Feature Overview (aka. Goal Summary)

Backstage Operator is still being improved, new features are being added, and changes to the Backstage CR API are inevitable. Some changes are critical and require clear policy and communication so that the user can be prepared. An example of such a critical change is the removal of fields such as: spec.application.replicas, spec.application.image and spec.application.imagePullSecrets in Backstage CR v1alpha2+ in favor of spec.deployment.patch.

Goals (aka. expected user outcomes)

• Define API deprecation/removal policy to make deprecation procedure part of release procedure. Obviously it should be synced or part of https://access.redhat.com/support/policy/updates/developerhub
• As an example and first step we need to remove Backstage CR v1alpha1

Requirements (aka. Acceptance Criteria):

• Backstage API deprecation/removal policy as a part of upstream and downstream documentation
• Backstage v1alpha1 removed and properly documented referencing to RHDH 1.3 Release Notes in the planned {FixVersion}

Out of Scope (Optional)

• Automated upgrade
• Merging tools

Documentation Considerations

• Policy documented in both Upstream and Downstream (RHDH)
• Make sure each API deprecation case is properly documented in RN.