linghengqian · Oct 20, 2026 · Oct 20, 2026
diff --git a/docs/changes.md b/docs/changes.md
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ What changed in each release, as a user notices it. GitHub's release pages list
 ## Unreleased
 
 - 13 more distributions, the rest of what Foojay lists: AdoptOpenJDK (`adpt`, `adptj9`), Eliya (`eliya`), OJDKBuild (`ojdkbld`), OpenLogic (`opnlgc`), Red Hat (`rdht`), Semeru certified (`semcrt`), Gluon GraalVM (`gln`) and GraalVM CE for JDK 8 to 19 (`grl8`, `grl11`, `grl16`, `grl17`, `grl19`). Red Hat installs from tar.xz, and OJDKBuild on Linux, OpenLogic on macOS and Gluon GraalVM before 22.1 from zips. A `.sdkmanrc` takes SDKMAN's old identifiers for them, such as `11.0.10.j9-adpt` and `22.3.3.r17-grl`. See [distributions.md](distributions.md).
+- Mandrel and Liberica NIK install by the GraalVM version they carry again: `java@23.1.12-mandrel` and `java@23.1.8-nik` work, `vfox search java mandrel` lists every release, and `java@23-mandrel` installs the newest 23.x, `23.1.12.1-mandrel`, which runs Java 21. In October 2026 Foojay moved that version from `java_version` to `distribution_version`, and since then release 0.6.2 fails on such versions with `No JDK found`, lists one Mandrel per Java major and installs Mandrel 23.1.8 for `java@21-mandrel`. Installs it made since then keep names after the Java version (`21-mandrel`, `21.0.12.1+2-nik`), and vfox still finds them by those names; uninstall one to get what the spec means now. See [distributions.md](distributions.md#behavior-of-mandrel-and-liberica-nik) ([#106](https://github.com/version-fox/vfox-java/issues/106)).
 - The notes printed by `vfox add java`, `vfox update java` and `vfox info java` are a link to the README, which lists every short name and shows how to search a distribution. Release 0.6.2 gives five short names there but not how to list their versions, while `vfox search java` lists OpenJDK only ([vfox#390](https://github.com/version-fox/vfox/issues/390)).
 
 ## 0.6.2 (2026-10-18)

diff --git a/docs/development.md b/docs/development.md
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ A few contracts that cost time to find:
 
 ## Names
 
-Installed names are `<java_version>[-<short name>][-fx]`, with no short name for OpenJDK ([versions.md](versions.md#installed-names)). `lib/distribution_version.lua` reads a spec into a version, a distribution and the JavaFX flag, in either order (`21-tem`, `tem-21`). `lib/installed_version.lua` turns a version the user typed into an installed name: the name itself first. A bare major then takes the newest installed release of it, and any other version takes the release itself or its newest build. `PreUse` stops there. `ParseLegacyFile` goes one step further and falls back to the newest installed release of the major.
+Installed names are `<java_version>[-<short name>][-fx]`, with no short name for OpenJDK and Foojay's `distribution_version` in place of `java_version` for Mandrel and Liberica NIK ([versions.md](versions.md#installed-names)). `lib/distribution_version.lua` reads a spec into a version, a distribution and the JavaFX flag, in either order (`21-tem`, `tem-21`). `lib/installed_version.lua` turns a version the user typed into an installed name: the name itself first. A bare major then takes the newest installed release of it, and any other version takes the release itself or its newest build. `PreUse` stops there. `ParseLegacyFile` goes one step further and falls back to the newest installed release of the major.
 
 SDKMAN spells some things differently (`jbr`, `21.0.12.fx-zulu`, `21.0.12-fx+1.1-librca`, `28.0.0+ea.19-open`), and `plugin_spelling` in `hooks/parse_legacy_file.lua` rewrites them into the plugin's before parsing. For the distributions SDKMAN no longer lists, `sdkman_flavours` there turns the virtual machine or JDK in SDKMAN's version into the short name (`22.3.3.r17-grl` is `22.3.3-grl17`). `installed_version.unpad` drops the zeros SDKMAN pads releases with (`27.0.0+36` is `27+36`). Where the short names differ from SDKMAN's is in [distributions.md](distributions.md#short-names-and-sdkman).
 
