<!--
Copyright (C) Daniel Stenberg, <daniel@haxx.se>, et al.

SPDX-License-Identifier: curl
-->

# curl release procedure - how to do a release

## in the source code repo

- edit `RELEASE-NOTES` to be accurate

- update `docs/THANKS`

- update the "past releases" section in `docs/VERSIONS.md`

- make sure all relevant changes are committed on the master branch

- tag the git repo in this style: `git tag -a curl-7_34_0`. -a annotates the
  tag and we use underscores instead of dots in the version number. Make sure
  the tag is GPG signed (using -s).

- run `./scripts/dmaketgz 7.34.0` to build the release tarballs.

- push the git commits and the new tag

- GPG sign the 4 tarballs as `maketgz` suggests

- upload the 8 resulting files to the primary download directory

## in the curl-www repo

- edit `Makefile` (version number and date),

- edit `_changes.html` (insert changes+bugfixes from RELEASE-NOTES)

- commit all local changes

- tag the repo with the same name as used for the source repo.

- make sure all relevant changes are committed and pushed on the master branch

  (the website then updates its contents automatically)

## on GitHub

- edit the newly made release tag so that it is listed as the latest release

## inform

- send an email to curl-users, curl-announce and curl-library. Insert the
  RELEASE-NOTES into the mail.

- if there are any advisories associated with the release, send each markdown
  file to the above lists as well as to `oss-security@lists.openwall.com`
  (unless the problem is unique to the non-open operating systems)

## celebrate

- suitable beverage intake is encouraged for the festivities

# curl release scheduling

## Release Cycle

We normally do releases every 8 weeks on Wednesdays. If important problems
arise, we can insert releases outside the schedule or we can move the release
date.

Each 8 week (56 days) release cycle is divided into three distinct periods:

- During the first 10 calendar days after a release, we are in "cool down". We
  do not merge features but only bug-fixes. If a regression is reported, we
  might do a follow-up patch release.

- During the following 3 weeks (21 days) there is a feature window: we allow
  new features and changes to curl and libcurl. If we accept any such changes,
  we bump the minor number used for the next release.

- During the next 25 days we are in feature freeze. We do not merge any
  features or changes, and we only focus on fixing bugs and polishing things
  to make the pending release a solid one.

If a future release date happens to end up on a "bad date", like in the middle
of common public holidays or when the lead release manager is unavailable, the
release date can be moved forwards or backwards a full week. This is then
advertised well in advance.

# Release Candidates

We ship release candidate tarballs on three occasions in preparation for the
pending release:

- Release candidate one (**rc1**) ships the same Saturday the feature freeze
  starts. Twenty-five days before the release. Tagged like `rc-7_34_0-1`.

- Release candidate two (**rc2**) ships nine days later, sixteen days before
  the release. On a Monday. Tagged like `rc-7_34_0-2`.

- Release candidate tree (**rc3**) ships nine days later, seven days before
  the release. On a Wednesday. Tagged like `rc-7_34_0-3`.

Release candidate tarballs are ephemeral and each such tarball is only kept
around for a few weeks. They are provided on their dedicated webpage at:
https://curl.se/rc/

The git tags for release candidate are temporary and remain set only for a
limited period of time.

**Do not use release candidates in production**. They are work in progress.
Use them for testing and verification only. Use actual releases in production.

# Critical problems

We can break the release cycle and do a patch release at any point if a
critical enough problem is reported. There is no exact definition of how to
assess such criticality, but if an issue is highly disturbing or has a
security impact on a large enough share of the user population it might
qualify.

If you think an issue qualifies, bring it to the curl-library mailing list and
push for it.

# Coming dates

Based on the description above, here are some planned future release dates:

- March 11, 2026
- April 29, 2026
- June 24, 2026
- August 19, 2026
- October 14, 2026
- December 9, 2026
- February 3, 2027
- March 31, 2027
