Version check

Version Check

Setup: See /installation for one-time SDK/CLI/MCP install.
Layers: SDK (Go) → CLI (shell) → MCP (AI tools) — pick your entry point.

When to Use

• You need to check if a version is a specific type (alpha, beta, RC, stable, dev, snapshot, etc.)
• You need boolean comparison results (is newer? is older? is between?)
• You are building CI/CD conditionals based on version properties
• You need exit-code-based checks for shell scripts (if versions check --stable $V; then ...)
• You need to filter versions by type or comparison predicates

Decision Tree

Need a yes/no answer about a version?
├─ Type check (what kind of version)?
│   ├─ Has any suffix?                → IsPrerelease() / versions check --prerelease
│   ├─ No suffix (release)?           → IsStable() / versions check --stable
│   ├─ Specific suffix type?          → IsAlpha/IsBeta/IsRC/IsDev/etc. / versions check --<type>
│   ├─ All type flags at once?        → version_info (MCP) / versions info (CLI)
│   └─ All numbers are zero?          → IsZero() / versions check --zero
├─ Comparison check (relative to another version)?
│   ├─ Is v1 newer than v2?           → IsNewerThan() / versions check --newer v2 v1
│   ├─ Is v1 older than v2?           → IsOlderThan() / versions check --older v2 v1
│   ├─ Are they equal?                → Equals() / versions check --equal v1 v2
│   └─ Is v between low and high?     → IsBetween() / versions check --between-low L --between-high H V
└─ Need suffix weight for ordering?   → SuffixWeight() / versions suffix-weight

Task Patterns

Check version type in CI/CD pipeline

Goal: Only deploy if the version is stable (no prerelease suffix).

SDK approach:

v := versions.NewVersion(os.Getenv("VERSION"))
if v.IsStable() {
    deploy()
}

CLI approach:

if versions check --stable "$VERSION"; then
    deploy
fi

MCP approach:

{"tool": "version_info", "arguments": {"version_string": "1.2.3"}}

Check IsStable in the response.

Check if a version is a specific prerelease type

Goal: Determine if "1.0.0-beta2" is a beta (not just any prerelease).

SDK approach:

v := versions.NewVersion("1.0.0-beta2")
isBeta := v.IsBeta()         // true
isAlpha := v.IsAlpha()       // false (beta != alpha)
isRC := v.IsRC()             // false
isPrerelease := v.IsPrerelease() // true (any suffix)
subVersion := v.SubVersion() // 2

CLI approach:

versions check --beta 1.0.0-beta2      # exit 0
versions check --alpha 1.0.0-beta2     # exit 1
versions check --rc 1.0.0-beta2        # exit 1

MCP approach:

{"tool": "version_info", "arguments": {"version_string": "1.0.0-beta2"}}

Check comparison predicates

Goal: Determine if "2.0.0" is newer than "1.0.0".

SDK approach:

v1 := versions.NewVersion("1.0.0")
v2 := versions.NewVersion("2.0.0")
v2.IsNewerThan(v1)  // true
v1.IsOlderThan(v2)  // true
v1.Equals(v2)       // false

CLI approach:

versions check --newer 1.0.0 2.0.0     # exit 0 (2.0.0 > 1.0.0)
versions check --older 2.0.0 1.0.0     # exit 0 (1.0.0 < 2.0.0)
versions check --equal 1.0.0 1.0.0     # exit 0

MCP approach:

{"tool": "version_compare", "arguments": {"version1": "2.0.0", "version2": "1.0.0"}}

Check result == 1 in the response.

Check if a version is in a range

Goal: Determine if "1.5.0" is between "1.0.0" and "2.0.0".

SDK approach:

v := versions.NewVersion("1.5.0")
low := versions.NewVersion("1.0.0")
high := versions.NewVersion("2.0.0")
inRange := v.IsBetween(low, high) // true (inclusive both ends)

CLI approach:

versions check --between-low 1.0.0 --between-high 2.0.0 1.5.0  # exit 0

MCP approach:

{
  "tool": "version_range_query",
  "arguments": {"check_version": "1.5.0", "low": "1.0.0", "high": "2.0.0"}
}

Check suffix weight for ordering

Goal: Get the semantic weight of "1.0.0-alpha1" to compare with other suffixes.

SDK approach:

v := versions.NewVersion("1.0.0-alpha1")
weight := v.SuffixWeight()                    // 100
isAlpha := weight == versions.SuffixWeightAlpha // true
name := weight.String()                       // "alpha"

CLI approach:

versions suffix-weight 1.0.0-alpha1   # alpha (100)
versions suffix-weight 1.0.0           # unknown (0)

MCP approach:

{"tool": "version_parse", "arguments": {"version_string": "1.0.0-alpha1"}}

Check suffix_weight in the response.

