Stability Markers

Stability Markers indicate how mature a project is.

Projects naturally go through stages. Some are experimental and in flux. Others enjoy steady contribution toward a clear roadmap. Still others are basically finished, needing only the occasional fix. And, as is the nature of our business, sometimes software becomes obsolete.

Repositories on GitHub and other places use Stability Markers to let users know what to expect from a project. Early adopters may be excited to find new experimental projects, while developers concerned with production usage might instead look for active or sustained projects. Finally, it is the nature of software to change, and sometimes projects become unsupported. The Stability Markers project helps you inform your users which of these is the case.

Using Stability Markers

Using a stability marker is as simple as including the relevant badge on your site. We strongly recommend linking the badge back to our description so that users unfamiliar with Stability Markers can learn more.

Marker

In most cases, projects move from one stability marker to the next, in sequence. Below, they are presented in the order of the presumed ideal lifecycle.

Experimental

Not ready for prime-time. Code has not stabilized. Full description

[![Stability: Experimental](https://masterminds.github.io/stability/experimental.svg)](https://masterminds.github.io/stability/experimental.html)

Active

At least one stable release, active contributors, and major future releases. Full description

[![Stability: Active](https://masterminds.github.io/stability/active.svg)](https://masterminds.github.io/stability/active.html)

Sustained

At least one stable release, considered “feature complete”, and future releases focus on stability and security. Full description

[![Stability: Sustained](https://masterminds.github.io/stability/sustained.svg)](https://masterminds.github.io/stability/sustained.html)

Maintenance

At least one stable release. Product is considered mature, and maintainers only make bug fixes. Full description

[![Stability: Maintenance](https://masterminds.github.io/stability/maintenance.svg)](https://masterminds.github.io/stability/maintenance.html)

Unsupported

The project is no longer maintained. This does not mean there is anything wrong with the project; it reflects the state of activity. Full description

[![Stability: Unsupported](https://masterminds.github.io/stability/unsupported.svg)](https://masterminds.github.io/stability/unsupported.html)

Is It About Software or Community?

Stability Markers are intended to indicate the maturity of a project, not of the code itself. (SemVer is for code stability.) Stability Markers are intended to answer questions like:

Is this project actively maintained?
How often can I expect a release from this project?
Should I expect a quick turn-around on a bug report?
Am I better off forking the project or contributing to it?
Is this a project that I might be able to join as a maintainer?

Because of the nature of software, many of these questions are tied to the maturity of the code. Stability Markers, for example, require at least one stable release before a project can exit experimental.

Who Enforces These Guidelines?

Stability Markers are self-governed: Project owners self-assign the Stability Marker they believe best describes their project.

Star Us!

If you use Stability Markers for your project(s), we humbly request that you star this project on GitHub so that we have at least a basic metric for how many people find this project useful.