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About this tool
Plan fixed-cadence release dates with code freeze, release candidate and GA milestones, weekend-safe.
This planner generates a fixed-cadence release train schedule — the code freeze, release candidate (RC) and general availability (GA) date for every cycle — from one starting GA date and a cadence in weeks. It follows the train model used by Chromium's 4-week release cycle and SAFe's Agile Release Train: releases leave on schedule and unfinished features catch the next train. Release managers and engineering leads get a publishable milestone table, with weekend ship dates automatically pulled back to Friday.
Open Release Train Schedule Planner on AltFTool — it loads instantly in your browser.
Add your input to the workspace.
Adjust the options until the result looks right.
Copy or download the output and put it to work.
Every release gets a code freeze, RC cut and GA date derived from your lead-time settings.
Milestones landing on Saturday or Sunday shift back to Friday — dates only ever move earlier.
The planner rejects impossible setups, like a freeze lead longer than the cadence itself.
A release train is a fixed-schedule release model: versions ship on a set cadence (every 2, 4 or 6 weeks) and any feature that is not ready simply waits for the next train instead of delaying the release. Chromium and Firefox ship on 4-week trains, and SAFe formalises the idea as the Agile Release Train.
Code freeze is the date the release branch stops accepting new features — only critical fixes land after it. The release candidate (RC) is a build cut from that frozen branch for final validation, and GA (general availability) is the date the release ships to all users. The freeze-to-GA gap is the stabilisation window, commonly one to two weeks.
Most teams on a 4-week train freeze 7–14 days before GA, cutting the RC about a week out. The freeze must be strictly shorter than the cadence — a 14-day freeze on a 1-week train would mean freezing before the previous release has even shipped, which this planner flags as an error.
Nobody staffs weekends to catch a bad release, so trains avoid shipping into them; this planner moves Saturday and Sunday milestones back to Friday, and many teams go further and target Tuesday–Thursday. Shifting earlier rather than later keeps the published date a worst-case deadline.