The July 2026 MySQL releases are now available, including:

  • MySQL 26.7.0 Innovation
  • MySQL 9.7.2 LTS
  • MySQL 8.4.11 LTS

MySQL 26.7.0 is the first generally available Innovation release following MySQL 9.7 LTS and the first MySQL release to use the new calendar-versioning model.

MySQL 9.7.2 and MySQL 8.4.11 continue the quarterly maintenance cadence for the current MySQL Long-Term Support release lines.

A new calendar-versioning model for MySQL

Beginning with MySQL 26.7.0, MySQL Innovation releases use a calendar-based Year.Month.Patch, or YY.M.P, version format:

  • 26 represents 2026.
  • 7 represents July.
  • 0 is the patch number.

The next scheduled Innovation release will therefore be MySQL 26.10.0, reflecting the October 2026 release window.

Calendar versioning makes it easier to understand when an Innovation release line began and where it fits within the quarterly cadence. Existing MySQL 8.4 and MySQL 9.7 LTS release lines retain their established identities throughout their support lifecycles.

Both Innovation and LTS remain production-grade release tracks:

  • Innovation releases provide the latest features, improvements, deprecations, removals, and bug fixes for users who can test and upgrade on a regular cadence.
  • LTS releases provide a stable feature set with quarterly maintenance updates and a longer support lifecycle.

For more information, see A More Predictable MySQL Release Model: Calendar Versions, LTS, and Innovation.

MySQL continues its quarterly release cadence

MySQL aligns scheduled quarterly releases with Oracle’s Critical Patch Update cadence.

Quarterly maintenance releases are not limited to security fixes. LTS maintenance releases can also include important bug fixes, while Innovation releases include bug fixes and new functionality.

In the October 2026 time frame, expect:

  • MySQL 26.10.0 Innovation
  • A quarterly maintenance release for MySQL 9.7 LTS
  • A quarterly maintenance release for MySQL 8.4 LTS

July 2026 MySQL Server releases

MySQL Server 26.7.0 Innovation includes:

MySQL Server 9.7.2 LTS includes:

MySQL Server 8.4.11 LTS includes:

The release notes for each version provide the complete list of changes.

MySQL Server 26.7.0 Innovation highlights

MySQL 26.7.0 builds on the functionality previewed in the MySQL Community Server 26.7 Early Access release. The MySQL Community 26.7 Innovation download pages are located here: https://dev.mysql.com/downloads/

Highlights include improvements across InnoDB, replication and Group Replication, security, upgrade checking, and high-concurrency connection handling.

Replication — Change Stream Applier

MySQL 26.7 introduces the Change Stream Applier, a new implementation of the replica SQL applier for multithreaded replication.

The Change Stream Applier is an opt-in, per-channel alternative to the existing Multi-Threaded Applier. It provides a more modular scheduling and execution model designed to improve parallel transaction application and provide a foundation for future replication enhancements.

Highlights include:

  • Independent applier configuration for each replication channel
  • Between one and 1,024 worker threads per channel
  • Separation of transaction application from commit ordering
  • Per-channel event-memory controls
  • Improved responsiveness to STOP REPLICA
  • Configuration and worker-state visibility through Performance Schema

The Change Stream Applier is selected by configuring APPLIER_VERSION=2 for a supported replication channel. The existing Multi-Threaded Applier remains available with APPLIER_VERSION=1.

Learn more in Introducing the Change Stream Applier: A New MySQL Replication Applier in Labs.

Thread Pool Plugin

The MySQL Thread Pool Plugin is now available in MySQL Community Edition.

The Thread Pool Plugin provides an alternative to the default one-thread-per-connection execution model. It manages statement-execution threads across large numbers of client connections, helping reduce excessive context switching, operating-system scheduling pressure, and resource contention under highly concurrent workloads.

Making Thread Pool available in Community Edition gives more users the ability to evaluate and use MySQL thread-pool scheduling for workloads with large numbers of simultaneous connections.

Group Replication communication stack

The default Group Replication communication stack changes from XCOM to MYSQL.

The MySQL communication stack uses MySQL Server connection security and authentication, aligning Group Replication more closely with the security configuration used by the rest of the server.

Administrators upgrading existing Group Replication environments should review their configuration carefully. All members of a group must use a consistent communication stack, and changing stacks requires coordinated operational steps.

MySQL InnoDB Cluster already uses the MySQL communication stack and is not affected in the same way as deployments explicitly using XCom.

