v5 release plan

[aldas]

Happy new year everyone!

TL;DR

• v5.0.0 will be released on 2026-01-18.
• v4 will be supported with security updates and bug fixes until 2026-12-31.
• Until 2026-03-31, any critical issues requiring breaking API changes will be addressed, even if this violates semantic versioning.
• If you are using Echo in a production environment, it is recommended to wait until after 2026-03-31 before upgrading.

References

• Public API diff between v4 and v5:
  https://github.com/labstack/echo/blob/v5/API_CHANGES_V5.md

To try out v5 (before 2026-01-18):

Add Echo v5
Branch: https://github.com/labstack/echo/commits/v5/

go get github.com/labstack/echo/v5@ec9232814e7be4242138ae988b2577d17c3f4f50

If you are using echo-contrib middlewares:
Branch: https://github.com/labstack/echo-contrib/commits/v5/

go get github.com/labstack/echo-contrib@c18fe0fae6079209497e381240a4c5699c78cea3

and echo-jwt middleware:
Branch: https://github.com/labstack/echo-jwt/commits/v5/

go get github.com/labstack/echo-jwt/v5@7cdd901b4337a19f4148d9015849f270a28a3507

If you are using Linux you can migrate easier parts like that:

find . -type f -name "*.go" -exec sed -i 's/ echo.Context/ *echo.Context/g' {} +
find . -type f -name "*.go" -exec sed -i 's/echo\/v4/echo\/v5/g' {} +

or in your favorite IDE

Replace all:

1. echo.Context -> *echo.Context
2. echo/v4 -> echo/v5

Based on my experience, the most challenging part of the migration is adapting existing tests to v5. Atleast this was my experience with 70+ routes, 100k lines Go monolith.

If your middlewares are using echo/v4.Response.Size/Status/Commited fields
You can access them in v5 with

	resp, err := echo.UnwrapResponse(c.Response())
	// resp.Size <-- bytes written to response
	// resp.Status <-- status code
	// resp.Committed <-- if response has been sent to the client

---

I am embarrassed that v5 has not yet been released and I am fixing this as my 2026 promise.

If v5 ultimately proves to be a major misstep (dumpster fire), we have committed to providing v4 with an extended support period (2026-12-31). As a result, teams using Echo in production should not feel pressured to migrate immediately.
If v5 appears to be moving in the wrong direction for you, there will be sufficient time to evaluate and transition to alternatives such as the Go standard library net/http mux, Gin, Fiber or Chi, all of which are solid options.

[aldas]

For me the biggest changes are:

• echo.Context is now struct and we can introduce methods without breaking semantic versioning promises
• Router is now an interface, which allows us to start designing and implementing alternative router implementations. This opens up new opportunities, such as routers that configure their internal logic at server startup based on the set of registered routes. For example, not all applications require wildcard routes, backtracking, or 405 Method Not Allowed handling. Eliminating these unused features can simplify the router and result in more efficient request routing. Or we can have routers what support regexp etc.