SemVer Explainer
Semantic Versioning clarifies how software updates convey meaning. Decode version ranges and understand exactly which updates your constraints allow.
MAJOR
Incompatible API changes
MINOR
Backward-compatible features
PATCH
Backward-compatible bug fixes
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This SemVer Explainer helps you parse and understand version strings like 1.2.3 or 2.0.0-alpha.1+build.42. Use the interactive controls to bump versions, compare two versions, and quickly test how common range operators (`^`, `~`, `>e;=`, `<e;`) behave.
Semantic Versioning (SemVer) is the standard for version numbers in the JavaScript ecosystem and many other ecosystems. It provides a predictable contract for breaking changes (major), new features (minor), and bug fixes (patch).
FAQ
It parses a semantic version string and breaks it into its parts, explaining the major, minor, patch, prerelease, and build metadata components.
No. Parsing happens client-side in your browser, so the versions you enter never leave your machine.
Under SemVer, major changes break compatibility, minor changes add features in a backward-compatible way, and patch changes are backward-compatible bug fixes.
A prerelease tag like -beta.1 marks an unstable release, while build metadata after a plus sign is ignored when determining version precedence.
Versions are compared field by field, and a prerelease version has lower precedence than the associated normal release.