Release Schedule for 29.0 #31029

1. 
   glozow commented at 6:14 pm on October 3, 2024: member

   Here is a proposed release schedule for v29.0, the next major release of Bitcoin Core. The dates are set to target a release in early April.

   2025-02-06 :heavy_check_mark:

   • Open Transifex translations for v29.0
   • Soft translation string freeze (no large or non-critical string changes until release)
   • Finalize and close translations for v27.0

   2025-02-20 :heavy_check_mark:

   • Feature freeze (bug fixes only until release)
   • Translation string freeze (no more source language changes until release)

   2025-03-06 :heavy_check_mark: :

   • Anything needed before branch-off, see https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin/blob/master/doc/release-process.md
   • Split off 29.x branch from master
   • Start RC cycle, tag and release v29.0rc1
   • Start merging for 30.x on master branch

   2025-04-03 :construction:

   • Tag v29.0 (aim).

   If any specific dates are a problem for you, please leave a comment.

2. glozow added this to the milestone 29.0 on Oct 3, 2024
3. glozow pinned this on Oct 4, 2024
4. hebasto referenced this in commit f93d6cb0ca on Feb 6, 2025
5. 
   hebasto commented at 8:49 pm on February 6, 2025: member

   2025-02-06 🚧

   * Open Transifex translations for `v29.0`
   
   * Soft translation string freeze (no large or non-critical string changes until release)
   
   * Finalize and close translations for `v27.0`
   

   First set of tasks completed.

   See the announcement on Transifex: https://app.transifex.com/bitcoin/communication/d:559e9df0-3f34-432e-9523-54c6dbef4d02/.

6. hebasto referenced this in commit 5b8fd7c3a6 on Feb 20, 2025
7. fanquake referenced this in commit 1d0a1a60e8 on Mar 12, 2025
8. 
   fanquake commented at 6:00 am on March 13, 2025: member

   rc1 has been tagged: https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin/releases/tag/v29.0rc1.
9. 
   jsarenik commented at 9:20 am on March 17, 2025: none

   Are there any release candidate builds available yet? All I want is a Linux x86_64 build. What could I do to help? Thanks.
10. 
    maflcko commented at 10:09 am on March 17, 2025: member

    @jsarenik If you just want to build a tag or commit for yourself, you can use the doc/build-*.md instructions, or the guix build (contrib/guix/README.md). With the guix build you can even contribute attestations, see https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin/blob/master/doc/release-process.md#building. If you are waiting on the pre-compiled rc binary, I suspect it will be available some time this week.
11. 
    fanquake commented at 1:48 am on March 18, 2025: member

    rc2 has been tagged: https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin/releases/tag/v29.0rc2.
12. 
    maflcko commented at 7:59 am on March 26, 2025: member

    I missed when the rc bins were put up on the website, and it seems others have, too: https://bitcoin-irc.chaincode.com/bitcoin-core-dev/2025-03-20#1103484

    I know it isn’t documented in the release-process, but it could make sense to announce them on the mailing list, or here in this issue, to possibly get more testing by users.

13. 
    glozow commented at 2:20 pm on March 26, 2025: member

    Thanks for the reminder @maflcko. I posted to delving but not sure if the mailing list(s) are still active. Just posted to the google group. Will remember to comment here in the future.

    Fwiw rc2 bins are here: https://bitcoincore.org/bin/bitcoin-core-29.0/test.rc2/

14. 
    maflcko commented at 2:38 pm on March 26, 2025: member

    A post to one of either delving or the google group should be sufficient. Thanks!
15. 
    glozow commented at 1:58 pm on April 1, 2025: member

    rc3 has been tagged: https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin/releases/tag/v29.0rc3
16. 
    glozow commented at 5:15 pm on April 2, 2025: member

    rc3 bins are available: https://bitcoincore.org/bin/bitcoin-core-29.0/test.rc3/

Contributors
glozow hebasto fanquake jsarenik maflcko

Milestone
29.0