Model version: the part that has to be recorded
A model version is the specific release behind a family name. It is the part that has to be recorded per delivered file, because a family name cannot be matched to a dated announcement and cannot explain why output from March looks different from output in September. As of 2026-09-22.
| A family name gives you | A version gives you as well |
|---|---|
| Who made the model | Which release produced a given file |
| Roughly what capability to expect | A row on a deprecations page to match |
| A vendor to ask | Evidence that output changed under you |
| A line to watch on a menu | A pin, where the product offers one |
Inclusion rule. Distinctions drawn from how the entries in this register name their models. Several name a family only. Order. What a family name gives first, then what a version adds.
1One family in this register spans four versions
Four entries here carry the same family and no two carry the same version: a third generation at three resolutions, a 2.5 line, an unversioned mention, and downloadable second-generation weights.
A production that recorded only the family would be unable to reproduce anything. That spread is the strongest argument in the register for keeping the version alongside every delivered file.
2Versions are what dated rows are written about
Deprecations pages list identifiers, not families. So a maker's published date can only be matched to a purchase if the purchase named a version, which several entries here do not do.
That is the mechanism by which a published date fails to reach the person it concerns. The date exists, the customer exists, and nothing connects them.
3Recording it costs one field
Model, version if given, and the date, per delivered file. It is trivially cheap at the time and impossible to reconstruct afterwards, which is the whole of the advice this register keeps repeating.
On one entry the record falls out of the billing arrangement, because each model is priced separately. Everywhere else it has to be a habit.
A definition rather than a dated entry: no line above is a vendor statement. Where this word turns up in a real notice, the wording and the date are on why naming the version matters. Nearby terms: Version alias, Version pinning, Model identifier.