Will future K3s releases enforce a strict containerd version match across all nodes during upgrades?

The goal is to determine whether a standard K3s upgrade automatically upgrades the bundled containerd version on existing agent nodes, or whether the containerd binary remains unchanged unless the operator explicitly triggers an upgrade via specific install flags.

Constraints include the tight coupling of K3s to a specific containerd version, the possibility of version skew between server and agent nodes, and kernel version mismatches that can exacerbate incompatibilities. The current documentation leaves the decision to enforce a strict containerd version match across all nodes as an operator‑driven choice, and it remains unresolved whether future releases will make this enforcement mandatory. Does the standard K3s upgrade script automatically upgrade containerd on agent nodes without additional flags? What conditions must be satisfied for a future K3s release to enforce a strict containerd version match across all nodes?