Backward-incompatible change
A change that requires users or developers to change something on their side, like their configuration or their custom integration.
- In code
breaking-change (label)- Also
- backward-incompatible changes
- Formerly
- breaking changeOld name: don't use it in new text.
Pull requests with a backward-incompatible change get the breaking-change label, and explain in their description what changes and what to do about it. That text ends up in the Backward-incompatible changes section of the release notes.
The pull request template of Home Assistant Core and the label call it a "breaking change". Both mean the same thing. The release notes call it a backward-incompatible change, and so should everything you write.
When possible, a change is not backward-incompatible yet: it starts with a deprecation first.