Effective release management ensures database stability, predictable upgrade paths, and clear communication of changes. Geode follows industry-standard semantic versioning combined with rigorous testing and transparent release processes to deliver reliable, enterprise-grade graph database releases.

As an ISO/IEC 39075:2024 GQL-compliant graph database, Geode’s release strategy balances innovation with stability, providing regular feature updates while maintaining backward compatibility and production reliability. This guide explains Geode’s versioning strategy, release cycles, and best practices for managing upgrades.

Semantic Versioning

Geode uses semantic versioning (SemVer) for all releases:

MAJOR.MINOR.PATCH[-PRERELEASE][+BUILD]

Examples:
0.2.15         - Stable release
1.0.0           - Major version
1.2.3-beta.1    - Pre-release
1.2.3+20240124  - Build metadata

Version Components:

MAJOR (Breaking Changes):

  • Incompatible API changes
  • Protocol breaking changes
  • Removal of deprecated features
  • Major architectural changes
  • Migration required

MINOR (New Features):

  • New features (backward-compatible)
  • New APIs (backward-compatible)
  • Performance improvements
  • Enhancements to existing features
  • No breaking changes

PATCH (Bug Fixes):

  • Bug fixes (backward-compatible)
  • Security patches
  • Documentation corrections
  • Minor performance tweaks
  • No new features

Current Release: v0.5.12

Release Date: May 7, 2026 Status: Current stable release Support Level: Full Support

Key Features

Enterprise Readiness:

  • 100% GQL compliance (see conformance profile)
  • v0.5.12 release cut validated with 619/619 unit tests
  • Current mainline GAP analysis tracking 3847 passed, 70 failed, 35 skipped
  • Full ACID transaction support
  • Row-Level Security (RLS), API keys, MFA, and mTLS support

Architecture:

  • DSN graph binding with graph-scoped sessions
  • Per-graph storage and graph-storage integration
  • Memory-mapped I/O with page-level caching
  • Cost-based query optimization
  • CTE execution and DOT output support

Protocol:

  • QUIC + TLS 1.3 (mandatory)
  • QUIC stream multiplexing in the v0.2.x line
  • Default port: 3141
  • Bidirectional streaming support

Client Libraries:

  • Go client rolling stable module
  • Python client v0.3.19
  • Rust client v0.1.1-alpha.8
  • Zig client v0.1.0

Upgrade into v0.2.x

Breaking Changes:

  1. Storage layout changed significantly across the March 2026 v0.1.x to v0.2.x transition.
  2. DSN graph binding now controls the default graph in more surfaces.
  3. Auth tooling and graph-storage behavior should be revalidated in staging before rollout.

Migration Steps:

# 1. Backup existing database
geode backup create --output pre-v0.5.12-backup.tar.gz

# 2. Stop v0.1.x server
geode shutdown

# 3. Install v0.5.12
curl -sSL https://install.geodedb.com | sh

# 4. Update configuration
# Change port from 8443 to 3141
# Remove TCP protocol settings

# 5. Start v0.5.12 server
geode serve --config /etc/geode/config.yaml

# 6. Update client libraries
go get -u geodedb.com/[email protected]
pip install --upgrade geode-client==0.3.19
cargo update -p geode-client --precise 0.1.1-alpha.8

Release Channels

Geode provides multiple release channels for different use cases:

Stable (Recommended for Production):

  • Fully tested and validated
  • Long-term support
  • Security updates guaranteed
  • Example: v0.5.12

Beta (Early Access):

  • Feature-complete but undergoing final testing
  • Preview upcoming features
  • Not recommended for production
  • Example: v0.2.16-rc.1

Alpha (Experimental):

  • Early development builds
  • APIs may change
  • For testing only
  • Example: v0.2.16-alpha.1

Nightly (Development):

  • Daily builds from main branch
  • Bleeding edge features
  • Unstable, for development only
  • Example: vX.Y.Z-dev+YYYYMMDD

Release Schedule

Major Releases (Annually):

  • January of each year
  • Breaking changes allowed
  • 12-month support window
  • Migration guides provided

Minor Releases (Quarterly):

  • January, April, July, October
  • New features and enhancements
  • Backward-compatible
  • No migration required

Patch Releases (As Needed):

  • Released as bugs are discovered and fixed
  • Typically within 1-2 weeks of bug report
  • Security patches released immediately

Long-Term Support (LTS):

  • Every major version receives LTS status
  • 24 months of security updates
  • 12 months of feature updates
  • Example: v1.0.0 LTS supported until January 2028

Download and Installation

Linux Packages:

# Debian/Ubuntu (APT repository - recommended for automatic updates)
curl -fsSL https://apt.geodedb.com/geode.gpg | \
  sudo gpg --dearmor -o /usr/share/keyrings/geode-archive-keyring.gpg
echo "deb [signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/geode-archive-keyring.gpg] https://apt.geodedb.com stable main" | \
  sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/geode.list
sudo apt update
sudo apt install geode

