x | Aug 2021 | Sep 2021 | Oct 6, 2021 | Oct 2021 | |
| 5.41.x | Jul 2021 | Aug 2021 | Sep 1, 2021 | Sep 2021 | |
| 5.40.x | Jun 2021 | Jul 2021 | Aug 4, 2021 | Aug 2021 | |
| 5.39.x | May 2021 | Jun 2021 | Jul 7, 2021 | Jul 2021 | Aug 2021 - Jan 2022 (incl) |
| 5.38.x | Apr 2021 | May 2021 | Jun 2, 2021 | Jun 2021 | |
| 5.37.x | Mar 2021 | Apr 2021 | May 5, 2021 | May 2021 | |
| 5.36.x | Feb 2021 | Mar 2021 | Apr 7, 2021 | Apr 2021 | |
| 5.35.x | Jan 2021 | Feb 2021 | Mar 3, 2021 | Mar 2021 | |
| 5.34.x | Dec 2020 | Jan 2021 | Feb 3, 2021 | Feb 2021 | |
| 5.33.x | Nov 2020 | Dec 2020 | Jan 6, 2021 | Jan 2021 | Feb 2021 - Jul 2021 (incl) |
| 5.32.x | Oct 2020 | Nov 2020 | Dec 2, 2020 | Dec 2020 | |
| 5.31.x | Sep 2020 | Oct 2020 | Nov 4, 2020 | Nov 2020 | |
| 5.30.x | Aug 2020 | Sep 2020 | Oct 7, 2020 | Oct 2020 | |
| 5.29.x | Jul 2020 | Aug 2020 | Sep 2, 2020 | Sep 2020 | |
| 5.28.x | Jun 2020 | Jul 2020 | Aug 5, 2020 | Aug 2020 | |
| 5.27.x | May 2020 | Jun 2020 | Jul 1, 2020 | Jul 2020 | Aug 2020 - Jan 2021 (incl) |
| 5.26.x | Apr 2020 | May 2020 | Jun 3, 2020 | Jun 2020 | |
| 5.25.x | Mar 2020 | Apr 2020 | May 6, 2020 | May 2020 | |
| 5.24.x | Feb 2020 | Mar 2020 | Apr 1, 2020 | Apr 2020 | |
| 5.23.x | Jan 2020 | Feb 2020 | Mar 4, 2020 | Mar 2020 | |
| 5.22.x | Dec 2019 | Jan 2020 | Feb 5, 2020 | Feb 2020 | |
| 5.21.x | Nov 2019 | Dec 2019 | Jan 1, 2020 | Jan 2020 | Feb 2020 - Jul 2020 (incl) |
| 5.20.x | Oct 2019 | Nov 2019 | Dec 4, 2019 | Dec 2019 | |
| 5.19.x | Sep 2019 | Oct 2019 | Nov 6, 2019 | Nov 2019 | |
| 5.18.x | Aug 2019 | Sep 2019 | Oct 2, 2019 | Oct 2019 | |
| 5.17.x | Jul 2019 | Aug 2019 | Sep 4, 2019 | Sep 2019 | |
| 5.16.x | Jun 2019 | Jul 2019 | Aug 7, 2019 | Aug 2019 | |
| 5.15.x | May 2019 | Jun 2019 | Jul 3, 2019 | Jul 2019 | |
| 5.14.x | Apr 2019 | May 2019 | Jun 5, 2019 | Jun 2019 | |
| 5.13.x | Mar 2019 | Apr 2019 | May 1, 2019 | May 2019 | Jun 2019 - Jan 2020 (incl) |
| 5.12.x | Feb 2019 | Mar 2019 | Apr 3, 2019 | Apr 2019 | |
| 5.11.x | Jan 2019 | Feb 2019 | Mar 6, 2019 | Mar 2019 | |
| 5.10.x | Dec 2018 | Jan 2019 | Feb 7, 2019 | Feb 2019 | |
| 5.9.x | Nov 2018 | Dec 2018 | Jan 2, 2019 | Jan 2019 | |
| 5.8.x | Oct 2018 | Nov 2018 | Dec 5, 2018 | Dec 2018 | |
| 5.7.x | Sep 2018 | Oct 2018 | Nov 7, 2018 | Nov 2018 | Dec 2018 - May 2019 (incl) |
| 5.6.x | Aug 2018 | Sep 2018 | Oct 3, 2018 | Oct 2018 | |
| 5.5.x | Jul 2018 | Aug 2018 | Sep 5, 2018 | Sep 2018 | |
| 5.4.x | Jun 2018 | Jul 2018 | Aug 1, 2018 | Aug 2018 | |
| 5.3.x | May 2018 | Jun 2018 | Jul 3, 2018 | Jul 2018 | |
| 5.2.x | Apr 2018 | May 2018 | Jun 6, 2018 | Jun 2018 | |
| 5.1.x | Mar 2018 | Apr 2018 | May 2, 2018 | May 2018 | |
| 5.0.x | Feb 2018 | Mar 2018 | Apr 4, 2018 | Apr 2018 | |
Each period has a different policy on accepting changes:
* During the *Development/Alpha* period, changes are accepted on the `master` branch. These are usually bugfixes, API improvements, small features, etc -- but
