The RIOT project published its 2026.10 release, codenamed "GameOverBugs", on 2 November 2026. RIOT describes itself as a free, open source operating system for the Internet of Things, and its site says it runs on 8-bit, 16-bit and 32-bit platforms. The official release notes on GitHub say the cycle ran 70 days and merged 411 pull requests and 792 commits from 49 code contributors. It closed 29 issues and touched 3,025 files, with 107,371 insertions and 38,492 deletions.
That is a big diff for a ten-week cycle. Most of the change is in networking: CoAP gets a new stack, an outside library is integrated, and older APIs are removed. The 802.15.4 radio layer also gets steady work. The release adds three boards, one of which is the project's first RISCV64 target, and marks two older boards as deprecated.
CoAP: unicoap arrives, libCoAP is integrated, unsafe nanocoap APIs go
The release announcement on the RIOT forum, posted at 16:04 UTC on 2 November, lists CoAP changes first. The release adds a basic server and client for unicoap and integrates libCoAP (PR #19889). It also removes nanocoap APIs that the forum post calls unsafe and deprecated (PRs #22505 and #22861).
That last change matters most for anyone maintaining a RIOT application. Code that still calls the removed nanocoap APIs may not build against 2026.10 until it is ported. The sources name the PRs but do not list the affected functions or give a migration path. Developers should read those two PRs before moving a production branch to the new release.
With libCoAP integrated, RIOT developers get a second CoAP implementation to choose from alongside the project's own stacks. The release describes unicoap's server and client as "basic" functionality. The release notes do not compare footprint or performance between the stacks, and PinoutFeed will not guess at those figures.
On the web side, the release adds picohttpparser (PR #22725), which the announcement presents as a way to communicate with legacy non-CoAP endpoints. The sources do not say which modules use it.
802.15.4: HAL and SubMAC work, two more radios
The forum announcement says the IEEE 802.15.4 Radio HAL and (Sub)MAC implementation received major improvements. It also lists support for two additional radios on that stack: the AT86RF2XX family (PR #21674) and the KW41ZRF (PR #21992). The RIOT project site points to IEEE 802.15.4 encryption as one of the OS's security features, along with DTLS transport layer security and secure firmware updates (SUIT).
The sources do not give per-driver details such as which channel pages or PHY modes are supported. Anyone with an existing AT86RF2xx or KW41Z design should treat the PR numbers as the reference.
The Jelly shell
The release notes list basic support for a new tool called Jelly (PR #22634). The announcement describes it as a feature-rich shell interface with autocompletion that reduces the binary size of a RIOT application. RIOT's interactive shell is the usual way to poke at a board over a serial console during development, so autocompletion there is a quality-of-life change. The sources don't say whether Jelly replaces the existing shell by default or is opt-in. Check the PR before assuming either.
Three new boards
The release notes add the following boards:
- STM32 Nucleo-G491RE (PR #22458). The RIOT sources give only the board name and PR number. They list no clock, memory or pin figures, so PinoutFeed reports none.
- Seeed Studio XIAO ESP32C6 (PR #22400).
- ZedBoard (PR #22548). The release notes call it RIOT's first board with RISCV64.
Of the three, the XIAO ESP32C6 has the most documentation in the sources, thanks to Seeed's own getting-started page. Seeed lists Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax), Bluetooth 5 (LE) and IEEE 802.15.4 for Thread and Zigbee, and describes the board as a fit for Matter-compliant projects. The board has two 32-bit RISC-V processors: a high-performance one at up to 160 MHz and a low-power one at up to 20 MHz. Seeed gives the board size as 21 x 17.8 mm and deep-sleep current as low as 15 µA. The RF switch is controlled through GPIO14 (with GPIO3 set low first), and the built-in ceramic antenna is the default.
The XIAO ESP32C6 has an on-chip 802.15.4 radio, and this release also does a lot of 802.15.4 work. But the sources don't say which of the board's radios RIOT 2026.10 actually drives: Wi-Fi, BLE, 802.15.4 or some mix. Don't assume Thread or 6LoWPAN works on this board under RIOT until the PR or board documentation confirms it.
The ZedBoard entry stands out for a different reason. The announcement calls it RIOT's first board with RISCV64, which opens a 64-bit RISC-V path in a codebase that mostly targets microcontrollers. The sources say nothing more about the board's processor, so PinoutFeed does not either.
Deprecations, tooling and the rest
The release deprecates two boards, TelosB and Zolertia Z1 (PR #22716). Here, deprecated is not the same as removed, and the sources do not say when removal might happen. Labs still using them should plan to pin an older RIOT version or move to newer hardware.
The Docker build image used for BUILD_IN_DOCKER=1 moves to Ubuntu 26.04 (PR #22692). Developers who build through RIOT's containerised toolchain get a new base distribution and should check that any extra tooling they layer on top still works.
The release also adds support for the mGBA emulator of the Game Boy Advance (PR #22776), which the announcement says facilitated several improvements on that device. The release notes do not say whether it is the origin of the "GameOverBugs" name.
RIOT stays licensed under the LGPLv2.1, according to the release notes.
What It Means for Makers
This release matters most to people who already run RIOT on 802.15.4 sensor nodes or CoAP-speaking devices. With unicoap and libCoAP, CoAP developers have more choice. The unsafe nanocoap APIs are gone. Any project still calling them has to be ported before it can upgrade, so it is worth checking PRs #22505 and #22861 first.
For hobbyists, the main additions are the XIAO ESP32C6 port and the Jelly shell. The XIAO is a small board with Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth LE and 802.15.4 radios on it, per Seeed. The Nucleo-G491RE adds another STM32 development board, and the ZedBoard gives anyone exploring 64-bit RISC-V a RISCV64 target. TelosB and Z1 users should start planning a migration.
On price and availability, RIOT is free, open source software under the LGPLv2.1. The 2026.10 release has been available on GitHub since 2 November 2026. None of the sources give pricing or stock status for the three boards, and PinoutFeed does not quote any.
