Releases and Versioning

Releases and Versioning

How Zefer is versioned, released, and where to track changes.

• Releases: https://github.com/carrilloapps/zefer/releases
• Changelog: CHANGELOG.md

Versioning scheme (Semantic Versioning)

Zefer follows SemVer: versions look like MAJOR.MINOR.PATCH (e.g., 0.10.1).

flowchart LR
  V["MAJOR . MINOR . PATCH"]
  V --> MA["MAJOR<br/>breaking changes"]
  V --> MI["MINOR<br/>new features,<br/>backward-compatible"]
  V --> PA["PATCH<br/>fixes & docs,<br/>backward-compatible"]

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• MAJOR — incompatible changes (e.g., a breaking change to the .zefer format). The current .zefer payload version is v3; new files use ZEFB3/ZEFR3 while older formats remain decryptable (see Binary File Format).
• MINOR — new, backward-compatible features (a new page, a new option).
• PATCH — backward-compatible bug fixes and documentation.

While the project is pre-1.0, the API and format may still evolve, but backward-compatible decryption of older .zefer files is preserved.

Where the version appears

A single release version is reflected consistently across the app:

• the in-app build badge (Open Graph / Twitter preview images),
• the WebApplication JSON-LD softwareVersion,
• package.json,
• and a matching CHANGELOG.md entry.

Release notes structure

Every GitHub release uses the same structure for consistency:

1. A one-line summary.
2. Keep-a-Changelog sections in a fixed order: Added → Changed → Deprecated → Removed → Fixed → Security (only the non-empty ones appear).
3. A standard Full Changelog link comparing the previous tag to this one.

Titles follow vX.Y.Z — <short summary>.

Release checklist (for maintainers)

When cutting a release, these are updated together so the version is coherent everywhere:

1. CHANGELOG.md — new version entry
2. package.json — version
3. app/layout.tsx — softwareVersion in the JSON-LD
4. app/opengraph-image.tsx — version badge
5. app/twitter-image.tsx — version badge
6. app/sitemap.ts — lastModified

Then tag and publish the GitHub release. See Contributing for the full development workflow.

Tracking changes

• Humans: read the Changelog or the Releases page.
• AI tools: the site publishes /llms.txt as machine-readable context.

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📖 Glossary — terms on this page: ZEFB3 / ZEFR3 · payload · public header. Full list in the Glossary.