# RHEL/Fedora
curl -L -o geode.rpm https://gitlab.com/devnw/codepros/geode/geode/-/releases/latest/download/geode-linux-x86_64.rpm
sudo rpm -i geode.rpm

macOS (Homebrew):

# Install via Homebrew (recommended)
brew install geodedb/geode/geode

From Source:

git clone https://github.com/codeprosorg/geode
cd geode
git checkout v0.5.12
make build
./zig-out/bin/geode serve --listen 0.0.0.0:3141

Docker:

# Latest stable release
docker pull geodedb/geode:latest
docker pull geodedb/geode:0.2

# Specific version
docker pull geodedb/geode:0.5.12

# Run container
docker run -p 3141:3141 geodedb/geode:0.5.12

Additional package managers are not currently published; use release artifacts, Docker, or build from source.

Release Testing Process

Before any release, Geode undergoes comprehensive testing:

Test Suite:

  1. Unit tests (v0.5.12 release cut: 619/619 passing)
  2. Integration tests (cross-client validation)
  3. GQL compliance tests (see conformance profile)
  4. Performance benchmarks
  5. Concurrency stress tests
  6. Memory leak detection
  7. Security scanning

Validation Criteria:

  • All unit tests passing
  • Zero critical bugs
  • Performance benchmarks within 5% of baseline
  • Security scan clean
  • Documentation complete
  • Migration guide reviewed

Support Policy

Current Versions:

  • v0.2.x: Full support (current stable feature line)
  • v0.1.28-v0.1.39: Upgrade-planned support for existing March 2026 deployments
  • v0.1.3-v0.1.27: Legacy line; upgrade with backup and restore validation

Support Levels:

Full Support:

  • Latest major version
  • New features and enhancements
  • Bug fixes and security patches
  • Duration: 12 months from release

Maintenance Mode:

  • Previous major version
  • Critical bug fixes only
  • Security patches
  • Duration: 12 months after full support

End of Life (EOL):

  • No updates or patches
  • Upgrade to supported version recommended

Release Notes Format

Each release includes detailed release notes:

# Geode v0.2.15

**Release Date**: March 29, 2026
**Status**: Current stable release

## Highlights
- 100% GQL compliance
- QUIC stream multiplexing and poll-loop improvements
- CTE execution and DOT output support
- Current auth and graph-storage fixes in the stable line

## Added
- Feature 1: Description
- Feature 2: Description

## Changed
- Change 1: Description and rationale
- Change 2: Migration steps if needed

## Fixed
- Bug 1: Description
- Bug 2: Impact and resolution

## Security
- CVE-2024-XXXX: Description and severity

## Performance
- Improvement 1: Benchmark results
- Improvement 2: Impact measurement

## Deprecated
- Feature: Timeline for removal

## Breaking Changes
- Change: Migration guide link

Roadmap and Future Releases

v0.1.4 (Planned: April 2026):

  • Enhanced vector search capabilities
  • Graph algorithms library
  • Query result caching
  • Additional client language support

v0.2.0 (Planned: July 2026):

  • Distributed query execution
  • Sharding and partitioning
  • Advanced analytics functions
  • Time-travel queries

v1.0.0 (Planned: January 2027):

  • First LTS major version
  • API stability guarantee
  • Enterprise support packages
  • Certification program

Upgrade Best Practices

Pre-Upgrade Checklist:

  1. Review release notes and breaking changes
  2. Check compatibility matrix for client libraries
  3. Backup database and configuration
  4. Test upgrade in staging environment
  5. Plan maintenance window
  6. Prepare rollback plan

Upgrade Execution:

  1. Announce maintenance window to users
  2. Create backup immediately before upgrade
  3. Stop application traffic
  4. Perform database upgrade
  5. Verify server startup and health checks
  6. Run smoke tests
  7. Resume application traffic
  8. Monitor metrics and logs

Post-Upgrade Validation:

  1. Verify all services started correctly
  2. Run integration test suite
  3. Check query performance benchmarks
  4. Review error logs
  5. Validate client connections
  6. Monitor resource utilization

Rollback Procedures

If upgrade fails, execute rollback:

# 1. Stop failed v0.5.12 server
geode shutdown

# 2. Restore previous stable binary
sudo dpkg -i geode-0.2.14.deb

# 3. Restore database from backup
geode restore --input pre-v0.5.12-backup.tar.gz

# 4. Restore configuration
cp /etc/geode/config.yaml.backup /etc/geode/config.yaml

# 5. Start v0.1.x server
geode serve

# 6. Verify functionality
geode status
geode query "MATCH (n) RETURN COUNT(n);"
  • Version Changelog and Release History
  • Version Management
  • Migration Guides
  • Upgrade Procedures
  • Compatibility Matrix
  • Support Policy
  • Security Advisories

Further Reading

  • Semantic Versioning Specification
  • Release Management Best Practices
  • Database Upgrade Strategies
  • Zero-Downtime Deployment
  • Continuous Delivery for Databases
  • Version Compatibility Testing
  • Production Deployment Guide

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