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Releases

A new minor version every three to four weeks, patch releases when something breaks. The current version is 2.8.1, released on 2026-10-09. Detailed notes exist for the three most recent releases; older entries are summarised on this page.

Supported: 2.8.x until 2.9.0 ships · 2.7.x until 2026-11-17 · 2.6.x closed

Version list

• 2.8.12026-10-09Cache layout v3, CRLF apply fixes, per-file verify output. patch
• 2.8.02026-09-17Gecko-family preview, content-hashed cache keys, JSON output. minor
• 2.7.02026-08-20Config profiles, series lint, single-patch apply. minor
• 2.6.22026-07-23Link failure with LTO on clang 18, doctor false negative on macOS. patch
• 2.6.02026-06-25Object cache shared across series, faster dry runs. minor
• 2.5.12026-05-28Series manifest parser accepted duplicate ids. patch
• 2.5.02026-04-30Reject-file workflow, apply --continue, log levels. minor
• 2.4.02026-04-02Verify manifest, blake3 hashing, build --check. minor
• 2.3.02026-03-05Patch catalogue shipped with the binary; init writes two patches. minor
• 2.2.02026-02-04Three-way apply, lockfile patch hashes. minor
• 2.1.02026-01-07ARM64 Linux, --jobs cap, cache gc. minor
• 2.0.02025-12-03Patch header v1, lockfile v1, new apply pipeline; migration command. major
• 1.9.02025-11-05Dry run for apply and build, predictable exit codes. minor
• 1.8.02025-10-08Series manifest, patch order validation. minor
• 1.7.02025-09-10Cache directory, resumable fetch. minor
• 1.6.02025-08-13Windows builds through WSL2, path handling fixes. minor
• 1.5.02025-07-16Build targets, clang selection, doctor command. minor
• 1.4.02025-06-18Source pinning by revision, lockfile draft. minor
• 1.3.02025-05-21Patch metadata in comments, conflict reports. minor
• 1.2.12025-04-16First month of reports: paths with spaces, exit codes. patch
• 1.2.02025-03-13First public release: fetch, apply, build. minor

How versions work

The minor number moves when the patch format, the configuration keys or the behaviour of a command changes in a way a series can notice. The patch number moves for fixes that keep every file compatible. A major release may remove a command or a configuration key; 2.0.0 did both and shipped with bep migrate, which rewrote old series files in place and kept a backup next to them.

Support windows

Release artefacts

Each release publishes one source archive and a checksum file. There are no prebuilt binaries: the tool is small enough to build, and a binary from a stranger is a poor way to start patching an engine. The archive name follows bep-VERSION.tar.zst and the checksum file lists one line per file. Checksums for the current release are in the 2.8.1 notes.

Release process

A release candidate is cut on the Monday before the release, built on three machines (Linux x86_64, macOS ARM64, Windows WSL2), and installed from scratch on a clean virtual machine using only the documentation. If the install page needs a fix, the fix lands before the tag. The tag is annotated, the archive is built from it, and the notes are written from the merged pull requests rather than from memory.