Product Versioning
Versioning of each technical “Product” or asset (i.e. API Implementation Guide, Design Principle(s), Data Library, FHIR profiles) is managed using Semantic Versioning 2.0.0.
Semantic Versioning
Given a version number MAJOR.MINOR.PATCH, increment the:
- MAJOR version when you make incompatible API changes,
- MINOR version when you add functionality in a backwards-compatible manner, and
- PATCH version when you make backwards-compatible bug fixes.
Additional labels for pre-release and build metadata are available as extensions to the MAJOR.MINOR.PATCH format.
A pre-release version MAY be denoted by appending a hyphen (refer to Semantic Versioning - Item 9)
For examples: 1.0.0-alpha.1 is a valid pre-release version.
Pre-release Labels
When FHIR API implementation guides are published, they MUST have an associated maturity label. These labels are based on the GDS development process stages and MUST conform to one of the labels defined in the FHIR-PUB-04: FHIR API Maturity ‘Publication Requirements’ section of the NHS FHIR Policy.