Release Cycle

A new Blender version is targeted to be released every 3 months. The actual release cycle for a specific release is longer, and overlaps the previous and next release cycle.

Branches

Work is done in two branches:

• blender-v{VERSION}-release branch: fixes and other incremental improvements.

• main branch: documentation for new features and improvements for the release after that.

The blender-v{VERSION}-release branch will be available for 5 weeks prior to the release date. At the same time main will be open for the next release, giving 2 months to add documentation for new features of the next release, and another month to make improvements.

Switching Branches

To switch to the release branch use:

git checkout blender-v{VERSION}-release

To switch back to the development branch use:

git checkout main

Updating Branches

To merge changes from the release branch to the development branch, first switch to the development branch and use:

git merge blender-v{VERSION}-release

Bcon Phases

Each Blender version has its own Bcon phase, indicating which types of changes are allowed to be committed and what writers are focusing on.

That means for example that Blender 2.90 can be in Bcon3 (wrapping up), while Blender 2.91 is in Bcon1 (new features and changes).

Phase	Beschreibung	Duration	Details	Branch
Bcon1	New features and changes	4-5 weeks	The first 5 weeks overlap with the Bcon3 and Bcon4 phases of the previous release, Writing focus will be split on fixes for the previous release and writing documentation for features already added or likely to be added to Blender. This is also the perfect time to make any larger or more disruptive improvements to the manual.	main
Bcon2	Improve and stabilize	4 weeks	Work to improve, optimize and fix bugs in new and existing features. All big or disruptive changes must be finished at the end of this stage.	main
Bcon3	Wrapping up	4 weeks	Focus should be on fixes and other incremental improvements. All new Blender features should be documented by the end of this stage.	blender-v{VERSION}-release
Bcon4	Prepare release	1 week	Focus should be wrapping up fixes and other incremental improvements.	blender-v{VERSION}-release
Bcon5	Release	1-2 days	The manual is archived on the server and redirects / symlinks are updated. See the Release Guide for more information.
Bcon6	Long-term release	2 years	In case a major error is found in the manual the patch will be committed to the release branch.	blender-v{VERSION}-release