MCP Sets a Six-Month Release Schedule for Specification Updates
The Model Context Protocol will move to a regular six-month release schedule, with specification updates generally planned for the last Tuesday of March and September. The project is also formalizing a Release Manager role to coordinate proposals, SDK work and release deadlines.
- MCP will generally release specifications on the last Tuesday of March and September.
- The next planned release is MCP version 2027-03-30, targeted for March 30, 2027.
- Luca Chang will become a Release Manager for the next specification cycle.
- Planning will begin eight months before regular releases.
- SDK betas will arrive one and a half months before release.
Two specification releases each year
The MCP project said it will generally publish specification releases on the last Tuesday of March and September. Each release announcement will include proposal deadlines and SDK beta dates, giving developers a schedule they can use to plan implementation and testing.
The next release is targeted for March 30, 2027, and is expected to be named MCP version 2027-03-30. Proposals that are not ready on time will move to a later release rather than delaying the full specification. The project said this approach should give proposal authors more time to continue their work while allowing other contributors to prepare for the planned release.
A new role will coordinate the release process
MCP is formalizing the Release Manager role to track work across proposal authors, Working Groups and SDK maintainers. Release Managers will help identify dependencies, follow up on unfinished work and address problems before deadlines.
Luca Chang will join David and the blog's author as a Release Manager for the next specification cycle. According to the MCP blog, Chang co-authored the original Tasks proposal, which introduced experimental support for long-running work in the November 2025 specification. He later worked with Caitie McCaffrey on the Tasks extension, co-leads the Tasks and Events Working Group, and facilitates the Agents Interest Group.
The Release Managers will help proposals reach the review queue, plan SDK implementation work and track issues before release. The Core Maintainers will continue deciding which proposals are accepted into the next specification.
How the cycle will work
Planning for a regular release will begin eight calendar months before publication. Core Maintainer reviews will start six months before release and continue until the soft freeze, which occurs two and a half months before release. By that point, every proposal included in the release must be marked Final and merged.
After the soft freeze, existing proposals can receive fixes, polish and clarifications within their scope, but new features and substantial redesigns will not be accepted. Tier 1 SDK betas are scheduled to arrive one and a half months before release with support for the frozen specification. The hard freeze follows one month before publication. From then on, only critical security fixes or release blocking correctness and interoperability defects can enter the specification, subject to approval through a full Core Maintainer vote.
On release day, the specification, release notes and implementation guidance will be published. Tier 1 SDKs are expected to have stable support beforehand. If an SDK is late, the project said it will document the gap without moving the specification release date. The MCP community is also invited to test SDK betas with existing clients and servers and report bugs while corrections can still be included.
Model Context Protocol Blog: A More Predictable Release Cycle for MCP
