Managing Python Releases

Release Management

Semantic Versioning

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MAJOR.MINOR.PATCH (e.g., 1.2.3)

PATCH: Bug fixes, no API changes
MINOR: New features, backward compatible
MAJOR: Breaking changes

Changelog Format (Keep a Changelog)

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# Changelog

## [Unreleased]
### Added
- New `batch_encode()` function

## [1.2.0] - 2024-03-15
### Added
- Support for custom formats (#123)

### Fixed
- Edge case at -180 longitude (#145)

### Deprecated
- `old_function()` - use `new_function()` instead

[Unreleased]: https://github.com/user/repo/compare/v1.2.0...HEAD
[1.2.0]: https://github.com/user/repo/releases/tag/v1.2.0

Categories: Added, Changed, Deprecated, Removed, Fixed, Security

Version in Code

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# src/package/__init__.py
__version__ = "1.2.3"

# Or use importlib.metadata
from importlib.metadata import version
__version__ = version("my-package")

GitHub Actions Release (PyPI example)

A tag-triggered workflow builds and publishes to a registry via trusted publishing (no stored token) is the general shape — swap the publish step for whatever registry the project actually uses (PyPI, npm, crates.io, ...):

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# .github/workflows/release.yml
on:
  push:
    tags: ['v*']

jobs:
  release:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    permissions:
      contents: write      # create the GitHub release
      id-token: write      # trusted publishing (no token)
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - uses: astral-sh/setup-uv@v5
      - run: uv build
      - uses: softprops/action-gh-release@v2
        with:
          files: dist/*
      - uses: pypa/gh-action-pypi-publish@release/v1

Deprecation Process

Warn with stacklevel=2 so the message points at the caller.

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import warnings

def old_function():
    """Deprecated: Use new_function() instead."""
    warnings.warn(
        "old_function() deprecated, will be removed in 2.0.0",
        DeprecationWarning,
        stacklevel=2,
    )
    return new_function()

Release Process

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# 1. Update CHANGELOG.md (move Unreleased to version)
# 2. Bump version in the project manifest
# 3. Commit and tag
git commit -am "Release v1.2.0"
git tag -a v1.2.0 -m "Release v1.2.0"
git push origin main --tags
# 4. CI publishes automatically (if automated) or publish manually

Checklist

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Before Release:
- [ ] All tests pass
- [ ] CHANGELOG updated
- [ ] Version bumped
- [ ] Documentation current

After Release:
- [ ] Registry shows new version
- [ ] A fresh install actually works (not just that the tag/publish succeeded)
- [ ] GitHub release created
- [ ] Docs updated

Note for this repository (ffmpeg-skill)

CHANGELOG.md here already follows Keep a Changelog's dated-section format (## 0.10.0 — 2026-09-06 — ...), so the format guidance above matches this repo exactly. Two real differences from the generic PyPI example:

• No automated release workflow exists. There is no .github/workflows/release.yml — the 0.10.0 release this session did every step by hand: bump package.json's version, convert the CHANGELOG's ## Unreleased into a dated section, git tag, create the GitHub Release, then npm publish separately. This is exactly the gap managing-python-releases is meant to close with automation — worth considering if releases become frequent enough that a manual miss (like 0.9.2 sitting un-published to npm for a while, discovered this session) becomes a recurring problem.
• The registry is npm, not PyPI, and there is no __version__ in code — scripts/_contract.py's skill_version() and doctor's version field both read package.json directly (see this repo's own concurrent-branches and build-artifacts skill notes for the related merge-conflict and publish-verification patterns this touches).

Source: wdm0006/python-skills (MIT).