How to commit fixes to release branches (backport process)#

This guide explains when and how to commit fixes to release branches.

After a release branch is created and before a release tag is finalized, maintainers may need to apply fixes to that release branch.

To keep main as the source of truth, each fix starts as a PR against main, then automation opens an equivalent backport PR against the relevant release branch.

Backport Criteria#

Before starting a backport, use the questions below to decide if a change is worth backporting:

  • Does this fix a correctness bug (wrong result, UB, memory safety, data race, deadlock)?

  • Does this fix a crash?

  • Does this fix a regression?

  • Are users actively asking for this fix to be backported?

  • How likely are users to be affected by this? How many?

  • Is there a reasonable workaround?

  • How risky is this change?

Examples not worth backporting:

  • Fixes to tests that do not impact the functionality of the library.

  • Fixes to infrastructure that does not impact the functionality of the library.

Steps#

  1. Create a PR with the fix against main via a PR following our contributing guidelines.

  2. Add the label backport branch/X.Y.x to the PR.

    • If the PR is already merged, you can still trigger a backport by commenting /backport branch/X.Y.x on the merged PR.

  3. After merge to main, confirm automation opens a backport PR targeting branch/X.Y.x.

  4. Review the generated backport PR for correctness and resolve any conflicts.

  5. Ensure all CI checks have passed and merge the backport PR into the target release branch.

    • Only members of the GitHub team cccl-release-owners <https://github.com/orgs/NVIDIA/teams/cccl-release-owners> can merge PRs to release branches.

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