Tick tock: Upcoming changes to the NetBox release cycle

[jeremystretch]

For years, NetBox has operated on a four-month release cadence, with a new minor release (e.g. v4.2, v4.3, v4.4) shipping in January, May, and September of each calendar year. Each minor release introduces new features and functionality, but can also include breaking changes to various APIs. These disruptive changes can delay users from adopting new releases as integrations with other systems must be updated to accommodate the changes.

Beginning with release v4.4.0 in September, we've decided to adopt a tick-tock model of alternating breaking and non-breaking minor releases. Even-numbered minor versions, designated as "tick" releases, will continue to ship new non-breaking features and enhancements, but will not introduce any breaking API changes. Odd-numbered releases, or "tocks," will retain their eligibility to include breaking changes as before. This ensures an eight-month period (two release cycles) between potentially breaking releases.

This change is being made in response to feedback from users who have become frustrated with the rate at which breaking changes are sometimes introduced. (We also considered slowing the release cycle from four to six months as an alternative solution, however we didn't want to compromise on our ability to ship new features quickly.) It is our hope that this new approach affords our users some breathing room and confidence in upgrading to future releases.

As mentioned above, NetBox v4.4 will be our first "tick" release, due in September. NetBox v4.5, due in January 2026, will be our first "tock" release and may introduce breaking API changes.

To recap:

What's Changing

• Even-numbered releases (e.g. v4.4, v4.6) will be "ticks"
• Odd-numbered releases (e.g. v4.5, v4.7) will be "tocks"
• Tick releases will ship only non-breaking features and enhancements
• Tock releases may include breaking changes (which will be detailed in the release notes as always)
• Feature requests designating as breaking must be assigned to a "tock" milestone

What's Not Changing

• No adjustments to the four-month release cadence
• No changes to our version numbering ("tick" and "tock" will not be literal designations on a packaged release)
• No changes to the process for proposing new features

FAQ

What's a minor release?

A release which increments the second number (such as from v4.3.x to v4.4.x) is a minor release. Patch releases (e.g. from v4.3.3 to v4.3.4) are not affected by this change.

What constitutes a breaking change?

Any change to a documented API - such as the REST, GraphQL, or plugins API - which could potentially disrupt the operation of an API client or integration is considered breaking. Note that this does not include extensions of the API which do not interfere with existing behavior, such as the introduction of an optional field on a model.

[daschu117]

So does this mean that an eventual 5.0 won't break any functionality from the previous 4.x version? Or in that case will 5.0 be skipped in favor of a 5.1?

Thanks!

[jeremystretch]

So does this mean that an eventual 5.0 won't break any functionality from the previous 4.x version?

I'm of the opinion that this should be our goal with each major release. It would help to address the "upgrade anxiety" experienced by many of our users when faced with a major version bump. However, we don't yet know what will effect a v5.0 so it's difficult to know. Prior major version bumps were effect largely by UI overhauls and the introduction of new APIs, so it certainly seems feasible.

[koratfood]

NetBox patch releases already include non-breaking features (or "enhancements" as they are called). So, unless patch releases are strictly made bug-fix-only from now on (which - according to the announcement - they aren't), tick releases will effectively be a meaningless distinction. You might as well just prolong the minor-release lifecycle to 8 months and skip the whole odd/even thing which, IMO, is communicatively one of the worst versioning models ever invented.

Anyway, the decision has evidently been made, and it's not the end of the world (nor of NetBox). Thanks for keeping us informed and for all the great work.

[jeremystretch]

NetBox patch releases already include non-breaking features

Patch releases include only minor changes to existing functionality. They do not, for example, introduce new model fields. You can review past releases notes for plenty of such examples. Such changes are restricted to minor releases, and the tick-tock strategy makes no changes in this regard.