Early Access: Alpha, Beta and General Availability

Backbuild releases a feature in stages. A feature starts in Alpha, moves to Beta, and then becomes generally available. Every organization gets generally available features as part of its plan. Features still in Alpha or Beta are early access: an owner or admin chooses, feature by feature, whether the organization uses them before they are finished. After this page you will know what each stage means, how to turn an early access feature on and off, and what happens to your data when you do.

The three stages

Stage	What it means	Who has it
Alpha	The feature works, but it is still changing. Screens, behavior and limits can change, and the feature can be withdrawn.	Organizations that turned on Alpha releases for that feature.
Beta	The feature is close to finished. It can still change before general availability.	Organizations that turned on Beta or Alpha releases for that feature.
General availability	The feature is finished and supported.	Every organization whose plan includes it.

A new organization receives every feature at general availability. Nothing in Alpha or Beta is turned on until an owner or admin turns it on.

The notice on documentation pages

A documentation page about a feature that is in Alpha or Beta shows a notice at its top that names the stage, for example "This feature is in Alpha." The notice follows the feature: when the feature becomes generally available, the notice goes away. A page with no notice describes a generally available feature or the platform as a whole.

Turning on an early access feature

Open Settings → Early access. The page lists the features that are in Alpha or Beta, grouped by stage, each with a short description, a link to its documentation, and its status for your organization. Every member can open the page. Only an owner or admin can change it.

1. Find the feature and choose the release you want for it: Alpha, Beta or GA.
2. The first time your organization chooses Alpha or Beta, Backbuild shows the pre-release notice. Read it and accept it to continue. Your organization is asked again only when the notice changes.
3. The feature appears for your organization within a minute.

The choice is made per feature. Choosing Alpha for one feature does not turn on any other feature. Choosing Beta for a feature that is still in Alpha does not turn it on yet: the page shows the stage at which it will reach you.

The page also tells you when a feature cannot be turned on by a release choice: when your plan does not include it, when your organization's billing is on hold, or when Backbuild has made the feature temporarily unavailable.

What the pre-release notice says

• Alpha and Beta features can change or be removed.
• They carry no service-level commitment.
• Usage is billed at the normal usage rates.
• Data you entered only through an early access feature can be lost only if that feature is withdrawn. Where the feature has an export, the notice tells you how to export first.

Going back to general availability

Open Settings → Early access and choose GA for the feature. Within a minute the feature is no longer shown to your organization, unless it has become generally available in the meantime. Going back never needs the notice.

Your data is kept. Turning an early access feature off hides it; it does not delete what your organization made with it. Turn the feature on again, or wait until it is generally available, and the data is there.

Questions

Who can change these settings?

Owners and admins of the organization. Other members see the page, with the controls turned off, and can ask an owner or admin.

Does turning on an Alpha feature change my plan or my price?

No. Early access does not change your plan. A feature that uses metered resources is billed at the normal usage rates whether it is in Alpha, Beta or generally available.

What happens when a feature I turned on reaches general availability?

Nothing changes for you. It stays on, the notice on its documentation goes away, and it leaves the Early access page.