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---
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info: To determine the technical writer assigned to the Stage/Group associated with this page, see https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/engineering/ux/technical-writing/#assignments
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---
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# Deprecation guidelines
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This page includes information about how and when to remove or make [breaking
changes](../contributing/index.md#breaking-changes) to GitLab features.
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## Terminology
It's important to understand the difference between **deprecation** and
**removal**:
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**Deprecation** is the process of flagging/marking/announcing that a feature is no longer fully supported and may be removed in a future version of GitLab.
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**Removal** is the process of actually removing a feature that was previously
deprecated.
## When can a feature be deprecated?
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Deprecations should be announced on the [Deprecated feature removal schedule ](../../update/deprecations.md ).
For steps to create a deprecation entry, see [Deprecations ](https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/marketing/blog/release-posts/#deprecations ).
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## When can a feature be removed/changed?
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Generally, feature or configuration can be removed/changed only on major release.
It also should be [deprecated in advance ](https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/marketing/blog/release-posts/#deprecations ).
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For API removals, see the [GraphQL ](../../api/graphql/index.md#deprecation-and-removal-process ) and [GitLab API ](../../api/index.md#compatibility-guidelines ) guidelines.
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For configuration removals, see the [Omnibus deprecation policy ](../../administration/package_information/deprecation_policy.md ).
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For versioning and upgrade details, see our [Release and Maintenance policy ](../../policy/maintenance.md ).
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## Update the deprecations and removals documentation
The [deprecations ](../../update/deprecations.md ) and [removals ](../../update/removals.md )
documentation is generated from the YAML files located in
[`gitlab/data/` ](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/tree/master/data ).
To update the deprecations and removals pages when an entry is added,
edited, or removed:
1. From the command line, navigate to your local clone of the [`gitlab-org/gitlab` ](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab ) project.
1. Create, edit, or remove the YAML file under [deprecations ](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/tree/master/data/deprecations )
or [removals ](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/tree/master/data/removals ).
1. Compile the deprecation or removals documentation with the appropriate command:
- For deprecations:
```shell
bin/rake gitlab:docs:compile_deprecations
```
- For removals:
```shell
bin/rake gitlab:docs:compile_removals
```
1. If needed, you can verify the docs are up to date with:
- For deprecations:
```shell
bin/rake gitlab:docs:check_deprecations
```
- For removals:
```shell
bin/rake gitlab:docs:check_removals
```
1. Commit the updated documentation and push the changes.
1. Create a merge request using the [Deprecations ](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/blob/master/.gitlab/merge_request_templates/Deprecations.md )
or [Removals ](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/blob/master/.gitlab/merge_request_templates/Removals.md ) templates.
Related Handbook pages:
- < https: // about . gitlab . com / handbook / marketing / blog / release-posts /# deprecations-removals-and-breaking-changes >
- < https: // about . gitlab . com / handbook / marketing / blog / release-posts /# update-the-deprecations-and-removals-docs >