@@ -54,9 +54,10 @@ SDKMAN spells some things differently (`jbr`, `21.0.12.fx-zulu`, `21.0.12-fx+1.1
 - `version=21` is the GA build `21+35`. A bare major adds `latest=available` to get the newest 21.x.
 - Windows asks for `zip` and `tar.gz` in one request. JetBrains Runtime ships Windows zips for its newer builds only. `PreInstall` takes the zip when a version has both.
 - Elsewhere `other_archive_type` in `lib/foojay.lua` adds one archive type for the distributions that ship no tar.gz there for some or all releases: `tar.xz` for Red Hat, `zip` for OJDKBuild, OpenLogic and Gluon GraalVM. vfox unpacks both, and the zips carry their Unix permissions, so `bin/java` stays executable.
+- `own_numbers` in `lib/foojay.lua` holds Mandrel and Liberica NIK, which carry the GraalVM version they are built from. Foojay gives it as `distribution_version` and the Java version as `java_version`, for Mandrel the major only, so these two are asked for with `distribution_version` and an empty `version`. Foojay matches the numbers given (`23.1.12` lists 23.1.12.1 too), so a longer version keeps only its own release, and a bare major takes the newest itself, as `latest=available` picks an older one for them. The answer is sorted newest first, then by the newest Java for a release that comes for several, then by BellSoft's later build for the same Java, which only the file name carries. `distribution_version` then goes into `java_version`, so the hooks name and list them like the rest.
 - `fixes` in `lib/foojay.lua` drops packages before the hooks see them: the JREs, installer bundles and RHEL 6 builds that Foojay lists among OJDKBuild's Windows JDKs, and the JDK 11 builds of Gluon GraalVM's 22.x releases, which share their version with the JDK 17 ones. For a bare major `latest=available` answers with one package per archive type, which can be one the fix drops, so for these two the plugin then asks for that release in full.
 - `Available` lists a name once where Foojay has two records for it.
-- Foojay marks GraalVM's monthly feature releases (`25.1.3` and on) as LTS. `is_feature_release` in `lib/distribution_version.lua` recognises them, by the minor number, and `Available` drops the note. It is for `graal` and `graalce` only: Mandrel and Liberica NIK numbered their releases after themselves up to 24 (`mandrel` `23.1.12` is LTS) and follow the JDK from 25 on.
+- Foojay marks GraalVM's monthly feature releases (`25.1.3` and on) as LTS. `is_feature_release` in `lib/distribution_version.lua` recognises them, by the minor number, and `Available` drops the note. It is for `graal` and `graalce` only: Mandrel and Liberica NIK carry GraalVM's older numbers up to 24, whose minor is no feature release (`mandrel` `23.1.12` is LTS), and the JDK's from 25 on.
 - For a bare major of Oracle GraalVM (`graal`) only, `PreInstall` skips the feature releases, so the 25.0 line is installed. A major that has nothing but feature releases keeps them. GraalVM Community is not filtered, because its feature releases are what it still ships.
 - The CPU names are `arm64` to `aarch64`, and on Windows `amd64` to `x64`. `darwin` becomes `macos`. On Linux `ldd --version` decides between glibc and musl.
 
@@ -126,7 +127,7 @@ The ids are Foojay's (`oracle_open_jdk` is `open`). It prints `redhat` for Linux
 
 - Downloads are not verified, see above.
 - `vfox search` lists GA releases only. Early-access builds install by name.
-- JRE packages are not offered, and neither are the JDK 11 builds of Gluon GraalVM's 22.x releases.
+- JRE packages are not offered, and neither are the JDK 11 builds of Gluon GraalVM's 22.x releases. Of a Mandrel or Liberica NIK release only the build for its newest Java installs, so Mandrel 21.3.6 for Java 11 does not.
 - Only Linux loong64 has a source besides Foojay.
 
 ## Releasing

diff --git a/docs/distributions.md b/docs/distributions.md
@@ -138,13 +138,19 @@ The open-source edition of GraalVM, built on OpenJDK.
 
 ### Liberica Native Image Kit (`nik`)
 
-[BellSoft's](https://bell-sw.com/) distribution for building native images, based on GraalVM. Java 21 to 25, with `-fx` builds on some platforms.
+[BellSoft's](https://bell-sw.com/) distribution for building native images, based on GraalVM. Releases 21 to 25, which run Java 11, 17 and 20 to 25, with `-fx` builds on some platforms.
 
