generated: '2026-09-04'
method: searched
source: >-
  https://ballerina.io/downloads/, https://ballerina.io/downloads/swan-lake-release-notes/swan-lake-2201.13.5,
  https://api.github.com/repos/ballerina-platform/ballerina-distribution/releases, and live probes of
  https://api.central.ballerina.io
provider: Ballerina
providerId: ballerina
description: >-
  Two lifecycles run side by side here and they are easy to conflate. The LANGUAGE has a
  disciplined, dated, publicly documented release train (Swan Lake updates and patches, with
  release notes per version). The API — the Central registry surface — has none: it has been
  `/2.0/` throughout, with no changelog, no deprecation policy, no sunset headers and no status
  page. What the API does carry is per-package deprecation as first-class data, which is a
  genuinely useful signal most registries do not expose.
api_lifecycle:
  versioning:
    scheme: path segment
    current: '2.0'
    changelog_published: false
    note: No changelog, release notes or version history is published for the Central REST API.
  deprecation_policy:
    published: false
    sunset_header: false
    deprecation_header: false
    rfc8594: false
    evidence:
      - url: https://api.central.ballerina.io/2.0/registry/packages?org=ballerina&limit=1&readme=false
        status: 200
        note: Response headers carried no Deprecation or Sunset header.
  sla:
    published: false
  status_page:
    exists: false
    evidence:
      - url: https://status.ballerina.io/
        status: 0
        note: Host does not resolve.
      - url: https://ballerina.io/status/
        status: 404
  deprecated_operations: []
  removed_operations:
    - path: /2.0/packages
      note: >-
        Never observed live. An earlier scaffold in this record claimed it; it returns 404 and
        the real route is /2.0/registry/packages.
resource_lifecycle:
  package_deprecation:
    supported: true
    surfaced_as:
      - field: isDeprecated
        type: boolean
      - field: deprecateMessage
        type: string
    set_by: bal deprecate
    docs: https://ballerina.io/learn/cli-commands/
    note: >-
      Every package record returned by the registry carries these two fields, so a consumer can
      detect a deprecated dependency from a single read — no separate deprecation feed needed.
  package_immutability:
    note: >-
      Published versions remain resolvable after deprecation; the deprecation is advisory
      metadata rather than a removal. No un-publish operation is documented.
  credential_expiry:
    what: Ballerina Central access token
    lifetime: 1 year from generation
    source: https://ballerina.io/learn/publish-packages-to-ballerina-central/
language_lifecycle:
  current_ga: 2201.13.5
  released: '2026-07-27'
  release_notes: https://ballerina.io/downloads/swan-lake-release-notes/swan-lake-2201.13.5
  cadence: >-
    A Swan Lake "Update" minor line (2201.x.0) with numbered patch releases underneath, plus
    a maintained legacy 1.2.x line and a nightly channel.
  maintained_lines:
    - line: 2201.13.x
      latest: 2201.13.5
      released: '2026-07-27'
    - line: 2201.12.x
      latest: 2201.12.12
      released: '2026-06-05'
    - line: 1.2.x
      latest: 1.2.68
      released: '2026-08-10'
      note: Published as a GitHub prerelease.
  in_flight:
    - version: 2201.13.6-rc1
      released: '2026-09-01'
      stage: release-candidate
  update_tool: https://ballerina.io/learn/update-tool/
  archived_versions: https://ballerina.io/downloads/archived/
gaps:
  - No status page for central.ballerina.io or api.central.ballerina.io.
  - No deprecation or sunset policy for the API itself, and no Deprecation/Sunset headers.
  - No changelog for the API; the only dated change record is the language release train.