# Versioning Protocols

**Canonical:** https://apis.io/providers/versioning-protocols/  
**Website:** https://semver.org/  
**APIs profiled:** 5

Standards and methodologies for managing changes and updates to APIs, software interfaces, and data formats while maintaining backward compatibility and clear communication of breaking changes. Covers Semantic Versioning (SemVer), Calendar Versioning (CalVer), URI path versioning, header-based versioning, and deprecation management strategies. Used by developers, platform teams, and API governance programs to build maintainable and predictable API lifecycle policies.

## Kin Score — 20.5 / 100 (emerging)

Scored 2026-08-21 under rubric 0.12.0. Trend: flat (+0.0 from 20.5).

| Facet | Score |
|---|---|
| Discoverability | 64.8 |
| Contract Quality | 19.7 |
| Governance | 25.0 |
| Contract Governance | 25.0 |
| Operational Transparency | 7.9 |
| Developer Ergonomics | 9.5 |
| Commercial Clarity | 15.8 |
| Access Clarity | 15.8 |

## Agent readiness — 3.0 (human-only)

| Dimension | Value |
|---|---|
| Spec Presence | no |
| Agentic Access | no |
| Reversibility Documented | no |
| MCP Server | no |
| Auth Clarity | no |
| Idempotency | no |
| Error Semantics | no |
| OpenAPI Examples | no |
| Rate Limit Signal | documented |
| Event Surface Described | no |
| Agent Skills | no |
| Well Known Catalog | no |
| Consent Identity | no |
| Agent Card | no |
| Dry Run Mode | no |

## Access

Freemium — onboarding: unknown, pricing: freemium, trial: no (confidence: medium).

## APIs (5)

- **Semantic Versioning (SemVer)** — Semantic Versioning is a versioning scheme using a MAJOR.MINOR.PATCH format where MAJOR increments denote breaking changes, MINOR increments indicate new backward-compatible fea...
- **Calendar Versioning (CalVer)** — Calendar Versioning (CalVer) uses the release date as the version identifier, typically in YYYY.MM.DD or YYYY-MM-DD format. Used by APIs like Stripe (date-based versions e.g., 2...
- **URI Path Versioning** — URI path versioning embeds the API version in the URL path, typically as the major version number (e.g., /v1/users, /v2/users). The most widely adopted strategy for public REST ...
- **Header-Based Versioning** — Header-based versioning passes the API version in a custom HTTP request header (e.g., API-Version: 2026-04-01 or Accept: application/vnd.api.v2+json), keeping URLs clean and ena...
- **OpenAPI Versioning** — OpenAPI handles versioning through the info.version field (using SemVer), the deprecated flag on individual operations, parameters, and schemas, and multiple server entries for ...

## Security (1)

- **Versioning Protocols Domain Security** — TLSv1.3

## Plans (1)

- **Versioning Protocols Plans Pricing**

## Use cases (5)

- **API Lifecycle Governance** — Establish organizational versioning policies that balance innovation with backward compatibility.
- **Breaking Change Communication** — Communicate breaking changes clearly to API consumers with version bumps and deprecation notices.
- **Multi-Version Support** — Maintain multiple active API versions simultaneously to support consumers at different adoption stages.
- **Automated Change Detection** — Integrate spec diffing tools into CI/CD pipelines to detect breaking changes before release.
- **Deprecation Planning** — Plan and execute API version deprecations with 12-18 months notice and migration guides.

## Tags

API Design, Backward Compatibility, Software Development, Version Control, Semantic Versioning, API Lifecycle, Deprecation

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Profiled by [API Evangelist](https://apievangelist.com) and published on [APIs.io](https://apis.io/providers/versioning-protocols/). Scores are computed from the provider's own public artifacts under a published rubric.