SurrealDB 4.0 is in beta. A beta is a release of the next version that is published before the stable release, so that you can test an application and a datastore against it. The install script and surreal upgrade stay on the current stable release unless you ask for the beta, and the Docker latest tag points to the stable release too.
Starting a 4.0 node on a 3.x datastore converts the datastore to the 4.0 record format, and a 3.x release cannot open it afterwards. Test the beta on a new datastore or on a copy, and read Upgrading from 3.x to 4.0 before you start it on existing data.
Installing the beta on macOS and Linux
The install script installs surreal and the latest beta database, and pins it as the default.
curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -sSf https://install.surrealdb.com | sh -s -- --betaInstalling the beta on Windows
& ([scriptblock]::Create((irm https://windows.surrealdb.com))) -BetaUpgrading an installed database to the beta
With surreal already installed, upgrade the database component to the latest beta. The --beta flag is shorthand for db@beta.
surreal upgrade --betasurreal upgrade db@betaTo run one command against the beta without changing the default, use +beta, as in surreal +beta db start. See Managing components.
Using the beta with Docker
Docker Hub has no tag that follows the latest beta, so name the beta release in the tag. The tags are listed on Docker Hub.
docker run --rm --pull always -p 8000:8000 surrealdb/surrealdb:v4.0.0-beta.1 start