debian-mirror-gitlab/doc/policy/alpha-beta-support.md

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stage: Systems
group: Distribution
info: To determine the technical writer assigned to the Stage/Group associated with this page, see https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/product/ux/technical-writing/#assignments
---

# Support for Experiment, Beta, and Generally Available features **(PREMIUM)**

Some GitLab features are released as Experiment or Beta versions and are
[not fully supported](https://about.gitlab.com/support/statement-of-support/#alpha-beta-features).
All other features are considered to be Generally Available (GA).

## Experiment

Support is not provided for features listed as "Experimental" or "Alpha" or any similar designation. Issues regarding such features should be opened in the GitLab issue tracker.

- Not ready for production use
- No support available
- May be unstable or have performance issues
- Can be removed at any time
- Data loss may occur
- Documentation may not exist or just be in a blog format 
- Behind a feature flag that is on by default and the UI reflects Experiment status.
- Behind a toggle that is off by default and the UI reflects Experiment status.
- Feedback issue to engage with team
- UX not finalized, might be just quick action access 
- Not announced in a release post

## Beta

Commercially-reasonable efforts are made to provide limited support for features designated as "Beta," with the expectation that issues require extra time and assistance from development to troubleshoot.

- May not be ready for production use and the UI and documentation will reflect this status
- May be unstable and can cause performance and stability issues.
- Configuration and dependencies unlikely to change.
- Features and functions unlikely to change. However, breaking changes may occur outside of major releases or with less notice than for Generally Available features.
- Data loss not likely.
- Support on a commercially-reasonable effort basis.
- Documentation reflects Beta status.
- UX complete or near completion.
- Behind a feature flag that is on by default and the UI reflects Beta status.
- Behind a toggle that is off by default and the UI reflects Beta status.
- Can be announced in a release post that reflects Beta status.

## Generally Available (GA)

Generally Available features means that they passed the [Production Readiness Review](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-com/gl-infra/readiness/-/blob/master/.gitlab/issue_templates/production_readiness.md) for GitLab.com, and are:

- Ready for production use at any scale.
- Fully documented and supported.
- UX complete and in line with GitLab design standards.