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Robot Framework

INFRA · APIS
Velocity2.5

Generic open-source automation and acceptance testing framework

robotframework.org ↗

A mature test framework shipping on a long beta-to-release rhythm, now fixing its own tooling.

test-automationpythonsecret-variableslibdocdeprecationrelease-cadence
◆Current state
Robot Framework runs a deliberate release process — 7.4 took two betas and two release candidates across October to December 2025 before shipping, followed by two bug-fix releases. The 7.4 line's substance was secret variables, typed standard library keywords and improved handling of bytes. 7.5 beta 1 opened in July 2026 with major work on Libdoc, the library documentation tool, plus configurable console logging.
◆Where it's heading
Feature work has moved from the test language itself to the tooling around it: 7.4 handled how tests express secrets and types, while 7.5 is about how libraries get documented and how runs report to the console. The project is also shedding surface — Testdoc was deprecated in favour of an external tool, following the pattern of a mature framework narrowing its core and pushing peripheral tools out of tree. Cadence is roughly two feature releases a year with a long stabilisation tail.
◆Prediction
The final 7.5 release should follow the 7.4 pattern of at least one more pre-release before shipping, with the remaining Libdoc work landing first.

◆Recent moves

  1. 17d ago

    7.5 beta 1: Libdoc overhaul and configurable console logging

    Opens the 7.5 cycle with the documentation tool rather than the test language as the headline — Libdoc gets major enhancements, console logging becomes configurable. Consistent with the shift from language features in 7.4 to tooling in 7.5, and explicitly incomplete with more planned before the final release.

    View source ↗
  2. 5mo ago

    7.4.2 closes the 7.4 line and deprecates built-in Testdoc

    The last planned 7.4.x bug-fix release, notable less for the fixes than for deprecating the built-in Testdoc tool in favour of an external one. That is the core narrowing in practice — a peripheral tool moving out of the framework rather than being maintained inside it.

    View source ↗
  3. 7mo ago

    7.4.1 fixes regressions from 7.4

    A regression-only patch three weeks after 7.4, following the project's standard pattern of a fast first bug-fix release after each feature release.

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  4. 7mo ago

    7.4 ships secret variables and typed standard library keywords

    The feature release the preceding four pre-releases were building toward. Secret variables give tests a first-class way to handle credentials, and typed standard library keywords tighten the contract between test data and library code — both aimed at teams running Robot Framework in CI rather than at exploratory testing.

    View source ↗
  5. 7mo ago

    7.4 release candidate 2

    The second release candidate for 7.4, carrying the same feature set as rc1 and cut within a minute of it in the feed. Stabilisation step, no new capability.

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  6. 7mo ago

    7.4 release candidate 1

    First release candidate for 7.4, restating the beta feature set ahead of the December release. Part of the project's long, publicly staged stabilisation process rather than a change in its own right.

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