Check all type flags at once (for comprehensive filtering)

Goal: Get every Is* flag for a version in a single call.

SDK approach:

v := versions.NewVersion("v1.2.3-beta1")
// Call each Is* method as needed:
// v.IsPrerelease(), v.IsStable(), v.IsDev(), v.IsAlpha(),
// v.IsBeta(), v.IsRC(), v.IsSnapshot(), v.IsMilestone(),
// v.IsNightly(), v.IsFinal(), v.IsGA(), v.IsPre(),
// v.IsRelease(), v.IsSP(), v.IsPost(), v.IsZero()

CLI approach:

versions info v1.2.3-beta1

MCP approach:

{"tool": "version_info", "arguments": {"version_string": "v1.2.3-beta1"}}

API Reference

SDK — Type Check Methods

All return bool. A version matches exactly one suffix type based on its suffix pattern:

Method	Suffix Pattern	Weight
IsDev()	-dev*	50
IsSnapshot()	-snapshot*	60
IsNightly()	-nightly*	70
IsAlpha()	-alpha*	100
IsBeta()	-beta*	200
IsMilestone()	-milestone* or -m*	300
IsRC()	-rc*	400
IsFinal()	-final*	500
IsGA()	-ga*	500
IsRelease()	-release*	500
IsPre()	-pre*	—
IsSP()	-sp*	600
IsPost()	-post*	800

SDK — Composite Checks

func (x *Version) IsPrerelease() bool  // Suffix is non-empty (any suffix = prerelease)
func (x *Version) IsStable() bool      // Suffix is empty (no suffix = stable)
func (x *Version) IsZero() bool        // All version numbers are zero
func (x *Version) IsValid() bool       // Has non-empty VersionNumbers
func (x *Version) Validate() error     // Stricter: rejects negative numbers

SDK — Comparison Predicates

func (x *Version) IsNewerThan(target *Version) bool  // CompareTo(target) > 0
func (x *Version) IsOlderThan(target *Version) bool  // CompareTo(target) < 0
func (x *Version) Equals(target *Version) bool        // CompareTo(target) == 0
func (x *Version) IsBetween(low, high *Version) bool  // low <= x <= high; nil = skip bound

SDK — Suffix Weight

func (x *Version) SuffixWeight() SuffixWeight  // semantic weight int
func (x *Version) SubVersion() int             // numeric from suffix (e.g. "beta2" → 2)

CLI Commands

# Type checks — exit 0 = true, exit 1 = false
versions check --prerelease <version>
versions check --stable <version>
versions check --dev <version>
versions check --alpha <version>
versions check --beta <version>
versions check --rc <version>
versions check --snapshot <version>
versions check --milestone <version>
versions check --nightly <version>
versions check --final <version>
versions check --ga <version>
versions check --pre <version>
versions check --release <version>
versions check --sp <version>
versions check --post <version>
versions check --zero <version>
versions check --is-valid <version>

# Comparison checks
versions check --newer <target> <version>
versions check --older <target> <version>
versions check --equal <target> <version>
versions check --between-low <low> --between-high <high> <version>

# Get all info at once
versions info <version>

# Suffix weight
versions suffix-weight <version>

CI/CD pattern:

if versions check --stable "$VERSION"; then deploy; fi
if versions check --ga "$VERSION"; then deploy-production; fi

MCP Tools

Tool	Arguments	Returns
version_info	version_string: string	all Is* flags, segments, suffix info
version_validate	version_string: string	{valid: bool, error: string?}
version_compare	version1: string, version2: string	{result: int, description: string}
version_range_query	check_version: string, low: string, high: string	between-ness result

Cross-References

• [[version-parsing]] — for parsing version strings before checking
• [[version-comparison]] — for the underlying CompareTo logic behind IsNewerThan/IsOlderThan
• [[version-constraints]] — for constraint-based matching (more expressive than simple checks)
• [[version-range-query]] — for range-based queries on version collections

Important Notes

• IsStable() and IsPrerelease() are exact opposites: a version is either stable (no suffix) or prerelease (has suffix)
• Type checks are suffix-based: "1.2.3-beta1" is IsBeta() but NOT IsAlpha() — they are mutually exclusive
• IsPre() and IsPrerelease() are different: IsPre() matches the specific -pre* suffix type, while IsPrerelease() matches ANY non-empty suffix
• IsStable() and IsRelease() are different: IsStable() means "no suffix", IsRelease() means "has explicit -release suffix"
• IsZero() checks if all version numbers are zero — "0.0.0" has valid numbers so IsValid() is true
• CLI check exit codes: 0 = true, 1 = false — ideal for shell conditionals
• IsBetween(low, high) is inclusive on both bounds; pass nil for open-ended checks