[GH-ISSUE #1133] Does SemVer specify whether 1.0.0-rc.1 or 1.0.0-rc1 is the correct notation? #1553

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opened 2026-04-16 10:57:47 -05:00 by GiteaMirror · 1 comment
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Originally created by @trueberryless on GitHub (Jul 4, 2025).
Original GitHub issue: https://github.com/semver/semver/issues/1133

I have looked through the examples on the website and the SemVer specification itself seems to stick to the dot-separated pre-release identifiers. However, since the specification doesn't clearly define if rc1 is also considered an identifier or not, both versions are valid. The RegEx even confirm that.

Is the differentiation left open for interpretation deliberately or is the specification missing some clear definition? Because I'm really not sure if 1.0.0-rc1 is by spec defined as valid, alto the RegEx allows it.

Could someone with better SemVer spec knowledge explain this to me?

Originally created by @trueberryless on GitHub (Jul 4, 2025). Original GitHub issue: https://github.com/semver/semver/issues/1133 I have looked through the examples on the website and the SemVer specification itself seems to stick to the dot-separated pre-release identifiers. However, since the specification doesn't clearly define if `rc1` is also considered an identifier or not, both versions are valid. The RegEx even confirm that. Is the differentiation left open for interpretation deliberately or is the specification missing some clear definition? Because I'm really not sure if `1.0.0-rc1` is by spec defined as valid, alto the RegEx allows it. Could someone with better SemVer spec knowledge explain this to me?
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@ljharb commented on GitHub (Jul 4, 2025):

https://semver.org/#spec-item-9 describes it pretty thoroughly - 1.0.0-rc1 is perfectly valid.

<!-- gh-comment-id:3036996470 --> @ljharb commented on GitHub (Jul 4, 2025): https://semver.org/#spec-item-9 describes it pretty thoroughly - `1.0.0-rc1` is perfectly valid.
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Reference: github-starred/semver#1553