THE TOOL REGISTRY

TOOL VERSIONING AND DEPRECATION Tools change over time. Bugs get fixed, inputs get added, outputs get reshaped. But other software and saved workflows may depend on a tool behaving the way it used to. Versioning means giving each form of a tool a version label so changes are tracked and controlled. A popular scheme is semantic versioning, written as three numbers such as 2.1.0, where a change to the first number signals a change that may break existing users, the second signals new features that remain compatible, and the third signals small bug fixes. Deprecation means officially marking something as outdated and scheduled for removal, while still letting it work for a while. Think of a road that is going to be closed in six months. Signs go up early, the road stays open, and drivers have time to switch to the new route. A good deprecation practice includes: a warning in the registry and in the tool's output, a clear replacement name, a published end date, and logs that show who still calls the old version so they can be contacted.