Framework Upgrade Cycle overview

Quarterly workflow for upgrading core frameworks and runtime versions to stay current with security patches, performance improvements, and ecosystem support. The backend engineer and tech lead review the framework changelog for breaking changes and deprecations, then update dependencies in a dedicated upgrade branch. The full automated test suite is run to surface regressions, and breaking changes are addressed through codemods or targeted refactors. Upgrade notes document any behaviour changes that application developers need to be aware of before the upgrade is merged.