Last week at OpenSearchCon Europe in Prague, the OpenSearch Project reached a milestone that many are calling a defining turning point. While the event was filled with news, from CERN joining the foundation to the release of OpenSearch 3.6, the headline that continues to make waves throughout the ecosystem is the official launch of the Long-Term Support (LTS) program.
Now that the dust has settled, we’re recapping why this move is such a game-changer for the community and what it means for the future of the project.
Why LTS? Addressing the enterprise reality
As Bianca Lewis, Executive Director of the OpenSearch Software Foundation, shared during the announcement, the decision to launch LTS was driven by a massive wave of adoption and direct feedback from the community.
While organizations want the innovation and data sovereignty that come with open-source software, they often face internal hurdles when it comes to mission-critical workloads. Security teams need documented SLAs, and engineering teams need a stable, predictable upgrade path. The LTS program addresses these “logical steps,” making it easier for enterprises to adopt OpenSearch confidently without sacrificing open-source principles.
The pillars of the LTS program
The LTS program was designed to provide the stability typically associated with proprietary vendors while maintaining the total freedom of open source. Here are the key highlights from last week’s announcement:
- Defined 18-month support lifecycles: To eliminate the risk of versions becoming unsupported mid-project, LTS versions will now have a minimum of 18 months of support. The program kicks off with OpenSearch 2.19 and 3.6.
- SBOM-backed compliance: We are now scanning all 152 OpenSearch repositories to create a library of Software Bill of Materials (SBOMs). This allows organizations to demonstrate the provenance and security posture of their deployments—a critical requirement for modern regulatory standards like the CRA.
- Transparent security posture: The program introduces early security vulnerability notifications and a commitment to address medium and high-severity vulnerabilities within 60 days of disclosure.
- Accredited vendor choice: We have vetted and accredited an initial group of professional providers – including BigData Boutique, Eliatra, Resolve Technology, and Seacom to deliver Foundation-approved commercial support.
A unified codebase: The “no-fork” commitment
A critical pillar of this program is the “no-fork” policy. Every bug fix and security patch developed for an LTS version must be contributed back upstream. This ensures that the entire community benefits from enterprise-driven improvements and that users are never locked into a single provider. It reinforces the Foundation’s commitment to a unified, open codebase that belongs to everyone.
Looking ahead
The first LTS-designated release, OpenSearch 3.6, is already showing what’s possible when stability meets innovation. By unifying the OpenSearch Observability Stack with AI-powered tools like the OpenSearch Relevance Agent, we are moving toward a future where OpenSearch serves as a single, intelligent operating layer for the enterprise.
As we look toward the next year, the success of the LTS program will be measured by the growth it fuels, helping more companies migrate away from vendor lock-in and contribute to a healthier, more innovative open-source ecosystem.
Thank you to everyone who joined us in Prague to celebrate this milestone. We can’t wait to see how the community uses this new foundation to innovate
Explore the LTS Program
Learn how your organization can take advantage of the OpenSearch Long-Term Support (LTS) program >>
