doc: update V8 ABI release policy

Document the V8-related native addon ABI policy discussed in
nodejs/TSC#1852.

Starting with Node.js 27, V8 updates may land during Alpha and
Current even when they require a `NODE_MODULE_VERSION` bump, as
long as the ABI change is documented in release notes.

Refs: https://github.com/nodejs/TSC/issues/1852#issuecomment-4566968175

Signed-off-by: RafaelGSS <rafael.nunu@hotmail.com>
PR-URL: https://github.com/nodejs/node/pull/64196
Refs: https://github.com/nodejs/TSC/issues/1852
Reviewed-By: Matteo Collina <matteo.collina@gmail.com>
Reviewed-By: Robert Nagy <ronagy@icloud.com>
Reviewed-By: Ulises Gascón <ulisesgascongonzalez@gmail.com>
Reviewed-By: Chengzhong Wu <legendecas@gmail.com>
Reviewed-By: Antoine du Hamel <duhamelantoine1995@gmail.com>
Reviewed-By: Richard Lau <richard.lau@ibm.com>

doc/contributing/maintaining/maintaining-V8.md

@@ -330,6 +330,10 @@ Revision_ from the 5.4 branch that can be useful in the update process above.
 We upgrade the version of V8 in Node.js `main` whenever a V8 release goes stable
 upstream, that is, whenever a new release of Chrome comes out.
 
+V8 updates can require a `NODE_MODULE_VERSION` bump if they change the native
+addon ABI. See the release process documentation for when
+`NODE_MODULE_VERSION` may be updated during a release line.
+
 Upgrading major versions would be much harder to do with the patch mechanism
 above. A better strategy is to
 

doc/contributing/releases.md

@@ -1460,10 +1460,26 @@ in the registry. Also include a change to the registry in your commit to
 reflect the newly used value. Ensure that the release commit removes the
 `-pre` suffix for the major version being prepared.
 
-It is current TSC policy to bump major version when ABI changes. If you
-see a need to bump `NODE_MODULE_VERSION` outside of a major release then
-you should consult the TSC. Commits may need to be reverted or a major
-version bump may need to happen.
+Starting with Node.js 27, changes that break the native addon ABI and require
+a `NODE_MODULE_VERSION` bump, such as V8 updates, may land during the Alpha and
+Current phases of a release line. Such changes should still be labeled as
+semver-major on the default branch. When they are promoted to the release line,
+they may land in semver-minor releases as long as the ABI change is clearly
+documented in the release notes.
+
+Once a release line enters LTS, ABI-breaking changes are strongly discouraged.
+They should only land when they are necessary, such as for security fixes, and
+when there is no way to make the change without breaking the ABI. Breaking
+changes that are not necessary for an LTS line, such as adding fields to a
+struct to expose more information in a diagnostic API, do not meet this bar,
+and should be reworked as non-breaking changes before they could land. In
+practice, this means V8 is generally stable on a release line after it enters
+LTS, and no ABI or API breaking changes
+are expected unless in exceptional circumstances.
+
+This policy applies to addons that depend on V8, Node.js, or other non-Node-API
+native interfaces. Node-API remains the recommended interface for native addons
+that require ABI stability across Node.js versions.
 
 ##### Changelogs