Kubernetes v1.36 State of the Release - Mid-Cycle Update
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Ryota
Mar 13, 2026, 11:21:57 AM (4 days ago) Mar 13
to dev, releas...@kubernetes.io, kubernetes-sig-release, le...@kubernetes.io
Hi Kubernetes Community 👋
We would like to share a mid-cycle update regarding the state of the Kubernetes v1.36 release.
TL;DR: 81 enhancements post-Enhancements Freeze. Please be aware of the upcoming deadlines below.
We started our journey on 12th January 2026, and have already crossed the halfway mark for Kubernetes v1.36! The Enhancements Freeze was on 11th February 2026, on week 5. As we are currently on week 9, there are 6 more weeks away from the planned release of Kubernetes v1.36 on Wednesday 22nd April 2026.
Upcoming Important Dates (Ref: v1.36 release schedule)
Enhancements
We are now tracking 81 enhancements post-Enhancements Freeze, with 7 exceptions filed and 4 exception requests approved. You can see all enhancements we are currently tracking on the GitHub project board.
Feature Blogs
Writing a feature blog is a great way to highlight and share information about your enhancement with the community. Feature blogs are especially encouraged for high visibility changes as well as deprecations and removals. As the feature blog's official deadline passed last week, if you would still like to opt-in, please create a placeholder PR and reach out to the team in #release-comms.
If you have opted in, please make sure your blog is ready for review by the Monday 6th April 2026 (AoE).
If you have any questions, please reach out to the comms team in the #release-comms Slack channel!
Documentation
Unless the KEP changes do not require any updates to the website, please open a PR against the `dev-1.36` branch on `kubernetes/website`. Instructions to create a placeholder PR are here. All enhancements that are determined to require documentation must have their docs PRs in a `ready-to-review` state by Tuesday 31st March 2026 (AoE), and in a `ready-to-merge` state by the Docs Freeze - Wednesday 8th April 2026 (AoE) / Thursday 9th April 2026, 12:00 UTC.
Release Highlights
For each release, we choose high-impact features to highlight an important part of the release that provides a bird's eye view of improvements, breaking or user-facing changes that are coming as part of the upcoming release. We kindly ask that all SIG Leads and Technical Chairs join in the GitHub discussion before the deadline of Tuesday 31st March 2026 (AoE).
Other Notes
The beta release cut was planned for this week on Wednesday 11th March 2026, but has been postponed. We will proceed with the release cut as soon as we receive the green release signal.
Lastly, we thank the SIG leads, KEP authors, PRR reviewers, Blog/Doc reviewers and other contributors for their continuous commitment and hard work!
For any questions or feedback, please reach out to us on #sig-release.
Cheers,
Ryota Sawada
Kubernetes v1.36 Release Lead, on behalf of the Release Team
We would like to share a mid-cycle update regarding the state of the Kubernetes v1.36 release.
TL;DR: 81 enhancements post-Enhancements Freeze. Please be aware of the upcoming deadlines below.
Upcoming Important Dates (Ref: v1.36 release schedule)
- Code Freeze and Test Freeze: Wednesday 18th March 2026 (AoE) / Thursday 19th March 2026, 12:00 UTC
- Docs -- PRs ready for review: Tuesday 31st March 2026
- Release Highlights: Tuesday 31st March 2026
- Feature blogs -- PRs ready to review: Monday 6th April 2026
- Docs Freeze: Wednesday 8th April 2026 (AoE) / Thursday 9th April 2026, 12:00 UTC
Enhancements
We are now tracking 81 enhancements post-Enhancements Freeze, with 7 exceptions filed and 4 exception requests approved. You can see all enhancements we are currently tracking on the GitHub project board.
Feature Blogs
Writing a feature blog is a great way to highlight and share information about your enhancement with the community. Feature blogs are especially encouraged for high visibility changes as well as deprecations and removals. As the feature blog's official deadline passed last week, if you would still like to opt-in, please create a placeholder PR and reach out to the team in #release-comms.
If you have opted in, please make sure your blog is ready for review by the Monday 6th April 2026 (AoE).
If you have any questions, please reach out to the comms team in the #release-comms Slack channel!
Documentation
Unless the KEP changes do not require any updates to the website, please open a PR against the `dev-1.36` branch on `kubernetes/website`. Instructions to create a placeholder PR are here. All enhancements that are determined to require documentation must have their docs PRs in a `ready-to-review` state by Tuesday 31st March 2026 (AoE), and in a `ready-to-merge` state by the Docs Freeze - Wednesday 8th April 2026 (AoE) / Thursday 9th April 2026, 12:00 UTC.
Release Highlights
For each release, we choose high-impact features to highlight an important part of the release that provides a bird's eye view of improvements, breaking or user-facing changes that are coming as part of the upcoming release. We kindly ask that all SIG Leads and Technical Chairs join in the GitHub discussion before the deadline of Tuesday 31st March 2026 (AoE).
Other Notes
The beta release cut was planned for this week on Wednesday 11th March 2026, but has been postponed. We will proceed with the release cut as soon as we receive the green release signal.
Lastly, we thank the SIG leads, KEP authors, PRR reviewers, Blog/Doc reviewers and other contributors for their continuous commitment and hard work!
For any questions or feedback, please reach out to us on #sig-release.
Cheers,
Ryota Sawada
Kubernetes v1.36 Release Lead, on behalf of the Release Team
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