Support Policy

Use this page when you need the exact maintenance contract behind a release line or channel.

Validation and support are related, but they are not the same thing. This page defines which release lines receive best-effort maintenance attention, how channels differ, and what the project expects from operators before they ask for issue triage.

Current support window

The project provides best-effort support for the latest stable release line.

Reference table

Release channels

Release channels.

Channel	What it is for	Support stance
Stable (X.Y.Z)	Real deployments and the main production line.	Best-effort support on the latest stable line.
Prerelease (-rc, -beta, -alpha)	Evaluation before the next stable release.	No expanded support window; use for testing and early adoption only.
Edge (main snapshots)	Continuous validation and integration signal.	Not a production support channel.
Nightly	Scheduled validation snapshots.	Not a production support channel.

Pre-GA release contract

OpenBao Operator is still pre-GA:

• the served CRD API is openbao.org/v1alpha1
• minor releases may introduce breaking API or behavior changes
• support is best-effort and focused on the latest stable release line

Validation versus support

• Compatibility Matrix defines what is explicitly validated in CI.
• This page defines what receives best-effort maintenance attention.
• Recommended for production means the documented hardened operating path, not a promise of long-lived pre-GA API stability.

Security fixes

Security fixes follow SECURITY.md:

• security fixes are provided for the latest released version
• vulnerabilities should be reported through GitHub Security Advisories

Reference table

Operator expectations for production use

Operator expectations for production use.

Expectation	Why it matters
Pin explicit operator and chart versions	Floating channels make support and rollback reasoning weaker.
Stay close to the latest stable release	The project focuses its maintenance effort on that line.
Use the Hardened profile with admission enforcement enabled	This is the documented production posture behind most guidance.
Validate upgrades in staging	Best-effort support does not remove the need for environment-specific rehearsal.
Avoid prerelease, edge, and nightly for production	These channels are designed for evaluation and validation, not supported production drift.

Related support references

Release policyOpen the public cadence and release-gate contract when the next question is when the project ships, not just what it supports.Compatibility matrixOpen the validation matrix when the next question is whether a platform or version is exercised by CI.Known limitationsCheck current caveats and non-goals when an unsupported behavior might actually be a deliberate constraint.Release managementUse the maintainer release workflow when you need the operational process behind these support promises.