Skip to content

Document supported versions policy (4.0+) #1686

New issue

Have a question about this project? Sign up for a free GitHub account to open an issue and contact its maintainers and the community.

Sign up for GitHub

By clicking “Sign up for GitHub”, you agree to our terms of service and privacy statement. We’ll occasionally send you account related emails.

Already on GitHub? Sign in to your account

Closed
bart-vmware wants to merge 2 commits into from
Closed

Document supported versions policy (4.0+) #1686

Show file tree
Hide file tree
Changes from all commits
Commits
Show all changes
2 commits
Select commit Hold shift + click to select a range
b87731d
Add Steeltoe-Support-Versions.md (snapshot of current wiki)
bart-vmware Apr 29, 2026
739f0d9
Update supported versions policy (4.0+)
bart-vmware Apr 29, 2026
File filter

Filter by extension

Filter by extension
Conversations
Failed to load comments.
Loading
Jump to
Jump to file
Failed to load files.
Loading
Diff view
Diff view
2 changes: 1 addition & 1 deletion README.md
View file
Open in desktop
Original file line number Diff line number Diff line change
Expand Up @@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ In addition to the [feature documentation](https://steeltoe.io/api), we have bui
| 3.x (Integration, Messaging and Stream) | .NET Core 3.1 - .NET 6 |
| 2.x | .NET Framework 4.6.1+ |

For more details, see [Supported Versions on the Wiki](https://github.com/SteeltoeOSS/Steeltoe/wiki/Steeltoe-Support-Versions).
For the support policy and the release support matrix, see [Supported versions](docs/Steeltoe-Support-Versions.md) in this repository. The [Supported versions on the Wiki](https://github.com/SteeltoeOSS/Steeltoe/wiki/Steeltoe-Support-Versions) should be updated to match this file when maintainers sync after a merge (copy the contents of `docs/Steeltoe-Support-Versions.md` to the wiki).

## Support and Feedback

Expand Down
69 changes: 69 additions & 0 deletions docs/Steeltoe-Support-Versions.md
View file
Open in desktop
Original file line number Diff line number Diff line change
@@ -0,0 +1,69 @@
# Steeltoe Supported Versions

This document lists all versions of Steeltoe and their corresponding support lifecycles.

## Support Policy

**For Steeltoe 4.0 and newer:** The policy below applies to these versions. It does not change the dates already shown for **older** rows in the table below. For **3.x and below**, use the table as written.

Steeltoe is *informed by* the [VMware Tanzu OSS support policy](https://docs.broadcom.com/doc/tanzu-support-oss) for how we think about support. The rules in this section are the Steeltoe project rules. They apply to **Steeltoe 4.0 and newer**.

* **How long is a major supported?** A **major** is supported for **at least three years** from the **date that major was released**. It is also supported for **at least one year** after the **date the next major is released**. Support ends on the **later** of these two dates.
* **Where do fixes go?** **Security** fixes and fixes for **serious** bugs are provided only in **new patch** releases of the **newest** **minor** in a supported **major** (for example, only 4.2.x if 4.2 is the newest minor, not 4.0.x or 4.1.x). You need the **latest patch** of that **newest** minor. We do **not** add new **security** patches to **older** minors. **Upgrade** to the newest **minor** and the **latest patch** to get those fixes.

### Go-live Releases

Go-live releases are supported by the Steeltoe team in production. These are typically our release candidate builds, just before the generally available (GA) release.

Pre-GA and go-live packages are not in scope for the same security patch policy unless explicitly announced.

## Released Versions

When new versions of Steeltoe are released, they are tested with the latest supported versions of .NET.
It is recommended to run the latest patch version for the targeted Steeltoe release.

For **4.0 and newer**, use the **newest** **minor** in your **major** and the **latest patch** to get **security** fixes (see **Support Policy** above). The table below is unchanged for older versions: see the **Scope** note in **Support Policy** above.

### Release Support Matrix

| Steeltoe Version | Release Date | End of Life Date | .NET Runtime Version |
| ---------------- | ------------ | ---------------- | -------------------- |
| 4.1.0 | January 30, 2026 | January 2027 | .NET 8 - 10 |
| 4.0.0 | September 4, 2025 | September 2028 | .NET 8 - 9 |
| 3.3.0 | September 4, 2025 | September 2026 | .NET 6 - 8* |
| 3.2.0 | May 26, 2022 | May 26, 2023 | .NET Core 3.1, .NET 5 - 6 |
| 3.1.0 | July 13, 2021 | July 31, 2022 | .NET Core 3.1, .NET 5 |
| 3.0.0 | August 21, 2020 | August 31, 2023 | .NET Core 3.1 |
| 2.5.0 | October 1, 2020 | October 31, 2023 | .NET Framework 4.6.2 - 4.8, .NET Core 2.1 - 3.1 |
| 2.4.0 | November 13, 2019 | December 31, 2021| .NET Framework 4.6.1 - 4.8, .NET Core 2.1 - 3.1 |
| 2.3.0 | August 21, 2019 | December 31, 2021| .NET Framework 4.6.1 - 4.8, .NET Core 2.1 - 3.1 |
| 2.2.0 | March 15, 2019 | December 31, 2021| .NET Framework 4.6.1 - 4.8, .NET Core 2.1 - 3.1 |
| 2.1.0 | August 17, 2018 | December 31, 2021| .NET Framework 4.6.1 - 4.8, .NET Core 2.0 - 3.1 |
| 2.0.0 | February 15, 2018 | December 31, 2021| .NET Framework 4.6.1 - 4.8, .NET Core 2.0 - 3.1 |
| 1.1.0 | September 15, 2017 | August 31, 2019 | .NET Framework 4.5.2 - 4.7, .NET Core 1.0 - 1.1 |
| 1.0.0 | March 31, 2017 | August 31, 2019 | .NET Framework 4.5.2 - 4.6.2, .NET Core 1.0 - 1.1 |

\* Integration, Messaging and Stream are supported on .NET 6 only.

**Note (4.0+):** End of support for a **major** is no **earlier** than: (1) **three years** after that major’s first release, or (2) **one year** after the next major releases—**whichever date is later**. The dates in the table for **3.x and older** are not changed by this policy.

> [!NOTE]
> For each release, we list the original release date, along with the .NET versions supported at that moment in time.
> These are the combinations that were confirmed to work when the release was created.
> If newer .NET versions emerge before the end-of-life date, we don't list them here.
> That doesn't mean they won't work or won't be supported, only that they aren't automatically guaranteed.

## Release Compatibility

The Steeltoe team is aware of the need for stability and backward compatibility between releases.
Our goal is to keep backward compatibility across all minor and maintenance releases (for example: 3.1.3 should work with 3.1.2, 3.1.1, 3.1.0).
Major releases are utilized to remove all deprecated code and make breaking changes when necessary for code optimization, enhancements, architecture changes, and redesign.
We strive to keep all compatibility changes/breakages to major releases only.
There is a rare chance that we might be forced to break compatibility in a minor release, but we will be sure to be clear of our reasons for doing so.

**Security** fixes and fixes for **serious** bugs do not go to every **minor** in a **major** at the same time. For **4.0 and newer**, use the **newest** **minor** and the **latest patch** (see **Support Policy** above). Moving up between **minors** should still be in line with our **compatibility** goals within a **major** as described above.

## .NET Runtime Support

Steeltoe libraries depend on .NET runtimes, so we follow the [.NET and .NET Core Support Policy](https://dotnet.microsoft.com/platform/support/policy/dotnet-core).
Once a runtime is out of support, Steeltoe will also discontinue support for running our libraries on those runtime versions.
Loading