Glossary
Changelog & release glossary
Plain-English definitions for the terms you'll meet when working with changelogs, release notes, and versioning.
- Changelog
- A changelog is a chronologically ordered record of every notable change made to a software project across its versions, typically grouped by change type and dated by release. Read more →
- Release Notes
- Release notes are a curated, reader-friendly summary of the changes in a specific software release, written to tell users what is new, what is fixed, and what action they may need to take. Read more →
- Semantic Versioning (SemVer)
- Semantic versioning is a version-numbering scheme of the form MAJOR.MINOR.PATCH, where MAJOR marks breaking changes, MINOR marks backward-compatible features, and PATCH marks backward-compatible bug fixes. Read more →
- Conventional Commits
- Conventional Commits is a specification for writing commit messages with a structured prefix, such as feat or fix, so that tools can automatically classify changes, determine version bumps, and generate a changelog. Read more →
- Breaking Change
- A breaking change is any modification that requires consumers of the software to change their own code, configuration, or workflow to keep things working after they upgrade. Read more →
- Release Candidate (RC)
- A release candidate is a pre-release build that is considered feature complete and intended to become the final release unless a serious defect is found during testing. Read more →
- Hotfix
- A hotfix is an urgent, narrowly scoped patch released outside the normal schedule to correct a critical bug or security issue in production as quickly as possible. Read more →
- Patch Release
- A patch release is a version that contains only backward-compatible bug fixes, incrementing the third number in a semantic version, for example moving from v2.4.0 to v2.4.1. Read more →
- Feature Flag
- A feature flag is a switch in code that turns a feature on or off at runtime, letting teams deploy code without immediately exposing the feature to all users. Read more →
- RSS Feed (for changelogs)
- An RSS feed for a changelog is a machine-readable XML file that lists release entries in a standard format, letting readers and tools subscribe to updates and receive new releases automatically. Read more →
- Product Update
- A product update is a communication that informs users about new features, improvements, or fixes in a product, often delivered through a changelog, email, or in-app announcement. Read more →
- Git Tag
- A Git tag is a named marker that points to a specific commit, most often used to label release points such as v2.4.0 in a repository's history. Read more →
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