How do I install the Operator Versioning skill?

Run npx skillmds@latest add projectcalico/operator-versioning in your terminal (requires Node.js), paste this page's agent-chat prompt into Claude, Cursor, or any MCP-connected agent, or download the SKILL.md file and copy it into your agent's skills directory.

Is Operator Versioning safe to use?

This skill has not completed SkillMD's automated safety review yet. SkillMD never runs a skill's scripts for you; review the SKILL.md before installing.

Which AI agents work with Operator Versioning?

This skill is tagged as working with Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex. SKILL.md is an open format, so most agents that read a skills directory can load it too.

Is Operator Versioning free to use?

Yes. Installing skills from SkillMD is free, and the skill stays under its author's original license.

Who published Operator Versioning?

projectcalico (@projectcalico) published this skill. Their other Agent Skills are listed on their SkillMD profile.

Operator Versioning by projectcalico

Name: Operator Versioning
Author: projectcalico

Operator Versioning

Map between Calico/enterprise versions and tigera/operator release branches, for the releases that predate the operator moving into this repo. Use this skill whenever you need to determine which operator branch corresponds to a Calico or enterprise release (e.g., "which operator branch is Calico v3.30?"), or the reverse (e.g., "what Calico version does release-v1.40 ship?"). Also use this skill whenever cherry-picking to operator release branches, creating cherry-pick PRs targeting release branches, or any task that requires knowing the operator↔Calico version relationship. Trigger even if the user doesn't explicitly ask about versioning — if the task involves targeting an operator release branch by Calico version, use this skill to find the right branch.

File contents

Operator Version Mapping

The operator is built from operator/ in this repo and ships on the Calico version stream, so from master and any release branch cut after v3.32 there is no separate operator branch to map. Everything below is for v3.32 and earlier, where the operator was built from tigera/operator.

The tigera/operator repo uses its own versioning (release-v1.X) that does NOT have a simple 1:1 offset with Calico versions. Some operator branches correspond to Calico OSS releases, others to Calico Enterprise releases, and the mapping changes over time. Never guess the mapping — always look it up.

Calico version → operator branch

The authoritative source is the OPERATOR_BRANCH variable in metadata.mk, which those release branches still carry:

Calico OSS (projectcalico/calico): check metadata.mk on the release-vX.Y branch.
```
git show origin/release-vX.Y:metadata.mk | grep OPERATOR_BRANCH
```
Calico Enterprise (tigera/calico-private): check metadata.mk on the appropriate release-calient-* branch. The branch naming convention is release-calient-vX.Y-Z where -Z is the EP (engineering preview) number (e.g., release-calient-v3.23-1 = v3.23 EP1). List matching branches to find the right one:
```
git branch -r | grep "release-calient-vX.Y"
git show origin/release-calient-vX.Y-Z:metadata.mk | grep OPERATOR_BRANCH
```
Confirm by checking config/calico_versions.yml or config/enterprise_versions.yml on the operator branch (in tigera/operator) — the title field shows the Calico/enterprise version that branch ships:
```
git show origin/release-v1.XX:config/calico_versions.yml | head -3
git show origin/release-v1.XX:config/enterprise_versions.yml | head -3
```

If you don't have the calico or calico-private repo locally, you can work backwards from the operator side: check config/calico_versions.yml on several candidate operator branches until you find the one whose title matches the target Calico version.

Operator branch → Calico version

Check the version files on the operator branch directly:

git show origin/release-v1.XX:config/calico_versions.yml | head -3
git show origin/release-v1.XX:config/enterprise_versions.yml | head -3

The title field in each file gives the Calico OSS and enterprise versions respectively.

Important notes

Multiple operator branches can ship the same Calico OSS version (e.g., one paired with an OSS release, another with an enterprise release). The metadata.mk approach is definitive for a given Calico/enterprise release stream.
The GitHub releases page for tigera/operator can also help — it shows which operator versions were released from which branches and what Calico versions they include.

---name: operator-versioningdescription: Map between Calico/enterprise versions and tigera/operator release branches, for the releases that predate the operator moving into this repo. Use this skill whenever you need to determine which operator branch corresponds to a Calico or enterprise release (e.g., "which operator branch is Calico v3.30?"), or the reverse (e.g., "what Calico version does release-v1.40 ship?"). Also use this skill whenever cherry-picking to operator release branches, creating cherry-pick PRs targeting release branches, or any task that requires knowing the operator↔Calico version relationship. Trigger even if the user doesn't explicitly ask about versioning — if the task involves targeting an operator release branch by Calico version, use this skill to find the right branch.---# Operator Version MappingThe operator is built from `operator/` in this repo and ships on the Calico version stream, so from master and any release branch cut after v3.32 there is no separate operator branch to map. Everything below is for v3.32 and earlier, where the operator was built from tigera/operator.The tigera/operator repo uses its own versioning (release-v1.X) that does NOT have a simple 1:1 offset with Calico versions. Some operator branches correspond to Calico OSS releases, others to Calico Enterprise releases, and the mapping changes over time. Never guess the mapping — always look it up.## Calico version → operator branchThe authoritative source is the `OPERATOR_BRANCH` variable in `metadata.mk`, which those release branches still carry:1. **Calico OSS (projectcalico/calico)**: check `metadata.mk` on the `release-vX.Y` branch. ```bash git show origin/release-vX.Y:metadata.mk | grep OPERATOR_BRANCH ```2. **Calico Enterprise (tigera/calico-private)**: check `metadata.mk` on the appropriate `release-calient-*` branch. The branch naming convention is `release-calient-vX.Y-Z` where `-Z` is the EP (engineering preview) number (e.g., `release-calient-v3.23-1` = v3.23 EP1). List matching branches to find the right one: ```bash git branch -r | grep "release-calient-vX.Y" git show origin/release-calient-vX.Y-Z:metadata.mk | grep OPERATOR_BRANCH ```3. **Confirm** by checking `config/calico_versions.yml` or `config/enterprise_versions.yml` on the operator branch (in tigera/operator) — the `title` field shows the Calico/enterprise version that branch ships: ```bash git show origin/release-v1.XX:config/calico_versions.yml | head -3 git show origin/release-v1.XX:config/enterprise_versions.yml | head -3 ```If you don't have the calico or calico-private repo locally, you can work backwards from the operator side: check `config/calico_versions.yml` on several candidate operator branches until you find the one whose `title` matches the target Calico version.## Operator branch → Calico versionCheck the version files on the operator branch directly:```bashgit show origin/release-v1.XX:config/calico_versions.yml | head -3git show origin/release-v1.XX:config/enterprise_versions.yml | head -3```The `title` field in each file gives the Calico OSS and enterprise versions respectively.## Important notes- Multiple operator branches can ship the same Calico OSS version (e.g., one paired with an OSS release, another with an enterprise release). The `metadata.mk` approach is definitive for a given Calico/enterprise release stream.- The GitHub releases page for tigera/operator can also help — it shows which operator versions were released from which branches and what Calico versions they include.

Frequently asked questions