OctoPrint’s branching model¶

There are two main branches in OctoPrint:

main

The main branch always contains the current stable release plus any changes since made to documentation, CI related tests or Github meta files. OctoPrint’s actual code will only be modified on new releases. Will have a version number following the scheme <x>.<y>.<z> (e.g. 1.11.2).

dev

Ongoing development of what will become the next non-bugfix release. More or less continuously updated. You can consider this a preview of the next release version. It should be very stable at all times. Anything you spot in here helps tremendously with getting a rock solid next stable release, so if you want to help out development, running the dev branch and reporting back anything you find is a very good way to do that. Will usually have a version number following the scheme <x>.<y+1>.<0>.dev<commits since increase of y> for an OctoPrint version of <x>.<y>.<z> (e.g. 1.12.0.dev114 for a stable 1.11.2). On a backwards incompatible release, it will be <x+1>.0.0.dev<commits since increase of x> (e.g. 2.0.0.dev38 for a stable 1.11.2).

There are couple more bugfix and RC related branches that see regular use:

bugfix

Any preparation for potential bugfix releases takes place here. Version number follows the scheme <x>.<y>.<z+1>.dev<commits since increase of z> for a current release of <x>.<y>.<z> (e.g. 1.11.3.dev4 for a stable 1.11.2).

next

This branch is reserved for future releases that have graduated from the dev branch and are now being pushed on the “Maintenance” pre release channel for further testing. Version number usually follows the scheme <x>.<y+1>.0rc<n> for a current release of <x>.<y>.<z> (e.g. 1.12.0rc1 for a stable 1.11.2). On a backwards incompatible release, it will be <x+1>.0.0rc<n> (e.g. 2.0.0rc1 for a stable 1.11.2).

Additionally, from time to time you might see other branches pop up in the repository. Those usually have one of the following prefixes:

bug/...

Fixes under development that are to be merged into the bugfix and later the main branch.

regression/...

Fixes for regressions discovered in the current RC that are to be merged into the next branch.

wip/...

Changes under development that are to be merged into the dev branch.

There are also a few older development branches that are slowly being migrated or deleted.

All these branches and branch patterns are set up to automatically get a correct version number generated through a custom versioning tool and thus should also be adhered to during development.