MySQL 26.7 also introduces deprecation warnings for Group Replication XCom-related configuration options. Users should begin reviewing configuration files, deployment automation, and operational documentation for dependencies on these settings.

More robust InnoDB undo truncation

MySQL 26.7 improves the robustness of InnoDB undo tablespace truncation.

Undo truncation progress is now stored in the undo tablespace header rather than relying on locally generated undo-truncation log files. Existing truncation log files remain supported for backward compatibility, but new truncation log files are no longer generated.

This improves the underlying truncation and recovery infrastructure while preserving existing transaction visibility and MVCC behavior.

Post-quantum cryptography support

MySQL Server 26.7 supports post-quantum key-exchange algorithms when built with OpenSSL 3.5 or later.

The server supports hybrid and pure post-quantum groups, with hybrid algorithms preferred to improve interoperability. Classical key-exchange algorithms can be used as fallbacks where strict post-quantum conformance is not required.

This enables organizations to begin evaluating post-quantum cryptography for workloads with long-lived data, forward-looking cryptographic policies, or regulatory security requirements.

Learn more in Post-Quantum Cryptography Support in MySQL.

Upgrade-check progress reporting

Compatibility and upgrade checks now provide progress reporting.

For large schemas and complex deployments, upgrade checks can require significant time. Progress information gives administrators better visibility into the active phase of a check and helps distinguish a long-running operation from a stalled process.

This makes pre-upgrade validation easier to observe, troubleshoot, and integrate into operational upgrade procedures.

MySQL Enterprise Edition highlights

Dynamic Data Masking

Introduced in MySQL 9.7 LTS, Dynamic Data Masking is also available in MySQL 26.7 Innovation as part of MySQL Enterprise Edition.

Dynamic Data Masking helps protect sensitive information—such as Social Security numbers, email addresses, phone numbers, and other identifiers—without requiring application changes or separate masked copies of production data.

A masking policy is attached directly to a base-table column. At query time, MySQL returns either the original value or a masked value based on the executing user or active role.

Benefits include:

  • Server-side enforcement across applications and query paths
  • User- and role-based access to unmasked values
  • Reduced need to create and maintain masking views
  • Consistent protection for reporting, analytics, and AI-assisted querying
  • Support for least-privilege data-access models

Learn more in Dynamic Data Masking in MySQL: Protect Sensitive Data Without App Changes.

MySQL Enterprise Audit — Audit Log file visibility

MySQL Enterprise Audit in MySQL 8.4.11 LTS, MySQL 9.7.2 LTS, and MySQL 26.7.0 Innovation adds status variables that report the number of JSON audit log files currently stored in the configured audit log directory.

The audit_log_file_count status variable is available with the Audit Log plugin, and the audit_log.file_count status variable is available with the Audit Log component. Their values are updated as audit log files are created, rotated, pruned, or otherwise removed, providing an accurate count of the files currently residing on disk.

This capability is supported for the JSON audit log format. The XML format does not provide the file indexing and pruning mechanisms required to maintain the counter.

The additional visibility helps administrators monitor audit log file management and complements Audit Log offloading to OCI Oracle Log Analytics. An unexpected increase in the number of files remaining in the audit log directory can be used to trigger an alert and may indicate that audit log offloading is not operating as expected.

MySQL clients, tools, and connectors

The July releases of MySQL clients, tools, and connectors are versioned 26.7.

Products such as MySQL Workbench, MySQL Shell, MySQL Router, and MySQL Connectors support multiple MySQL Server versions. They are therefore not categorized as Innovation or LTS releases.

Users should install the latest compatible version of each client, tool, or connector for their selected MySQL Server release. Review the individual product documentation and release notes for supported Server versions, compatibility information, fixes, and changes.

Upgrade guidance

Customers should select a release track based on their operational and application requirements:

  • Customers looking for the newest MySQL capabilities and able to test and upgrade quarterly should move to MySQL 26.7.0 Innovation.
  • Customers looking for the newest Long-Term Support release should evaluate and adopt MySQL 9.7 LTS.
  • Customers standardizing on the MySQL 8.4 LTS line should update to the latest 8.4 maintenance release, MySQL 8.4.11.
  • Customers running older MySQL releases should begin planning their move to a current, supported LTS release.

Before upgrading, review the applicable release notes and upgrade documentation, run compatibility and upgrade checks, and validate application behavior and performance in a test environment.

For additional guidance, see:

Download MySQL

Download the latest MySQL Community and commercial releases from the MySQL Downloads page.

As always, thank you for using MySQL.