Hi!

I’m Kit, and I’ve joined the Processing Foundation recently as project lead for p5.js! I am so excited to be part of this amazing community, and to help bring the vision of p5.js 2.0 to completion.

In this update, I want to share our current thoughts about compatibility. (Even as p5.js 2.0 becomes more stable, p5.js 1.x will continue to be supported!)

Last year, we initiated thep5.js 2.0 RFC (Request for Comment) process to collectively re-envision the next major release of p5.js. Since then, many contributors have been working to make p5.js 2.0 happen. You can read more about the Governance Model and Decision-Making Process in the previous update:#7261

Now that the beta release is available, you can try testing out the beta! Please report any bugs you encounter to help improve p5.js 2.0 as you try outthe beta release!

Timeline

Even as p5.js 2.0 becomes more stable, p5.js 1.x will continue to be supported for at least a year. Here’s thetimeline so far:

• Now: beta is ready for testing, documentation updates in progress
• Start ofApril, 2025: release - available to import, opt-in in the p5.js Editor
• Start ofAugust, 2025: still opt-in, but wider communication about stopping updates in 1.x soon
• End ofMarch, 2026: after this, no further updates on 1.x
• Start ofAugust, 2026: p5.js 2.0 is the default version in the p5.js Editor

Changes

Between 1.x and 2.0, there are many additions, and some breaking changes. In addition to making p5.js 2.0 available as a library, we are working on preparing several compatibility addons that would make it possible to keep using 1.x features that are no longer part of 2.0.

• You can review the 2.0 changes in therelease notes
• Do you have a library that depends on p5.js and you’d like to update it for compatibility with 2.0? If your library is in thedirectory then we are already planning to check whether the change from 1.0 to 2.0 breaks examples given by that library. Feel free to test your library out with the new release, or reach out / comment here!
• Coming soon: write-up of the recent anonymous check-in survey about the breaking changes. That survey was run is because many users of p5.js are not active on GitHub, and we'll keep running an anonymous survey on a regular basis. In the meantime, please feel free to engage in the discussion here or todrop by my public office hours!

Compatibility add-on libraries

We've preparedadd-on libraries for backwards-compatibility between 1.x and 2.0. That repository also contains guides on updating your own sketches and libraries to p5.js 2.0 - so do check it out, try it out, and share what you think to help us improve!