Semver Version Increment — Calculate the Next Version

Calculating the Next Semver Version

Version incrementing (or "bumping") is the process of determining the next version number based on the type of changes you have made.

Basic Increment Rules

Starting from 1.4.7:

Bump Type	Result	Rule
patch	1.4.8	Increment PATCH by 1
minor	1.5.0	Increment MINOR by 1, reset PATCH to 0
major	2.0.0	Increment MAJOR by 1, reset MINOR and PATCH to 0

Reset Behavior

Higher-order bumps always reset lower components:

1.4.7  --patch-->  1.4.8
1.4.7  --minor-->  1.5.0   (patch resets)
1.4.7  --major-->  2.0.0   (minor and patch reset)

Pre-release Increments

Incrementing pre-release versions adds complexity:

Starting Version	Bump Type	Result
1.2.3-alpha.1	prepatch	1.2.4-0
1.2.3-alpha.1	preminor	1.3.0-0
1.2.3-alpha.1	premajor	2.0.0-0
1.2.3-alpha.1	prerelease	1.2.3-alpha.2
1.2.3	prerelease	1.2.4-0

The prerelease bump is special:

• If the version already has a pre-release tag, it increments the last numeric identifier
• If the version is a release, it bumps PATCH and appends -0

Using the Increment Tab

Enter any version in the Increment tab to see all six possible next versions at once:

• Next major, minor, patch
• Next premajor, preminor, prepatch

Automation with npm version

The npm version command automates incrementing:

npm version patch    # 1.4.7 → 1.4.8
npm version minor    # 1.4.7 → 1.5.0
npm version major    # 1.4.7 → 2.0.0

This command:

1. Updates package.json version
2. Creates a git commit
3. Tags the commit with the new version

Choosing the Right Bump

Change Type	Bump	Example
Fixed a bug	patch	Fix null pointer in parser
Added a feature	minor	New export format option
Changed API signature	major	Removed deprecated method
Security fix (no API change)	patch	Patched XSS vulnerability
Dropped Node.js version support	major	Requires Node >= 20