Reconsider ABI stability requirement for V8 updates in majors
Nobody has claimed this yet.
- Dominant language
- JavaScript
- Stars
- 694
- Forks
- 142
- PR merge metrics
- No merged PRs in 30d
Description
Opening this to discuss whether we should stop treating ABI compatibility changes as blockers for V8 updates in major releases.
We’ve been hitting the same issue repeatedly. v26.0.0 was already delayed for V8 14.6, and that version became outdated almost immediately with Chrome 148 (V8 14.8) going stable.
From the TSC thread, the main pain point is that ABI stability adds pressure and slows down landing V8 updates. Removing that constraint would let updates land when they’re actually ready instead of forcing timing compromises.
There was also the suggestion to drop ABI stability guarantees in majors and push the ecosystem more toward N-API or FFI.
This is probably too late for v26, but could make sense starting in v27.
cc: @targos, who has handled most (if not all) V8 updates for quite a long time
Contributor guide
First steps
- Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
- Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
- Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
- Open a pull request that references the issue number.
Research direction
Start with the TSC thread referenced in the issue and review the history around v26.0.0, V8 14.6, and Chrome 148/V8 14.8. Determine whether ABI stability should remain a blocker for V8 updates in major releases, with any resulting policy for v27 documented and agreed upon.
Written by the indexing model from the issue text.
Assessment
- Tech stack
- javascript, nodejs
- Domain
- compilers
- Issue type
- Feature
- Difficulty
- 5/5
- Estimated time
- Over a week
- Activity status
- Quiet
- Clarity
- Needs clarification
- Newbie friendliness
- 25/100