Semver, short for “semantic versioning” is a versioning system that encodes the impact of changes between releases on the public interface directly into the version string.
Semver
Given a version number MAJOR.MINOR.PATCH:
| Change in | Impact |
|---|
MAJOR | incompatible API changes |
MINOR | add functionality (backwards-compatible) |
PATCH | bug fixes (backwards-compatible) |
Simple ranges
1.2.3
=1.2.3
>1.2.3
<1.2.3
>=1.2.3
Note that suffixed versions (1.2.3-rc1) are not matched.
Ranges
| Range | Description | Notes |
|---|
~1.2.3 | is >=1.2.3 <1.3.0 | Only accept patch updates |
| — | — | — |
^1.2.3 | is >=1.2.3 <2.0.0 | Accept minor and patch updates |
^0.2.3 | is >=0.2.3 <0.3.0 | (0.x.x is special) |
^0.0.1 | is =0.0.1 | (0.0.x is special) |
| — | — | — |
^1.2 | is >=1.2.0 <2.0.0 | (like ^1.2.0) |
~1.2 | is >=1.2.0 <1.3.0 | (like ~1.2.0) |
| — | — | — |
^1 | is >=1.0.0 <2.0.0 | |
~1 | same | |
1.x | same | |
1.* | same | |
1 | same | |
| — | — | — |
* | any version | |
x | same | |
Hyphenated ranges
| Range | Description |
|---|
1.2.3 - 2.3.0 | is >=1.2.3 <=2.3.4 |
Partial right
| Range | Description |
|---|
1.2.3 - 2.3 | is >=1.2.3 <2.4.0 |
1.2.3 - 2 | is >=1.2.3 <3.0.0 |
Partial left
| Range | Description |
|---|
1.2 - 2.3.0 | is 1.2.0 - 2.3.0 |
When the right is partial (eg, 2.3), missing pieces are assumed to be x (eg, 2.3.x).
When the left is partial (eg, 1.2), missing pieces are assumed to be 0 (eg, 1.2.0).
Combining ranges
| Range | Description |
|---|
>=0.14 <16 | And (space-separated) |
| 0.14.x || 15.x.x | Or (pipe-separated) |
Pre-releases
1.2.3-prerelease+build
Explanation
| Version | Explanation |
|---|
^ | means “compatible with” |
~ | means “reasonably close to” |
0.x.x | is for “initial development” |
1.x.x | means public API is defined |
References