cuda.core Support Policy#

Versioning Scheme#

cuda.core follows Semantic Versioning (SemVer) with the version format major.minor.patch:

  • Major: Bumped when a new CUDA major release is out and support for the oldest CUDA major version is dropped. Breaking API changes only happen at major-version boundaries.

  • Minor: Bumped when new, backward-compatible features are added, or when a new Python feature release is out and the oldest supported Python version reaches EOL.

  • Patch: Bumped for bug fixes and backward-compatible maintenance updates.

Unlike cuda.bindings, the cuda.core version is not aligned with the CUDA Toolkit version. Consult the table below or the release notes to determine which CUDA versions are supported by a given cuda.core release.

Project Lifecycle & Release Cadence#

  • cuda.core follows its own release cadence, independent of CUDA Toolkit releases, as long as SemVer guarantees are maintained.

    • We currently aim for bimonthly releases, though this is subject to change.

  • Major version releases are aligned to CUDA major version releases.

  • New features may be delivered in minor releases at any time — not gated by the CUDA Toolkit release schedule.

  • Patch releases can be made on an as-needed basis, subject to urgency and the team’s bandwidth.

  • We currently do not plan to maintain multiple releases, nor have any backport policy for new features or bug fixes.

  • Deprecation notices will be issued at least for one (1) minor release, before the actual removal happens.

CUDA Version Support#

cuda.core is actively maintained to support the two (2) most recent CUDA major versions. For example, cuda.core 1.x supports CUDA 12 and 13.

In particular, what this entails is that all CUDA minor versions within the two major releases (12.x, 13.x) are supported by the same cuda-core package.

When a new CUDA major version is released and support for the oldest major version is dropped, cuda.core will release a new major version (e.g., 1.x → 2.0.0).

CUDA Version Support Matrix#

cuda.core version

Supported CUDA versions

1.x

12, 13

As with any CUDA library, certain features may impose additional requirements on the minimum cuda-bindings, CUDA library, or CUDA driver versions. Refer to the individual module documentation for details.

Python Version Support#

cuda.core supports all Python versions following the CPython EOL schedule. As of writing, Python 3.10 – 3.14 are supported.

When a new Python feature version is released and the oldest supported version reaches EOL, cuda.core will bump its minor version accordingly.

Free-threading Build Support#

Starting cuda-core 0.4.0, packages for the free-threaded interpreter are shipped to PyPI and conda-forge. This support is currently experimental.

For now, you are responsible for making sure that calls into the underlying CUDA libraries are thread-safe. This is subject to change.

The NVIDIA CUDA Python team reserves the right to amend the above support policy. Any major changes, however, will be announced to users in advance.