Breaking Change
A change that requires existing consumers to modify how they use a system or interface.
Plain English
Old integrations will stop working unless they change too.
In context
Breaking changes invalidate a previously supported contract such as an API schema behavior or file format.
Example
“Renaming this response field would be a breaking change.”
When you'll hear this
- API review
- release planning
- migration
Common misunderstanding
A large internal rewrite is not breaking when the external contract remains compatible.
Commonly used by
Related terms
Updated: 2026-08-25
