Kuma 2.5.0 introduces significant advancements, including the default implementation of the Delta KDS protocol, which enhances efficiency by transmitting only changed resources between global and zone control planes, rather than entire snapshots. This transition occurs seamlessly, with the option to revert to the previous version for a limited time. The release also debuts a locality-aware load balancing API, offering refined traffic control within and across zones to optimize reliability, compliance, and cost savings. Additionally, improvements in MeshTrafficPermission for Reachable Services inference aim to boost performance by simplifying proxy configurations, especially in environments where access needs to be tightly controlled. The update marks the general availability of TargetRef-based policies, which have been refined for greater expressiveness and power, allowing users to define complex constraints more effectively.