 ### Mandrel (`mandrel`)
 
-[Red Hat's](https://github.com/graalvm/mandrel) distribution for building Quarkus native executables, which concentrates on `native-image`.
+[Red Hat's](https://github.com/graalvm/mandrel) distribution for building Quarkus native executables, which concentrates on `native-image`. Releases 20.3 to 25, which run Java 11, 17 and 20 to 25.
 
-Mandrel and Liberica NIK numbered their releases after themselves up to version 24 (Mandrel `23.1.12`), and number them after the JDK from 25 on (`25.0.4.1`).
+### Behavior of Mandrel and Liberica NIK
+
+- Both carry the version of the GraalVM they are built from, and their installs are named after it: `23.1.12.1-mandrel`, `23.1.8-nik`. Up to 24 that is not the Java version. 23.1 runs Java 21, 24.0 Java 22, 24.1 Java 23 and 24.2 Java 24, and older releases run Java 11, 17 or 20. From 25 on the two agree (`25.0.4.1`).
+- A bare major is GraalVM's as well: `java@23-mandrel` installs the newest 23.x, `23.1.12.1-mandrel`, which runs Java 21, and `java@21-mandrel` installs `21.3.6-mandrel`, which runs Java 17. A longer version installs the release it names: `java@23.1.12-mandrel` is 23.1.12, not 23.1.12.1, and `java@23.1-mandrel` is the first 23.1 release, 23.1.0. A build number finds nothing (`java@23.1.8+1-nik`).
+- The releases ending in `.0.0` are listed under the bare major (`24-mandrel` is Mandrel 24.0.0) and install with a longer version, `java@24.0.0-mandrel`. Once one is installed, vfox finds `java@24-mandrel` by that name, for `vfox install` and `vfox use` alike.
+- Some releases come for several Java versions under one number, such as Mandrel 21.3.6 for Java 11 and 17. The plugin installs the build for the newest Java, which for Mandrel 23.0.1.2 and Liberica NIK 23.0.1 is Java 20, not 17. Liberica NIK built a few releases twice for the same Java (`25.0.3`), and the later build installs. The name shows neither the Java version nor BellSoft's build, so the other builds cannot be installed.
+- Unreleased: release 0.6.2 names them after Foojay's `java_version`, which held these numbers until Foojay put the Java version there in October 2026. Since then 0.6.2 fails on `java@23.1.12-mandrel` and `java@23.1.8-nik` with `No JDK found`, lists Mandrel in `vfox search` as one name per Java major (`21-mandrel`), installs Mandrel 23.1.8 for `java@21-mandrel` and Liberica NIK 24.1.2, built for Java 23, for `java@23-nik`.
 
 ### GraalVM CE 8 to 19 (`grl8`, `grl11`, `grl16`, `grl17`, `grl19`)
 
@@ -156,7 +162,7 @@ GraalVM Community Edition up to 22.3, from before it numbered its releases after
 
 ### Versions numbered after GraalVM
 
-GraalVM CE 8 to 19, and Gluon GraalVM before 23, carry GraalVM's version numbers, not Java's: `22.3.3-grl17` is GraalVM 22.3.3 and runs Java 17.0.8, and `21.3.1-grl11` runs Java 11. For a bare major vfox takes the highest installed version that starts with it, from any distribution, so with `21.3.1-grl11` and `21.0.12.1+1-tem` installed, `vfox use java@21` selects `21.3.1-grl11`. Name the distribution, as in `java@21-tem`.
+GraalVM CE 8 to 19, Gluon GraalVM before 23, and Mandrel and Liberica NIK before 25 carry GraalVM's version numbers, not Java's: `22.3.3-grl17` is GraalVM 22.3.3 and runs Java 17.0.8, `21.3.1-grl11` runs Java 11, and `23.1.12.1-mandrel` runs Java 21. For a bare major vfox takes the highest installed version that starts with it, from any distribution, so with `21.3.1-grl11` and `21.0.12.1+1-tem` installed, `vfox use java@21` selects `21.3.1-grl11`. Name the distribution, as in `java@21-tem`.
 
