Feature Lifecycle
Feature Lifecycle
Crossplane follows a similar feature lifecycle to upstream Kubernetes. All major new features must be added in alpha. Alpha features are expected to eventually graduate to beta, and then to general availability (GA). Features that languish at alpha or beta may be subject to deprecation.
Alpha Features
Alpha are off by default, and must be enabled by a feature flag, for example
--enable-composition-revisions
. API types pertaining to alpha features use a
vNalphaN
style API version, like v1alpha
. Alpha features are subject to
removal or breaking changes without notice, and generally not considered ready
for use in production.
In some cases alpha features require fields be added to existing beta or GA
API types. In these cases fields must clearly be marked (for instance in their OpenAPI
schema) as alpha and subject to alpha API constraints (or lack thereof).
All alpha features should have an issue tracking their graduation to beta.
Beta Features
Beta features are on by default, but may be disabled by a feature flag. API
types pertaining to beta features use a vNbetaN
style API version, like
v1beta1
. Beta features are considered to be well tested, and won’t be
removed completely without being marked deprecated for at least two releases.
The schema and/or semantics of objects may change in incompatible ways in a subsequent beta or stable release. When this happens, we will provide instructions for migrating to the next version. This may require deleting, editing, and recreating API objects. The editing process may require some thought. This may require downtime for applications that rely on the feature.
In some cases beta features require fields be added to existing GA API types. In
these cases fields must clearly be marked (for instance in their OpenAPI schema) as beta
and subject to beta API constraints (or lack thereof).
All beta features should have an issue tracking their graduation to GA.
GA Features
GA features are always enabled - they can’t be disabled. API types pertaining
to GA features use vN
style API versions, like v1
. GA features are widely
used and thoroughly tested. They guarantee API stability - only backward
compatible changes are allowed.