anything that passes the [review process](https://docs.civicrm.org/dev/en/latest/standards/review/) may be accepted. The branch is internally numbered as `5.x.alpha1`.
* During the *RC/Beta* period, a new branch (e.g. `5.0` or `5.1` or `5.2`) is created. There is a general freeze on scope. However, fixes for
recent regressions may still be accepted, and they will merge-forward to `master`. The branch is internally numbered as `5.x.beta1`. (In some
unusual circumstances, it could be incremented to `5.x.beta2`, etc.)
* On the *Release Date*, the `5.x.0` version is tagged and released.
* During the *Stable* period, patches are not generally accepted, and there is no automatic merging. There may be patches in the following cases:
* If a recent regression is fixed and approved for the concurrent RC/beta, then it may be back-ported to the stable.
These fixes are generally released ASAP, but this is left to the discretion the maintenance/release teams.
* The security team may approve patches for a security release. Security releases may only be published on the
first or third Wednesday of the month (US/Pacific time).
* If there are any subsequent updates, they will increment the third digit (`5.x.1`, `5.x.2`, etc).
* Some *Stable* periods are extended through the [Extended Security Release program](https://civicrm.org/esr), during which:
* (Generally) Only security-fixes will be backported to ESR.
* (Rare cases) A critical regression-fix or a security feature *may* be backported to ESR.
During the lifecycle, key changes come with _updating the version number_ (`tools/bin/scripts/set-version.php`), _making branches_, and _tagging releases_. To understand sequencing of these steps, review an [example workflow (numbers circa `5.10`)](https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1166plRcEfehUwZCLSvGwEvXN3q81EKLMLZaPCDZ4N8Q/edit?usp=sharing).
(*For historical planning information from 4.7.x cycles, see [4.7-release-history.md](doc/4.7-release-history.md).*)
## Timing
General rules:
* Standard release dates arise on the first Wed of the month.
* Dates are construed in US/Pacific time. Thus, a release on 7-Apr-21 (US/Pacific) may also viewed as 8-Apr-21 (AU/Eastern).
* All three main branches (development, RC, stable) are updated on the same day.
* Month-long periods are bounded by release dates (ie first Wed). Thus, the 5.3.x development period (May 2018) actually lasts from 2-May-18 to 6-Jun-18.
* A new ESR is designated every 6 months. ESR periods are back-to-back. The previous ESR remains active until the next ESR begins.
Those rules are not absolute -- exceptions may arise a couple times a year. For example:
* If the first Wed of a month coincides with major holiday (e.g. New Years Day), then it *could* be moved.
* If there's an important patch in development and it needs an extra day, then the new RC *could* be delayed by a day.