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Releases and channels for the Snyk CLI

This page describes Snyk CLI releases and support policy, and also explains how to opt in to different channels and the purpose of each channel.

Releases

Beginning with v.1.1291.0, the Snyk CLI follows the industry standard Semantic Versioning three-part notation as follows.

Given a version number MAJOR.MINOR.PATCH, increment the:

  1. MAJOR version when you make [breaking] changes

  2. MINOR version when you add functionality in a backward-compatible manner

  3. PATCH version when you make backward-compatible bug fixes

Additional labels are added for CLI releases as needed based on the standard.

In the Snyk CLI context, Snyk defines a breaking change as a change that could break automated workflows and cause failures in your existing working setup, such as CI/CD integrations. Breaking changes will be indicated by incrementing MAJOR and also mentioned in the release notes.

Some examples of breaking changes are the following:

  • Deprecating or changing output fields, field names, or environment variables

  • Introducing mandatory configuration changes

  • Changes in error or exit codes

Channels

Beginning with v.1.1291.0, Snyk is providing different channels to enable customers to opt in to a channel based on their needs and preferences.

When you select a channel, you are selecting the stability level you want to use: preview, rc, or stable.

preview

Snyk offers a preview channel for those who want to test in-progress features. However, keep in mind that this channel may contain bugs and is not officially supported.

A preview version is not recommended for production environments. It may contain bugs and is best tested in a local environment. For instructions on installing a preview version, see Install standalone executables from a channel.

rc

stable

Snyk recommends opting in to a stable channel for the following reasons:

  • A stable build is tested extensively over the course of eight weeks during which Snyk development teams use the CLI in the SDLC process

  • Accompanying release notes help you decide which version best suits your needs

However, customers who would like to receive code changes as soon as they are merged can opt in to the preview channel. Note that Snyk does not offer support for the preview channel and expects known issues to be present in this channel.

Existing Snyk customers who are opted in to the previously known latest channel will be automatically opted in to the stable channel. Snyk is mirroring the latest channel and the stable channel to avoid disruption to existing customers. However, Snyk encourages you to switch to the new channels as shown above.

Experimental builds

Experimental builds are exempt from the 12 month support policy, and are subject to change at any time.

Snyk deploys experimental builds across release channels for its binaries. Experimental builds are functionally the same as non-experimental builds, but can differ in their build process. This differentiation can impact runtime dependancies, for example.

Experimental builds are available by adding experimental to the base download URL as outlined in the Channels section.

linuxstatic builds

linuxstatic builds are experimental builds on the CLI side, which can be changed at any time without prior notice. We're exploring this type of build before confirming full support.

The Snyk CLI Linux binaries (snyk-linux, snyk-linux-arm64) come with a dynamically linked nodejs runtime. The main dependency for this runtime is the glibc library. This dependency is directly impacted by the customer environment and limits customers using the Snyk CLI in older Linux environments (as outlined in the Runtime requirements section).

linuxstatic builds, as opposed to the regular Linux builds, are Linux binaries compiled to be self-contained, including all necessary dependencies, so they don't rely on a user's system having those libraries installed.

Support policy

Snyk supports the latest 12 months of CLI versions in the stable channel, ensuring functionality and performance. Older versions are considered End-of-Support (EOS) and will not receive bug fixes or support for troubleshooting.

Snyk provides fixes only in new versions and cannot fix older versions. Customers must upgrade to benefit from improvements.

This policy fosters innovation while optimizing resources.

If you need help, submit a request to Snyk Support.

Runtime requirements

This section specifies the minimum requirements for the latest CLI, covering aspects such as the operating system, dynamically linked libraries, and runtimes.

Snyk CLI is designed and expected to run on operating system environments that are actively supported by their vendors and have not reached their End of Support (EOS) or End of Life (EOL). Once an operating system environment reaches its end of support, Snyk will cease testing and providing support for Snyk CLI in that specific environment.

OS\Architecture
amd64 (minimum requirements)
arm64 (minimum requirements)

macOS

10.13

10.13

Linux

glibc ≥ 2.28 & OpenSSL ≥ 3.0 (Enterprise Linux 8, Ubuntu 20.04, Debian buster, other distros)

glibc ≥ 2.31 & OpenSSL ≥ 3.0

(Enterprise Linux 9, Ubuntu 20.04, Debian bullseye, other distros)

Alpine

musl libc >= 1.1.18 (3.7.3, other distros)

musl libc >= 1.1.18 (3.7.3, other distros)

Windows

8.1

-

Install standalone executables from a channel

Use the release.json in each channel. The download links are provided here, followed by an example for the preview version on the MacOS platform:

For MacOS, download and run a preview version of the CLI in a temporary folder named snyk-preview. To do this, you can run the following set of commands.

mkdir snyk-preview
cd snyk-preview
curl --compressed https://downloads.snyk.io/cli/preview/snyk-macos -o snyk
chmod +x ./snyk
./snyk -version

Selecting a channel from the IDE

This functionality is available in the IntelliJ IDE. Snyk is extending this capability to other supported IDEs.

The default channel for all IDEs is the stable channel.

To select a channel from the IDE, choose a CLI release channel using the dropdown, as shown in the screenshot that follows. Users can switch between channels, for example, switch to release-candidate (rc) to receive a hotfix.

However, Snyk also recommends the stable channel as the default for IDE users.

Choose a CLI release channel
Choose a CLI release channel
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