# GitLab Maintenance Policy

GitLab is a fast moving and evolving project. We currently don't have the
resources to support many releases concurrently. We support exactly one stable
release at any given time.

GitLab follows the [Semantic Versioning](http://semver.org/) for its releases:
`(Major).(Minor).(Patch)`.

* **Major version**: Whenever there is something significant or any backwards
  incompatible changes are introduced to the public API.
* **Minor version**: When new, backwards compatible functionality is introduced
  to the public API or a minor feature is introduced, or when a set of smaller
  features is rolled out.
* **Patch number**: When backwards compatible bug fixes are introduced that fix
  incorrect behavior.

The current stable release will receive security patches and bug fixes
(eg. `5.0` -> `5.0.1`).  Feature releases will mark the next supported stable
release where the minor version is increased numerically by increments of one
(eg. `5.0 -> 5.1`).

We encourage everyone to run this release and are trying to keep the update
procedures simple and reliable.