Weekly Firefox dot release schedule starting with Firefox 151

[Donal Meehan]

Hi everyone,

We’re planning a release process change to improve how quickly and predictably we deliver changes to users: moving from a single mid-cycle scheduled dot release to a weekly scheduled dot release cadence for Firefox Desktop and Android.

Why we’re changing this

Today, we ship a major release every four weeks, with one scheduled dot release mid-cycle. While this has improved predictability compared to purely incident-driven releases, it still leaves gaps where fixes or new features may wait longer than necessary to reach users.

In practice, we’re already shipping more than one dot release per cycle on average, but in a less predictable way. This results in:

• Fixes waiting weeks to ship despite being ready

• Increased reliance on unplanned dot releases

• Limited flexibility for features that narrowly miss a major release

Moving to a weekly cadence allows us to deliver fixes faster, reduce unplanned releases, and provide a more consistent and predictable process across the organization.

What’s changing

Dot release cadence

• Firefox will continue shipping a major release every four weeks

• We will add scheduled dot release opportunities in Weeks 2, 3, and 4 of each cycle

• Each dot release remains at the discretion of Release Management, based on uplift readiness and quality signals

• The cadence provides opportunity, not obligation. Scheduled dot releases may be skipped when appropriate

Schedule (high level)

• Week 1: Major release

• Week 2: Scheduled dot release

• Week 3: Scheduled dot release

• Week 4: Scheduled dot release

The overall structure of dot releases remains the same (build → QA signoff → staged rollout), with uplift deadlines aligned to support a weekly rhythm.

What’s not changing

• Uplift criteria and quality expectations remain the same

• Feature uplift continues to be case-by-case and limited to features already present and tested in pre-release

What this means in practice

• Fixes can reach users faster and more predictably

• Teams have more flexibility when changes miss a major release

• We expect fewer unplanned dot releases and less disruption from urgent scheduling

Rollout and next steps

Release calendars will be updated to reflect the new cadence. We’ll monitor quality signals, release workload, and overall effectiveness closely, and adjust if needed.

If you have questions, edge cases, or concerns (e.g., uplift timing or release coordination), please reach out in #release-coordination or contact Release Management directly.

Thanks for helping us make Firefox releases faster and more predictable!

Donal Meehan
Release Management