 ### Behavior of Oracle GraalVM and GraalVM Community
 

diff --git a/docs/e2e.md b/docs/e2e.md
@@ -98,6 +98,17 @@ JDK, so `java` can only come from what vfox installs:
    already installed, so nothing downloads. Before they had short names, the
    two failed with `Unsupported distribution` and `Could not extract a valid
    distribution`.
+
+   On the same rows Mandrel and Liberica NIK go by the GraalVM version they
+   carry (`ownNumbers` in `tests/e2e/common`; Windows arm64 has neither):
+   `vfox search java mandrel` lists `23.1.12-mandrel` (`23.1.8-nik` for
+   Liberica NIK), and with it and the newest 23.x the search lists faked as
+   installed, `vfox install java@mandrel-23.1.12` and
+   `vfox install java@23-mandrel` report those two as already installed.
+   Before the plugin read `distribution_version`, where Foojay moved that
+   version in October 2026, the search listed one name per Java major,
+   `23.1.12-mandrel` was not found, and `java@23-mandrel` installed Mandrel
+   24.1.2, built for Java 23.
 5. The pinned release installs under the name `PreInstall` gives it: the
    requested version plus the build number (`21.0.8-tem` installs as
    `21.0.8+9-tem`). `vfox search java <distribution>` (the `Available` hook)
@@ -157,7 +168,7 @@ The default matrix runs every distribution against both vfox channels
 | Distribution | Release | Covers                                                                                   | amd64 | arm64 |
 | ------------ | ------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ----- | ----- |
 | `open`       | 25.0.2  | the default distribution, versions without a suffix                                      | ✓     |       |
-| `tem`        | 21.0.8  | the common path (tar.gz on Linux, zip on Windows); the distributions checked by name     | ✓     | ✓     |
+| `tem`        | 21.0.8  | the common path (tar.gz on Linux, zip on Windows); the name and number checks of item 4  | ✓     | ✓     |
 | `librca-fx`  | 25.0.4  | JavaFX bundled builds (`-fx`)                                                            | ✓     | ✓     |
 | `jb`         | 21.0.5  | the tar.gz path on Windows, which has no zip for it                                      | ✓     | ✓     |
 | `graalce`    | 25.0.2  | a `GRAALVM_HOME` set beforehand keeps its value; Oracle GraalVM's `25-graal`             | ✓     |       |

diff --git a/docs/foojay.md b/docs/foojay.md
@@ -24,20 +24,37 @@ https://api.foojay.io/disco/v3.0/packages/jdks
 | Parameter | Value |
 | --- | --- |
 | `distribution` | the long name, see [distributions.md](distributions.md) |
-| `version` | empty for `vfox search`, else the version part of what you typed. A `+` is percent-encoded, because Foojay reads a bare one as a space and drops the build. `28.ea.19` becomes `28-ea+19` |
+| `version` | empty for `vfox search`, else the version part of what you typed. A `+` is percent-encoded, because Foojay reads a bare one as a space and drops the build. `28.ea.19` becomes `28-ea+19`. Always empty for Mandrel and Liberica NIK |
+| `distribution_version` | for Mandrel and Liberica NIK only, the version part of what you typed, see [below](#mandrel-and-liberica-nik) |
 | `architecture` | `aarch64` for arm64, `x64` on Windows x64, `amd64` for x64 elsewhere, and the name vfox reports for other CPUs |
 | `operating_system` | `linux`, `macos` or `windows` |
 | `archive_type` | `tar.gz`, and `zip` plus `tar.gz` on Windows. Elsewhere `tar.xz` comes in for Red Hat, and `zip` for OJDKBuild, OpenLogic and Gluon GraalVM |
 | `lib_c_type` | `glibc` or `musl` on Linux, empty elsewhere |
 | `directly_downloadable` | always `true` |
-| `latest` | `available`, added only when the version is a bare major such as `21` |
+| `latest` | `available`, added only when the version is a bare major such as `21`, and never for Mandrel and Liberica NIK |
 
 Without `latest=available`, `version=21` matches the 21 GA build only (`21+35`). With it Foojay picks the newest 21.x, which is what `java@21-tem` installs. Longer versions match as they are.
 
