@Rocky which is recommended stable version for Prod deployment?

For a production deployment, the recommendation generally depends on your priority between "cutting-edge features" and "battle-tested stability." As of April 2026, here are the recommended paths: *1. Recommended "Stable" Version: v3.5.x or v3.3.x* If your primary goal is stability and you prefer a version that has been running in production environments for a longer period, the latest patch release of the 3.5 or 3.3 series is recommended. * v3.3.x (e.g., v3.3.20+): This version is highly mature, having received numerous bug fixes over more than a year. It is currently in a "bugfix-only" state, meaning it is very stable but won't receive new features that could introduce regressions. * v3.5.x: Labeled as a stable minor version in the official guide, it includes critical production features like Cluster Snapshots for disaster recovery and optimized batch ingestion. *2. Recommended "Latest" Version: v4.0.x* If you need the latest performance optimizations (such as the ~60% faster query execution reported in v4.0) or first-class support for features like Apache Iceberg writes and JSON as a first-class type, you should use the latest patch of the 4.0 series. * v4.0.9 (Latest as of April 2026): By this patch level, the major version has stabilized significantly. It is the best choice for new clusters that want to leverage the latest Lakehouse and performance features. Important Production Guidelines: * Always use the latest PATCH version: Regardless of which minor version (3.3, 3.5, or 4.0) you choose, always deploy the highest patch number available (e.g., choose 3.3.20 over 3.3.0). Patch versions are strictly for bug fixes and are backward-compatible. * Support Cycle: StarRocks typically maintains the three latest minor versions. Once a new minor version is released, the oldest of the three usually moves to "bugfix-only" and eventually "code-freeze." * Avoid Prereleases: Never use versions labeled with

rc

(Release Candidate) for production. * Architecture Choice: For most new production deployments, the Shared-data (v3.0+) architecture is recommended for its elasticity and cloud-native capabilities, though Shared-nothing remains robust for local-storage use cases. Summary Recommendation: * Conservative: Latest patch of v3.3 or v3.5. * Performance-focused: Latest patch of v4.0. References • introduction/maturity.md • developers/versions.md • release_notes/release-3.4.md • introduction/versioning.md • release_notes/release-3.3.md