Build Metadata (+) Is Ignored in Precedence

Build Metadata in SemVer

Build metadata is appended to a version using a + sign followed by dot-separated identifiers.

Format

MAJOR.MINOR.PATCH[-prerelease][+build]

Examples:

• 1.0.0+20230101 — build date
• 1.0.0+build.42 — build number
• 1.0.0-beta.1+exp.sha.5114f85 — pre-release with Git SHA

The Golden Rule

Build metadata MUST be ignored when determining version precedence.

This means:

• 1.0.0+build.1 = 1.0.0+build.2 (for comparison purposes)
• 1.0.0+build.1 = 1.0.0 (for comparison purposes)

Why Does Build Metadata Exist?

Build metadata exists for informational purposes only:

Use Case	Example
Git commit SHA	1.0.0+sha.a1b2c3d
Build date/time	1.0.0+20230615.143022
CI build number	1.0.0+build.1234
Platform	1.0.0+linux.amd64

Build Metadata vs Pre-release

Aspect	Pre-release (-)	Build Metadata (+)
Affects precedence	Yes	No
Example	1.0.0-alpha	1.0.0+build.1
Published to npm	Yes	Rarely
Compared during sort	Yes	No

Combined Usage

You can have both pre-release and build metadata:

2.0.0-rc.1+build.123

The pre-release part (rc.1) affects precedence, but the build part (build.123) does not.

In Practice

Most package managers (npm, Cargo, pub) strip or ignore build metadata during resolution. It is mainly useful for internal tracking and debugging deployment artifacts.