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tag

Also called: tags

A permanent name attached to one commit, most often a version number such as `v2.4.0`.

A tag is a fixed name on one commit, and teams use tags to mark releases: v1.4.0 points at exactly the code that shipped as version 1.4.0. Unlike a branch, a tag is not supposed to move. Tags answer the question product people ask most: is this fix released yet? If the fix's commit is contained in a release tag, it is in that release. On GitHub tags live on the Releases page, and publishing a release creates its tag.

Example

A fix was merged after v1.4.0 was tagged. Its commit page lists v1.4.1, so it reached customers in 1.4.1, not earlier.

Common mistakes

Confusing merged with released. A change can sit on main for days before the next tag; only a tag that contains it means it shipped.

Learn it in the course

  • Releases and versions: tags, SemVer, changelogs · What a tag is, how to read a version number like v1.4.1 (SemVer in plain words), how GitHub Releases and generated release notes work, how to check whether a fix is in a version, and why merged, released and live for every user can be three different moments.
  • Git flow: develop, release and hotfix branches · The release-oriented branching model: long-lived main and develop, feature, release and hotfix branches, and tags on main. When it fits (app store releases, several supported versions), why many web teams moved to GitHub flow or trunk-based development, and how to recognise each model from a branch list.
  • Repository and commits: reading a repo page · A GitHub repository page from top to bottom, what a single commit page tells you, and what makes a good commit message.
  • Why teams keep history: version control without fear · What version control is, how Git differs from GitHub, and why looking around a repository can't break anything.
  • Branches: parallel versions of the project · What a branch is, why work happens on short-lived branches next to main, and how to read branches on GitHub: the branch selector, ahead and behind, stale branches and graphs with several lanes.