Kubernetes v1.38 Release Information

Information regarding the current release cycle including important dates, Release Team contact information, tracking spreadsheets and more!

Guides

Summary

The v1.38 release cycle is proposed as follows:

  • Monday 31st August 2026: Week 1 — Release cycle begins
  • Monday 7th - Wednesday 9th September 2026: Week 2 — KubeCon China
  • Tuesday 22nd September 2026 (AoE) / Wednesday 23th September 2026, 12:00 UTC: Week 4 — KEP Readiness Deadline
  • Tuesday 29th September 2026 (AoE) / Wednesday 30th September 2026, 12:00 UTC: Week 5 — Enhancements Freeze
  • Wednesday 4th November 2026 (AoE) / Thursday 5th November 2026, 12:00 UTC: Week 10 — Feature blog freeze
  • Monday 9th - Thursday 12th November 2026: Week 11 — KubeCon NA
  • Monday 16th November 2026 (AoE) / Tuesday 17th November 2026, 12:00 UTC: Week 12 — Code Freeze and Test Freeze
  • Thursday 3rd December 2026 (AoE) / Friday 4rd December 2026, 12:00 UTC: Week 14 — Docs Freeze
  • Wednesday 16th December 2026: Week 16 — Kubernetes v1.38.0 released

[!NOTE] Deadlines are expressed in “Anywhere on Earth” (AoE) time. This means the date ends when the calendar day finishes in the last timezone on Earth (UTC-12). Example: A deadline of Thursday, Oct 16 (AoE) gives contributors their full Thursday everywhere in the world. The cutoff therefore would be Friday, Oct 17 at 12:00 UTC.

Timeline

WhatWhoWhenWeekRelease Signal
Start of Release CycleLeadMonday 31st August 2026week 1master-blocking, master-informing
Start Enhancements TrackingEnhancements LeadMonday 31st August 2026week 1
Schedule finalizedLeadFriday 4th September 2026week 1
Team finalizedLeadFriday 4th September 2026week 1
KubeCon ChinaMonday 7th - Wednesday 9th September 2026week 2
Begin APAC-friendly meetingsALLWednesday 9th September 2026week 2
Call for KEP Readiness Deadline and Enhancement Freeze ExceptionsLeadThursday 17th September 2026week 3
v1.38.0-alpha.1 releasedBranch ManagerWednesday 23rd September 2026week 4
Start Release Notes DraftDocs LeadWednesday 23rd September 2026week 4
Begin enforcing KEP Readiness DeadlineEnhancements LeadTuesday 22nd September 2026 (AoE) / Wednesday 23th September 2026 12:00 UTCweek 4
Begin Enhancements FreezeEnhancements LeadTuesday 29th September 2026 (AoE) / Wednesday 30th September 2026 12:00 UTCweek 5
v1.38.0-alpha.2 releasedBranch ManagerWednesday 7th October 2026week 6
v1.38.0-alpha.3 releasedBranch ManagerWednesday 21st October 2026week 8
Brace Yourself, Code Freeze is ComingComms / Release SignalMonday 26th October 2026week 9
Docs deadline — Open placeholder PRsDocs LeadThursday 29th October 2026 (AoE) / Friday 30th October 2026 12:00 UTCweek 9
v1.38.0-beta.0 releasedBranch ManagerWednesday 4th November 2026week 10
Begin Feature blog freeze - Open placeholder PRsComms LeadWednesday 4th November 2026 (AoE) / Thursday 5th November 2026 12:00 UTCweek 10
Call for Code Freeze ExceptionsLeadFriday 6th November 2026week 10
KubeCon NAMonday 9th - Thursday 12th November 2026week 11
Begin Code Freeze and Test FreezeBranch ManagerMonday 16th November 2026 (AoE) / Tuesday 17th November 2026 12:00 UTCweek 12
Begin Burndown (Meetings on Mon / Wed / Fri)ALLMonday 23rd November 2026week 13
Deprecations and Removals blog publishedComms LeadMonday 23rd November 2026week 13
Docs deadline — PRs ready for reviewDocs LeadTuesday 24th November 2026week 13
Release Highlights deadlineComms LeadTuesday 24th November 2026week 13
Feature blogs ready to reviewEnhancement Owner / SIG LeadsMonday 30th November 2026week 14
Burndown Meetings daily (Tue & Thu over Slack)ALLMonday 30th November 2026week 14
release-1.38 branch createdBranch ManagerThursday 3rd December 2026week 14
release-1.38 jobs createdBranch ManagerThursday 3rd December 2026week 14
v1.38.0-rc.0 releasedBranch ManagerThursday 3rd December 2026week 141.38-informing, 1.38-blocking, master-blocking, master-informing
Start final draft of Release NotesDocs LeadThursday 3rd December 2026week 14
Docs FreezeDocs LeadThursday 3rd December 2026 (AoE) / Friday 4th December 2026 12:00 UTCweek 14
v1.38.0-rc.1 releasedBranch ManagerWednesday 9th December 2026week 15
Release blog ready to reviewComms / DocsThursday 10th December 2026 (AoE) / Friday 11th December 2026 12:00 UTCweek 15
Final Release Notes complete / PR MergedDocs LeadMonday 14th December 2026 (AoE) / Tuesday 15th December 2026 12:00 UTCweek 16
v1.38.0 releasedBranch ManagerWednesday 16th December 2026week 16
Release blog publishedComms LeadWednesday 16th December 2026week 16
ThawBranch ManagerWednesday 16th December 2026week 16
Feature blog publication startsComms LeadThursday 17th December 2026week 16

Phases

Please refer to the release phases document.