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ROS 2 distributions and end-of-life dates: Humble, Jazzy, Kilted, Lyrical

Choosing a ROS 2 distribution starts with knowing how long it will be supported. This page gathers the release and end-of-life (EOL) dates listed in the official ROS 2 release documentation.

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Answers are written by a language model solely from this base's documents, with numbered sources. They can be wrong and aren't legal, medical or financial advice: check the sources before any important decision.

Current distributions at a glance

Lyrical Luth was released on May 22, 2026. It is the twelfth ROS 2 release and a Long Term Support release, supported until May 2031.

Kilted Kaiju was released on May 23, 2025 with an end of life in December 2026. Jazzy Jalisco was released on May 23, 2024 and reaches end of life in May 2029. Humble Hawksbill was released on May 23, 2022 and reaches end of life in May 2027.

How the release cycle works

A new ROS 2 distribution is released every year on May 23rd, World Turtle Day. The next one, Makoa Mata-mata, is planned for May 2027 with a planned end of life in December 2028.

Once a distribution is released, changes to core packages are limited to bug fixes and non-breaking improvements, so developers can work against a stable codebase until they are ready to move forward.

Frequently asked questions

Which recent distributions are already end of life?

Iron Irwini reached end of life on December 4, 2024, Galactic Geochelone on December 9, 2022 and Foxy Fitzroy on June 20, 2023. They no longer receive updates.

Is Humble still supported?

Yes, Humble Hawksbill is listed with an end of life in May 2027. If you start a new project, Lyrical Luth offers a longer support window, until May 2031.

Who leads each release?

Each distribution has a ROS Boss. For Lyrical Luth it is Shane Loretz, for Kilted Kaiju Scott K Logan and for Jazzy Jalisco Marco A. Gutiérrez.

For developers and agents

Embed / API / MCP

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MCP for your agents

This base's MCP server URL (tools ask_base and search_base):

MCP URL
https://kopik.io/api/mcp?base=ros2-robotics-documentation
Claude Code, Cursor and other clients
Claude Code
claude mcp add --transport http kopik-ros2-robotics-documentation "https://kopik.io/api/mcp?base=ros2-robotics-documentation" --header "Authorization: Bearer kpk_…"
JSON config (mcpServers)
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "kopik-ros2-robotics-documentation": {
      "url": "https://kopik.io/api/mcp?base=ros2-robotics-documentation",
      "headers": {
        "Authorization": "Bearer kpk_…"
      }
    }
  }
}

REST API for your apps

mode is "answer" (written answer + sources) or "passages" (raw passages only). Add an optional maxPriceCents to cap the price: if the base costs more, the call is refused and nothing is charged.

curl
curl -X POST https://kopik.io/api/v1/bases/ros2-robotics-documentation/query \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer kpk_…" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"question": "Your question here", "mode": "answer"}'

Getting started

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