# Versioning

This document describes the versioning policy for this repository. This policy
is designed so the following goals can be achieved.

**Users are provided a codebase of value that is stable and secure.**

## Policy

* Versioning of this project will be idiomatic of a Go project using [Go
  modules](https://github.com/golang/go/wiki/Modules).
  * [Semantic import
    versioning](https://github.com/golang/go/wiki/Modules#semantic-import-versioning)
    will be used.
    * Stable module compatibility is understood in terms of the [Go 1
      compatibility guidelines](https://go.dev/doc/go1compat). Code that
      compiled against an older version of a package should continue to compile
      against newer versions of that package, subject to the exceptions in the
      Go 1 compatibility guidelines and any additional exceptions documented
      below.
    * Versions will comply with [semver
      2.0](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0.html) with the following exceptions.
      * New methods may be added to exported API interfaces. All exported
        interfaces that fall within this exception will include the following
        paragraph in their public documentation.

        > Warning: methods may be added to this interface in minor releases.

    * If a module is version `v2` or higher, the major version of the module
      must be included as a `/vN` at the end of the module paths used in
      `go.mod` files (e.g., `module go.opentelemetry.io/otel/v2`, `require
      go.opentelemetry.io/otel/v2 v2.0.1`) and in the package import path
      (e.g., `import "go.opentelemetry.io/otel/v2/trace"`). This includes the
      paths used in `go get` commands (e.g., `go get
      go.opentelemetry.io/otel/v2@v2.0.1`).  Note there is both a `/v2` and a
      `@v2.0.1` in that example. One way to think about it is that the module
      name now includes the `/v2`, so include `/v2` whenever you are using the
      module name).
    * If a module is version `v0` or `v1`, do not include the major version in
      either the module path or the import path.
  * Modules will be used to encapsulate signals and components.
    * Experimental modules still under active development will be versioned at
      `v0` to imply the stability guarantee defined by
      [semver](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0.html#spec-item-4).

      > Major version zero (0.y.z) is for initial development. Anything MAY
      > change at any time. The public API SHOULD NOT be considered stable.

    * Mature modules for which we guarantee a stable public API will be versioned
      with a major version greater than `v0`.
      * The decision to make a module stable will be made on a case-by-case
        basis by the maintainers of this project.
    * Experimental modules will start their versioning at `v0.0.0` and will
      increment their minor version when backwards incompatible changes are
      released and increment their patch version when backwards compatible
      changes are released.
    * All stable modules that use the same major version number will use the
      same entire version number.
      * Stable modules may be released with an incremented minor or patch
        version even though that module has not been changed, but rather so
        that it will remain at the same version as other stable modules that
        did undergo change.
      * When an experimental module becomes stable a new stable module version
        will be released and will include this now stable module. The new
        stable module version will be an increment of the minor version number
        and will be applied to all existing stable modules as well as the newly
        stable module being released.
* Versioning of the associated [contrib
  repository](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-go-contrib) of
  this project will be idiomatic of a Go project using [Go
  modules](https://github.com/golang/go/wiki/Modules).
  * [Semantic import
    versioning](https://github.com/golang/go/wiki/Modules#semantic-import-versioning)
    will be used.
    * Versions will comply with [semver 2.0](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0.html).
    * If a module is version `v2` or higher, the
      major version of the module must be included as a `/vN` at the end of the
      module paths used in `go.mod` files (e.g., `module
      go.opentelemetry.io/contrib/instrumentation/host/v2`, `require
      go.opentelemetry.io/contrib/instrumentation/host/v2 v2.0.1`) and in the
      package import path (e.g., `import
      "go.opentelemetry.io/contrib/instrumentation/host/v2"`). This includes
      the paths used in `go get` commands (e.g., `go get
      go.opentelemetry.io/contrib/instrumentation/host/v2@v2.0.1`.  Note there
      is both a `/v2` and a `@v2.0.1` in that example. One way to think about
      it is that the module name now includes the `/v2`, so include `/v2`
      whenever you are using the module name).
    * If a module is version `v0` or `v1`, do not include the major version
      in either the module path or the import path.
  * In addition to public APIs, telemetry produced by stable instrumentation
    will remain stable and backwards compatible. This is to avoid breaking
    alerts and dashboards.
  * Modules will be used to encapsulate instrumentation, detectors, exporters,
    propagators, and any other independent sets of related components.
    * Experimental modules still under active development will be versioned at
      `v0` to imply the stability guarantee defined by
      [semver](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0.html#spec-item-4).

      > Major version zero (0.y.z) is for initial development. Anything MAY
      > change at any time. The public API SHOULD NOT be considered stable.

