---
title: "Create Release Branch | Grafana Loki documentation"
description: "Create Release Branch"
---

# Create Release Branch

A single release branch is created for every `major` or `minor` release (not for patch releases). That release branch is then used for all the Stable Releases, and all Patch Releases for that `major` and `minor` versions of the Grafana Loki.

## Before you begin

1. Determine the [VERSION\_PREFIX](../concepts/version/).
2. Announce about the upcoming release in `#loki-releases` internal slack channel.
3. Skip this announcement for a patch release. Create an issue to communicate beginning of the release process with the community. Example issue [here](https://github.com/grafana/loki/issues/10468).

## Steps

1. Determine which commit should be used as a base for the release branch. Usually this is a `kxx` weekly release branch.
2. Create and push the release branch from the selected base commit:
   
   The name of the release branch should be `release-VERSION_PREFIX`, such as `release-2.9.x`.
   
   > Note
   > 
   > Branches are only made for VERSION\_PREFIX; do not create branches for the full VERSION such as `release-2.9.1`.
   
   > Note
   > 
   > Don’t create any other branches that are prefixed with `release` when creating PRs or those branches will collide with our automated release build publish rules.
3. Create a label to make backporting PRs to this branch easy.
   
   The name of the label should be `backport release-VERSION_PREFIX`, such as `backport release-2.9.x`.
   
   > Note
   > 
   > Note there is space in the label name. The label name must follow this naming convention to trigger CI related jobs.