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Fluent Bit Maintenance Policy

This document outlines the maintenance strategy and version support for Fluent Bit.

Active Branches and Maintainers

Branch Version Status Maintainer Notes
master v5.1 (development) Active development Eduardo Silva Next minor development line. All new features and bug fixes land here first
5.0 v5.0.x Stable Eduardo Silva Hiroshi Hatake (@cosmo0920) Current stable release series. Receives bug fixes, security fixes, and selected low-risk backports.
4.2 v4.2.x Maintenance only Eduardo Silva Hiroshi Hatake (@cosmo0920) Critical fixes and safe backports only. Maintained until July 30, 2026
4.1 v4.1.x Maintenance only Hiroshi Hatake (@cosmo0920) Critical fixes and safe backports only. Maintained until February 28, 2026

Maintenance Policy

Active development is currently on the next Fluent Bit v5.1 line (tracked in the master branch). The v5.0 branch is the current stable release series and receives stable branch updates. Previous release lines enter maintenance mode after the next major/minor release.

Accepted Changes for Maintenance Branches

  • ✅ Security patches (see SECURITY.md for security update timelines)
  • ✅ Critical bug fixes
  • ✅ Low-risk enhancements that unblock adoption (e.g., OpenTelemetry improvements, performance tuning)

⚠️ All changes must first be merged into master before being cherry-picked into maintenance branches by the maintainer.

Maintenance releases continue on an as-needed basis depending on urgency and impact.

v5.0 Stable Series

v5.0 is the current stable release series and receives bug fixes, security updates, and selected low-risk backports. This is the recommended version for production use.

v4.2 Maintenance

v4.2 has entered maintenance mode and receives critical fixes and safe backports until July 30, 2026 (as specified in SECURITY.md).

v4.1 Maintenance

v4.1 has entered maintenance mode, now maintained by Hiroshi Hatake (@cosmo0920), a long-time Fluent Bit contributor and core developer.

v4.1 will receive security updates and critical fixes until February 28, 2026 (as specified in SECURITY.md).

v4.0 Maintenance

v4.0 reached End-of-Life (EOL) on December 23, 2025 and is no longer maintained. No further security patches or bug fixes will be provided for this version line.

How to Contribute to Maintained Versions

If you're submitting a fix or feature relevant to a stable or maintenance branch (v5.0, v4.2, or v4.1):

  • Open your PR against the master branch
  • Add a note in the PR or issue: Target: v5.0, Target: v4.2, or Target: v4.1
  • Tag the branch maintainer to request backport consideration:

Note: v4.0 is End-of-Life and no longer accepts backports. For security-related issues, please follow the process outlined in SECURITY.md.