specification: API Commons Lifecycle
specificationVersion: '0.1'
provider: Buoyant
providerId: buoyant
generated: '2026-09-04'
method: searched
source: >-
  https://docs.buoyant.io/release-notes/, https://buoyant.io/pricing,
  https://docs.buoyant.io/buoyant-enterprise-linkerd/latest/support/,
  https://www.buoyant.io/blog/linkerd-2-14-end-of-life, the Helm channel indexes at
  helm.linkerd.io and helm.buoyant.cloud (read 2026-09-04), and the deprecated RPC
  markers in the .proto sources saved under grpc/ in this repo.
versioning:
  strategy: channel-based
  description: >-
    Open-source Linkerd ships on an EDGE channel using CalVer (edge-26.9.1). Supported,
    long-lived releases are the commercial Buoyant Enterprise for Linkerd stream
    (enterprise-2.20.2), released roughly quarterly with patch/hotpatch releases in
    between. Contract versioning of the gRPC surface is carried by the
    linkerd2-proxy-api module/crate version (v0.20.0, 2026-06-03).
  channels:
    - name: linkerd edge (open source)
      url: https://helm.linkerd.io/edge
      current: 2026.9.1
      last_published: '2026-09-04'
      status: active
    - name: linkerd stable (open source)
      url: https://helm.linkerd.io/stable
      current: 1.16.11
      last_published: '2024-02-20'
      status: frozen
      note: >-
        FINDING (probed 2026-09-04): the open-source stable Helm channel index has not
        published a chart since 2024-02-20. Supported stable releases moved into
        Buoyant Enterprise for Linkerd. A consumer still pointing at
        helm.linkerd.io/stable is pinned to a 2024 artifact.
    - name: Buoyant Enterprise for Linkerd
      url: https://helm.buoyant.cloud
      current: 2.20.2
      last_published: '2026-08-26'
      status: active
    - name: Buoyant Enterprise Linkerd preview
      url: https://helm.buoyant.cloud
      current: 26.8.4
      last_published: '2026-08-25'
      status: active
deprecation:
  policy_published: true
  policy_url: https://docs.buoyant.io/release-notes/buoyant-enterprise-linkerd/
  description: >-
    Deprecations are announced in the dated per-version release notes and, for
    end-of-life of an entire minor line, on the Buoyant blog with a stated EOL date.
    Buoyant does not publish RFC 8594 Sunset/Deprecation HTTP headers — the contract is
    gRPC and in-cluster, so header-based signalling does not apply; deprecation is
    signalled in-contract instead via `option deprecated = true` on protobuf RPCs.
  rfc8594_headers: false
  end_of_life_examples:
    - product: Linkerd 2.14 (open source)
      eol_date: '2025-06-01'
      announced: '2025-12-11'
      url: https://www.buoyant.io/blog/linkerd-2-14-end-of-life
      note: Announcement post confirms 2.14 reached end of life on June 1, 2025 and recommends upgrading.
deprecated_operations:
  - service: linkerd2.tap.Tap
    rpc: Tap
    file: grpc/buoyant-linkerd-viz-tap.proto
    marker: option deprecated = true
  - service: linkerd2.tap.Tap
    rpc: TapByResource
    file: grpc/buoyant-linkerd-viz-tap.proto
    marker: option deprecated = true
deprecated_configuration:
  - name: config.beta.linkerd.io/proxy-enable-native-sidecar
    replacement: config.linkerd.io/proxy-enable-native-sidecar
    announced_in: enterprise-2.20.0
    removal: next major Linkerd version
  - name: proxyInit.image / --init-image
    replacement: unified proxy image
    announced_in: enterprise-2.20.0
    removal: removed in 2.20.0
support:
  forums: https://linkerd.buoyant.io
  issues: https://github.com/linkerd/linkerd2/issues
  commercial: https://www.buoyant.io/linkerd-support
  sla:
    published_numbers: false
    description: >-
      The pricing page states that the Premium tier includes CVE remediation SLAs and
      private support ticketing, and that the Strategic tier adds 24x7 enterprise
      support with SLAs, hotpatch releases and SBOMs. Buoyant does not publish the
      numeric response or resolution targets; they are contractual.
    source: https://www.buoyant.io/pricing
status_page:
  published: false
  checked: '2026-09-04'
  note: >-
    No status page found. status.buoyant.io and status.linkerd.io do not resolve;
    buoyant.statuspage.io returns HTTP 200 but redirects to the Atlassian Statuspage
    marketing site, not a Buoyant status page. No StatusPage pointer is emitted.
maintainers:
  - FN: Kin Lane
    email: kin@apievangelist.com