diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 93f8f1a694..cd32c0ef0b 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -39,6 +39,12 @@ if(WIN32)
 endif()
 
 
+# Release channel #############################################################
+#
+set(openPMD_RELEASE_CHANNEL "source"
+    CACHE STRING "Describes the method openPMD-api was installed with.")
+
+
 # Options and Variants ########################################################
 #
 function(openpmd_option name description default)
@@ -353,6 +359,9 @@ set(IO_ADIOS1_SOURCE
 add_library(openPMD ${CORE_SOURCE} ${IO_SOURCE})
 add_library(openPMD::openPMD ALIAS openPMD)
 
+# release channel
+target_compile_definitions(openPMD PUBLIC "-DOPENPMD_RELEASE_CHANNEL=${openPMD_RELEASE_CHANNEL}")
+
 # properties
 target_compile_features(openPMD
     PUBLIC cxx_std_11
@@ -1021,9 +1030,10 @@ endif()
 #
 message("")
 message("openPMD build configuration:")
-message("  library Version: ${openPMD_VERSION}")
-message("  openPMD Standard: ${openPMD_STANDARD_VERSION}")
-message("  C++ Compiler: ${CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER_ID} "
+message("  library version: ${openPMD_VERSION}")
+message("  openPMD standard: ${openPMD_STANDARD_VERSION}")
+message("  release channel: ${openPMD_RELEASE_CHANNEL}")
+message("  C++ compiler: ${CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER_ID} "
                         "${CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER_VERSION} "
                         "${CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER_WRAPPER}")
 message("    ${CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER}")
diff --git a/include/openPMD/version.hpp b/include/openPMD/version.hpp
index 529f0970e7..b05b52b505 100644
--- a/include/openPMD/version.hpp
+++ b/include/openPMD/version.hpp
@@ -35,3 +35,8 @@
 #define OPENPMD_STANDARD_MIN_MAJOR 1
 #define OPENPMD_STANDARD_MIN_MINOR 0
 #define OPENPMD_STANDARD_MIN_PATCH 0
+
+// release channel
+#if !defined(OPENPMD_RELEASE_CHANNEL)
+#   define OPENPMD_RELEASE_CHANNEL source
+#endif
diff --git a/openPMDConfig.cmake.in b/openPMDConfig.cmake.in
index dcdd329d71..8f1a768bc3 100644
--- a/openPMDConfig.cmake.in
+++ b/openPMDConfig.cmake.in
@@ -10,6 +10,8 @@ endif()
 
 list(APPEND CMAKE_MODULE_PATH "${CMAKE_CURRENT_LIST_DIR}/Modules")
 
+set(openPMD_RELEASE_CHANNEL "@openPMD_RELEASE_CHANNEL@")
+
 add_library(openPMD::thirdparty::mpark_variant INTERFACE IMPORTED)
 set(openPMD_USE_INTERNAL_VARIANT @openPMD_USE_INTERNAL_VARIANT@)
 if(NOT openPMD_USE_INTERNAL_VARIANT)
diff --git a/src/binding/python/openPMD.cpp b/src/binding/python/openPMD.cpp
index 64820379ba..7b60ae3316 100644
--- a/src/binding/python/openPMD.cpp
+++ b/src/binding/python/openPMD.cpp
@@ -84,6 +84,12 @@ PYBIND11_MODULE(openpmd_api, m) {
         openPMDapi << "-" << OPENPMDAPI_VERSION_LABEL;
     m.attr("__version__") = openPMDapi.str();
 
+    // release channel
+    std::stringstream openPMD_release_channel;
+    if( std::string( "OPENPMDAPI_RELEASE_CHANNEL" ).size() > 0 )
+        openPMD_release_channel << "OPENPMDAPI_RELEASE_CHANNEL";
+    m.attr("release_channel") = openPMD_release_channel.str();
+
     // feature variants
     m.attr("variants") = std::map<std::string, bool>{
         {"mpi", bool(openPMD_HAVE_MPI)},