    * Mature modules for which we guarantee a stable public API and telemetry will
      be versioned with a major version greater than `v0`.
    * Experimental modules will start their versioning at `v0.0.0` and will
      increment their minor version when backwards incompatible changes are
      released and increment their patch version when backwards compatible
      changes are released.
    * Stable contrib modules cannot depend on experimental modules from this
      project.
    * All stable contrib modules of the same major version with this project
      will use the same entire version as this project.
      * Stable modules may be released with an incremented minor or patch
        version even though that module's code has not been changed. Instead
        the only change that will have been included is to have updated that
        modules dependency on this project's stable APIs.
      * When an experimental module in contrib becomes stable a new stable
        module version will be released and will include this now stable
        module. The new stable module version will be an increment of the minor
        version number and will be applied to all existing stable contrib
        modules, this project's modules, and the newly stable module being
        released.
  * Contrib modules will be kept up to date with this project's releases.
    * Due to the dependency contrib modules will implicitly have on this
      project's modules the release of stable contrib modules to match the
      released version number will be staggered after this project's release.
      There is no explicit time guarantee for how long after this projects
      release the contrib release will be. Effort should be made to keep them
      as close in time as possible.
    * No additional stable release in this project can be made until the
      contrib repository has a matching stable release.
    * No release can be made in the contrib repository after this project's
      stable release except for a stable release of the contrib repository.
* GitHub releases will be made for all releases.
* Go modules will be made available at Go package mirrors.

## Example Versioning Lifecycle

To better understand the implementation of the above policy the following
example is provided. This project is simplified to include only the following
modules and their versions:

* `otel`: `v0.14.0`
* `otel/trace`: `v0.14.0`
* `otel/metric`: `v0.14.0`
* `otel/baggage`: `v0.14.0`
* `otel/sdk/trace`: `v0.14.0`
* `otel/sdk/metric`: `v0.14.0`

These modules have been developed to a point where the `otel/trace`,
`otel/baggage`, and `otel/sdk/trace` modules have reached a point that they
should be considered for a stable release. The `otel/metric` and
`otel/sdk/metric` are still under active development and the `otel` module
depends on both `otel/trace` and `otel/metric`.

The `otel` package is refactored to remove its dependencies on `otel/metric` so
it can be released as stable as well. With that done the following release
candidates are made:

* `otel`: `v1.0.0-RC1`
* `otel/trace`: `v1.0.0-RC1`
* `otel/baggage`: `v1.0.0-RC1`
* `otel/sdk/trace`: `v1.0.0-RC1`

The `otel/metric` and `otel/sdk/metric` modules remain at `v0.14.0`.

A few minor issues are discovered in the `otel/trace` package. These issues are
resolved with some minor, but backwards incompatible, changes and are released
as a second release candidate:

* `otel`: `v1.0.0-RC2`
* `otel/trace`: `v1.0.0-RC2`
* `otel/baggage`: `v1.0.0-RC2`
* `otel/sdk/trace`: `v1.0.0-RC2`

Notice that all module version numbers are incremented to adhere to our
versioning policy.

After these release candidates have been evaluated to satisfaction, they are
released as version `v1.0.0`.

* `otel`: `v1.0.0`
* `otel/trace`: `v1.0.0`
* `otel/baggage`: `v1.0.0`
* `otel/sdk/trace`: `v1.0.0`

Since both the `go` utility and the Go module system support [the semantic
versioning definition of
precedence](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0.html#spec-item-11), this release
will correctly be interpreted as the successor to the previous release
candidates.

Active development of this project continues. The `otel/metric` module now has
backwards incompatible changes to its API that need to be released and the
`otel/baggage` module has a minor bug fix that needs to be released. The
following release is made:

* `otel`: `v1.0.1`
* `otel/trace`: `v1.0.1`
* `otel/metric`: `v0.15.0`
* `otel/baggage`: `v1.0.1`
* `otel/sdk/trace`: `v1.0.1`
* `otel/sdk/metric`: `v0.15.0`

Notice that, again, all stable module versions are incremented in unison and
the `otel/sdk/metric` package, which depends on the `otel/metric` package, also
bumped its version. This bump of the `otel/sdk/metric` package makes sense
given their coupling, though it is not explicitly required by our versioning
policy.

As we progress, the `otel/metric` and `otel/sdk/metric` packages have reached a
point where they should be evaluated for stability. The `otel` module is
reintegrated with the `otel/metric` package and the following release is made:

* `otel`: `v1.1.0-RC1`
* `otel/trace`: `v1.1.0-RC1`
* `otel/metric`: `v1.1.0-RC1`
* `otel/baggage`: `v1.1.0-RC1`
* `otel/sdk/trace`: `v1.1.0-RC1`
* `otel/sdk/metric`: `v1.1.0-RC1`

All the modules are evaluated and determined to a viable stable release. They
are then released as version `v1.1.0` (the minor version is incremented to
indicate the addition of new signal).

* `otel`: `v1.1.0`
* `otel/trace`: `v1.1.0`
* `otel/metric`: `v1.1.0`
* `otel/baggage`: `v1.1.0`
* `otel/sdk/trace`: `v1.1.0`
* `otel/sdk/metric`: `v1.1.0`
