TL;DR

Compute Engine API multi-versioning is a way to address the same service through several frozen, date-stamped contracts, and it is now generally available in every Google Cloud region.

Google published the change on 4 November 2026, with 2026-09-01 as the first stable version, 2026-10-01-preview available for testing, and the old /v1 endpoint still the default when no version is named.

Stable versions ship quarterly, carry a date such as 2026-09-01, and receive no breaking changes after publication.

Preview versions branch from a stable parent, run on a rapid cadence and carry a one-year lifespan before they disappear.

The request carries the version selection in the X-Goog-Api-Version header or the $apiVersion query parameter, so the base path stays /compute/v1/ and resource links stay uniform.

AggregatedList turns on partial success by default in dated versions, and errors arrive as google.rpc.ErrorInfo payloads with a reason, a domain and metadata.

A platform team pins what it owns: a client…