Dependency support policy

Documenteer sets the minimum supported versions of Python and its core documentation dependencies according to SPEC 0, the Scientific Python ecosystem’s recommendation for dropping support for old releases. This page documents that policy and how it maps onto Documenteer’s own version numbers.

Supported versions

Following SPEC 0:

• Python is supported for three years after a minor release. Documenteer raises its requires-python floor once a Python version is more than three years old.

• Core documentation dependencies — Sphinx, pydata-sphinx-theme, Technote, and docutils — are supported for two years after a release. Documenteer raises its minimum requirement for one of these packages once a version is more than two years old.

Raising a floor lets Documenteer adopt newer features of these dependencies and keeps the supported matrix small enough to test thoroughly.

How floor changes map to releases

Raising a dependency floor — including dropping support for a Python or Sphinx version — does not change Documenteer’s own public interface, so it ships as a minor release (for example, 2.4 to 2.5). Every floor change is announced in the change log under the Backwards-incompatible changes heading.

A major release is reserved for breaking changes to Documenteer’s own interface:

• the public Python API, including the configuration presets documenteer.conf.guide and documenteer.conf.technote;

• the documenteer command-line interface;

• the documenteer.toml configuration schema.

In other words, you can upgrade across Documenteer minor releases expecting only that the supported Python and dependency versions may have moved forward, while your own conf.py and documenteer.toml keep working.