-The answer is a list of packages. The plugin names a release after `java_version`, adds `-fx` where `javafx_bundled` is true, marks it LTS where `term_of_support` is `lts`, and prefers a `zip` over a `tar.gz` of the same version on Windows. It leaves out the JREs, installer bundles and RHEL 6 builds that Foojay lists among OJDKBuild's Windows JDKs, and the JDK 11 builds of Gluon GraalVM's 22.x releases, see [distributions.md](distributions.md). For the install it then fetches the package's `links.pkg_info_uri` and downloads its `direct_download_uri`, which is a vendor's own server (GitHub Releases for Temurin). That record also holds a `checksum`. The plugin does not pass it on, so vfox prints `WARNING: Checksum is not provided, skip verify...` and does not verify the download.
+The answer is a list of packages. The plugin names a release after `java_version` (Mandrel and Liberica NIK after `distribution_version`), adds `-fx` where `javafx_bundled` is true, marks it LTS where `term_of_support` is `lts`, and prefers a `zip` over a `tar.gz` of the same version on Windows. It leaves out the JREs, installer bundles and RHEL 6 builds that Foojay lists among OJDKBuild's Windows JDKs, and the JDK 11 builds of Gluon GraalVM's 22.x releases, see [distributions.md](distributions.md). For the install it then fetches the package's `links.pkg_info_uri` and downloads its `direct_download_uri`, which is a vendor's own server (GitHub Releases for Temurin). That record also holds a `checksum`. The plugin does not pass it on, so vfox prints `WARNING: Checksum is not provided, skip verify...` and does not verify the download.
 
 `vfox search` differs from the raw list in a few ways. It lists a name once where Foojay has two records for it, and it leaves the LTS note off GraalVM's feature releases (see [distributions.md](distributions.md#behavior-of-oracle-graalvm-and-graalvm-community)). It only lists GA releases.
 
+### Mandrel and Liberica NIK
+
+Foojay gives the GraalVM version these two carry as `distribution_version`, and the Java version as `java_version`, for Mandrel the major only (2026-10-20):
+
+```bash
+curl -s 'https://api.foojay.io/disco/v3.0/packages/jdks?distribution=mandrel&distribution_version=23.1.12&architecture=amd64&operating_system=linux&lib_c_type=glibc&archive_type=tar.gz&directly_downloadable=true' \
+  | jq -r '.result[] | [.java_version, .distribution_version, .filename] | @tsv'
+```
+
+```
+21	23.1.12.1	mandrel-java21-linux-amd64-23.1.12.1-Final.tar.gz
+21	23.1.12	mandrel-java21-linux-amd64-23.1.12.0-Final.tar.gz
+```
+
+So the plugin asks for them with `distribution_version` and an empty `version`. Foojay matches the numbers given, which is why `23.1.12` also lists 23.1.12.1, and the plugin keeps only the release named. For a bare major it picks the newest release in the answer itself, as `latest=available` does not: for `distribution_version=23` it answered with 23.1.8 and two builds of 23.0.1.2, although 23.1.12.1 was out. Where a release comes for several Java versions the plugin takes the build for the newest, and of two Liberica NIK builds for the same Java the later one, which only the file name tells apart (`...-25.0.3+2-linux-amd64.tar.gz`). Searching sorts them by `distribution_version`, newest first.
+
 ## Which distributions have a build for my platform
 
 `latest=per_distro` returns the newest package of every distribution that has one. Do not combine it with `version`, which it ignores.
@@ -105,7 +122,7 @@ curl -s 'https://api.foojay.io/disco/v3.0/packages/jdks?distribution=temurin&ver
 {"java_version":"21.0.8+9","distribution_version":"21.0.8","term_of_support":"lts","javafx_bundled":false,"archive_type":"tar.gz","filename":"OpenJDK21U-jdk_x64_linux_hotspot_21.0.8_9.tar.gz"}
 ```
 
-`java_version` is Java's version and the one the plugin uses. `distribution_version` is the vendor's own (Zulu's `27.28.101` for Java `27+35`).
+`java_version` is Java's version and the one the plugin uses. `distribution_version` is the vendor's own (Zulu's `27.28.101` for Java `27+35`), which the plugin uses for Mandrel and Liberica NIK only, see [above](#mandrel-and-liberica-nik).
 
 ## Releases and support terms