Release Notes for v26.2-v26.2.0-rc.1

src/current/_data/releases.yml

@@ -11200,3 +11200,31 @@
     docker_arm_limited_access: false
   source: true
   previous_release: v25.4.7
+
+
+- release_name: v26.2.0-rc.1
+  major_version: v26.2
+  release_date: '2026-04-15'
+  release_type: Testing
+  go_version: go1.25.5
+  sha: 3ac3ee35056129cd97aa5a541f127efa3b8d7eea
+  has_sql_only: true
+  has_sha256sum: true
+  mac:
+    mac_arm: true
+    mac_arm_experimental: true
+    mac_arm_limited_access: false
+  windows: true
+  linux:
+    linux_arm: true
+    linux_arm_experimental: false
+    linux_arm_limited_access: false
+    linux_intel_fips: true
+    linux_arm_fips: false
+  docker:
+    docker_image: cockroachdb/cockroach-unstable
+    docker_arm: true
+    docker_arm_experimental: false
+    docker_arm_limited_access: false
+  source: true
+  previous_release: v26.2.0-beta.3

src/current/_includes/releases/v26.2/v26.2.0-rc.1.md

@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+## v26.2.0-rc.1
+
+Release Date: April 15, 2026
+
+{% include releases/new-release-downloads-docker-image.md release=include.release %}
+
+<h3 id="v26-2-0-rc-1-sql-language-changes">SQL language changes</h3>
+
+- Exposed the following settings for canary table statistics:
+  - Cluster setting `sql.stats.canary_fraction`: probability that table statistics will use canary mode (i.e., always use the freshest stats) instead of stable mode (i.e., use the second-freshest stats) for query planning [0.0-1.0].
+  - Session variable `canary_stats_mode`: When `sql.stats.canary_fraction` is greater than `0`, controls which table statistics are used for query planning on the current session: `on` always uses the newest (canary) stats immediately when they are collected, `off` delays using new stats until they outlive the canary window, and `auto` selects probabilistically based on the canary fraction. Has no effect when `sql.stats.canary_fraction` is `0`. [#167944][#167944]
+
+<h3 id="v26-2-0-rc-1-bug-fixes">Bug fixes</h3>
+
+- Fixed a bug where CockroachDB might not have respected the table-level parameters `sql_stats_automatic_full_collection_enabled` and `sql_stats_automatic_partial_collection_enabled` and defaulted to using the corresponding cluster settings when deciding whether to perform automatic statistics collection on a table. [#167681][#167681]
+
+<h3 id="v26-2-0-rc-1-performance-improvements">Performance improvements</h3>
+
+- Statement executions using canary stats will no longer use cached plans, which prevents cache thrashing but causes a slight increase in planning time over statement executions using stable stats. [#167503][#167503]
+
+
+[#167944]: https://github.com/cockroachdb/cockroach/pull/167944
+[#167681]: https://github.com/cockroachdb/cockroach/pull/167681
+[#167503]: https://github.com/cockroachdb/cockroach/pull/167503