Relevance Classification Rules

Classify each individual change within a release as high, medium, or low relevance to the Sentry JavaScript SDK. A single release contains multiple changes — classify each independently, then group by level.

How the Sentry SDK instruments frameworks

• Hooking into routers to create transactions and navigation spans
• Wrapping lifecycle hooks, middleware, and plugin systems to attach tracing and error capture
• Intercepting error boundaries and error handlers to report exceptions
• Propagating trace context across async boundaries using AsyncLocalStorage, executionAsyncId, or framework-specific isolation mechanisms
• Patching or wrapping module exports (via OpenTelemetry instrumentation hooks or monkey-patching) — dependent on the framework's ESM/CJS exports map
• Providing build-time plugins (Vite, Webpack, Rollup) that inject source-map uploads, release metadata, and tree-shaking hints
• Creating component-level spans from rendering pipelines (concurrent rendering, hydration, streaming)

A change is relevant when it touches any surface the SDK depends on, extends, or could newly instrument.

Classification rules

Classify as high when the change does ANY of the following:

• Adds, removes, renames, or changes the signature of a router, route matcher, or navigation API
• Adds, removes, renames, or changes lifecycle hooks, middleware signatures, or plugin/extension registration
• Modifies SSR, streaming, hydration, or server-handler behavior
• Changes error-handling, error-boundary, or diagnostic-channel APIs
• Introduces a new public API or framework primitive that performs I/O, triggers side effects, or orchestrates rendering (these are instrumentation candidates)
• Changes async-context propagation, request-isolation, or scoping mechanisms (AsyncLocalStorage usage, domain-like scoping, executionAsyncId)
• Removes, renames, or changes the signature of any internal API that the Sentry SDK currently wraps or patches
• Changes the module system: ESM/CJS dual-package mode, package.json exports map, conditional exports
• Deprecates an API that the Sentry SDK currently uses
• Changes the shape of request, response, context, or middleware objects the SDK reads from (headers, status codes, route params)
• Changes build tooling or bundler plugin APIs in ways that affect source maps, tree-shaking, or bundle integration (Vite plugin API, Webpack loader API, Rollup plugin hooks)
• Adds a new deployment target (edge runtime, serverless adapter, Workers) that the SDK does not yet support
• Changes how the framework emits or consumes OpenTelemetry spans
• Changes the rendering pipeline (concurrent rendering, partial pre-rendering, resumability, Suspense boundaries) in ways that alter component lifecycle timing
• Introduces framework-level telemetry, diagnostics hooks, or DevTools protocol changes that could replace or improve current SDK instrumentation

Classify as medium when the change does ANY of the following (but none of the high criteria):

• Adds an experimental, unstable, or feature-flagged API — this signals a future high item once stabilized
• Changes peer-dependency version ranges — can cause version conflicts for SDK users
• Introduces a new data-fetching pattern, caching strategy, or loader API that does not yet have SDK span coverage
• Changes HTTP client, fetch wrapper, or outgoing-request handling within the framework
• Changes the worker, thread, or sub-process model

Classify as low when ALL the following are true:

• The change does not match any high or medium criterion above
• The change is limited to: documentation, typos, README updates, internal refactors with no public API or behavioral change, test-only changes, CI/CD pipeline changes, new examples/starter templates (unless they demonstrate a new architectural pattern), community or governance changes, contributor guidelines, dependency bumps (unless bumping a transitive dependency the SDK also depends on), or performance optimizations that do not alter API surface or behavior contracts

Edge cases

• Uncertain between high and medium → classify as high. False positives cost less than missed breakage.
• Vague changelog entry (e.g., "internal improvements") → classify as low unless the linked PR indicates otherwise.