Promoted Package Version

A package version moved from Beta to Released status, the only status Salesforce allows installing into production.

Definition

Promoting a package version moves it from Beta status, installable only for internal testing, to Released, the only status Salesforce allows for production installs and the only status other package versions can declare as a dependency. Promotion is done deliberately, via sf package version promote, and is a one-way action: a Released version can never be demoted back to Beta. Once installed anywhere, a Released version also can't be deleted, only deprecated, which is why teams typically run a version through sandbox and UAT testing while it's still Beta and promote only once they're confident it's production-ready. Promoting too early is a common source of subscriber-facing bugs that could have been caught during the Beta testing window. Our 2GP gotchas guide covers promotion timing mistakes ISVs run into.

In practice

How it works in Serpent

Serpent promotes package versions as part of the same release pipeline that handles regular deployments, gated behind preflight checks and human approval rather than a separate manual CLI step someone has to remember. A version only promotes once its tests and approvals clear, keeping Beta testing and production promotion on one consistent, auditable trail. See 2GP CI/CD in Serpent for the full promotion workflow.

Common questions