KMyMoney version numbers

Help
1

I have been using KMM for a few years, and love it.

However, I continue to struggle with the version numbers.

In the News page of the web site, the latest 3 announcements are:

5.2.2 is released on Feb 2, 2026

5.2.1 is released on Aug 4, 2025

5.2.0 is released on June 21, 2025

The latest stable windows version at

https://cdn.kde.org/ci-builds/office/kmymoney/5.2/windows/

is kmymoney-5.2-5829-windows-cl-msvc2022-x86_64

How does 5.2-5829 relate to 5.2.2?

I downloaded that and installed it.

Now Help → About KMyMoney says 5.2.2-843e483

How does 5.2.2-843e483 relate to 5.2-5829?

How can I tell when my current version (reported by Help → About) needs to be updated, when that version number does not match the version numbers in latest stable version page?

Can someone please explain the version numbering?

2

Good and perfectly valid question. Let’s define a few things because what looks like a single number to the reader is actually comprised of multiple things.

  • Version number
  • git SHA1 hash
  • build number

The version number is based on the last tag on a repository (aka git) branch. So if you see 5.2.x you know that it is based on the 5.2 branch of the repository. If nothing follows the version number in the Help/About KMyMoney dialog, then it is build using a tarball released from that tag.

If it is followed by a hex number (the git SHA1 hash) then it is a version with additional changes/fixes on the respective branch. So 5.2.2-843e483 means that the source code used to build this version is based on the 5.2 branch, past the 5.2.2 tag with a number of changes/fixes. Using that SHA1 you can see the corresponding change of the source code (called commit) and looking at the list of the commits on the 5.2 branch see more details.

Whenever the source code changes, the KDE CI/CD infrastructure is triggered to create a new build (for AppImage, Windows and Flatpak). When that build is successful, the consecutive build number and the branch name are used to construct the file name. So 5.2-5829 is the build 5289 using the then current state (aka HEAD) of the 5.2 branch. There is no direct relationship between the build number 5289 and the commit 843e483. The only way to find out is downloading the file, running the application and opening the Help/About KMyMoney dialog.

BTW, the developers work on the master branch and the version is currently 5.2.70. The latest build as of this writing results in kmymoney-master-5828-windows-cl-msvc2022-x86_64.exe for Windows.

How can I tell when my current version (reported by Help → About) needs to be updated, when that version number does not match the version numbers in latest stable version page?

The latest stable version shown on the web-page is the released version (tar-ball). Intermediate changes are not mentioned there (this would be a nightmare to maintain).

This blog post explains in detail how the different paths of the builds relate to each other.

3

The latest stable version shown on the web-page is the released version (tar-ball). Intermediate changes are not mentioned there (this would be a nightmare to maintain).

I am sorry, but I don’t understand what you said. “The latest stable version shown on the web-page is the released version”. Which web page are you talking about? News, Downloads, or the CI downloads page? What “Intermediate changes” are you talking about. The CI itself seems to include “intermediate changes” between formal releases.

The Downloads page has a link for the latest stable SOURCE:

https://download.kde.org/stable/kmymoney/

That has 5.2.2, dated Feb 22 2026, same date as the Release announcement in the News page. I could find no links for compiled files for that version, which seems very strange.

The link for complied versions goes to the CI page, which seems to have much later stuff which is not yet documented in release notes, so I don’t know what I am really getting.

I actually stumbled onto the blog page you referenced after making my post. It is somewhat helpful.

It explains that the version number in Help → About includes the commit ID. I guess that is for the latest change included in this version. Presumably there might be other commits included, but only the latest one is listed.

There is no explanation of the version number in the ci-builds list: 5.2-5289.

Why is this 5.2 instead of 5.2.2? What does 5289 refer to? How do I relate that to the version in Help → About

Does the CI build a new version every day, or only when there was as change? If every day, I don’t need to download it if there were no changes. How do I know when there was a change? How do I know what the changes are in this version, to know whether or not to bother downloading the new version? Do I have to slog through GIT and look at commit IDs and bug reports?

I was a software developer, but we did not use CI and automated testing. When we were ready for a release, it went through extensive testing before release, and we only released fully tested versions. I am a bit worried about using daily compiles from the CI system. It relies on the developer doing his own testing of his change. What if that fix breaks something else, that the developer did not think to test? There seems to be some automated testing of the system. Does the developer update the tests as well as the code? How extensive is the automated testing? This is a very complex system with a lot of GUI interfaces, and many of the updates are for the GUI interface. That is difficult to test with automation.

In the blog page you referenced, all the CI stuff is steps 1 through 3. The formal release stuff announced in the News page is steps 4 through 6. How does the team decide to make a new announced formal release? Does it go through any extra testing that is not done during the CI? If not, then downloading from the daily CI should be OK. If there is extra testing, then downloading from the daily CI is questionable.

The web home page states: “KMyMoney strives to be the easiest open source personal finance manager to use, especially for the non-technical user.”

I agree the software itself is easy to use, but downloading it is very confusing.

Here is a suggestion: archive a copy of the compiled versions for each formal release announced in the News page, for the average joe to download.
Continue to provide the CI downloads for more adventurous people interested in the latest updates.

Until that might happen, do you have any recommendations for when we should download a new version from the CI?

I apologize for taking your valuable time with this somewhat non-issue, but I find it very confusing and frustrating to update/maintain this wonderful software.

Thanks.

4

One more idea: Would it be possible to make the version numbers in the CI downloads page (5.2-5289) the same as in Help → About (5.2.2-xxxx)?

5

Sorry, you answered many of my questions in your first reply, but somehow I originally only read the last part after you quoted part of my post.

It would be nice of there was an easy way map the CI and “Help About” version numbers. They are both generated by the CI system somehow, so it would seem like there should be a way to coordinate them. Anyway, now that I know the situation, I will deal with the different version numbering between CI and “Help About”.

Are the latest CI downloads considered “production ready”, or is there further testing before a formal release as listed in the News page? If not “production ready”, I do recommend you folks archive a copy of the formal release compiled files for people who want only the most stable version.

I will check the CI downloads periodically to see if a new version is available, and maybe try to look at the GIT commit history if I really want to know more about the latest changes.

Thanks for all your hard work creating and updating this product.

6

I think I found a way to help match the CI compiled download version with the Help → About version. Get the Date of the download in the download web page. Look through the Commits in GIT to find a commit with a green checkbox with the download date. That commit ID should match the Help → About version.

7

There could be multiple builds per day depending on the progress the developers make. So check your Help → About version against all of them. Since only the last one will be available on the server but your download might have been performed before the last build got uploaded that is important to keep in mind.

8

Are the “latest stable” downloads considered “production ready” and suitable for everyone?

Is there more testing done before a formal release (as announced in the News page)?

9

Yes, they are based on the stable release and contain additional bug fixes. The amount of testing remains identical. No additional procedures are executed.