Phase 1: Dynamic versioning from git tags via setuptools-scm

[Copilot]

Description

Switches from hardcoded version = "1.1.0" to git-tag-derived versioning using setuptools-scm. Maintainers tag a release (git tag v1.2.0 && git push --tags) and the version propagates automatically through build and runtime — no manual bumps needed.

pyproject.toml:

• Replace static version with dynamic = ["version"]
• Add setuptools-scm>=8 to build requires
• Configure scikit_build_core.metadata.setuptools_scm as the version provider
• Add [tool.setuptools_scm] section

pyhwm2014/__init__.py:

• Replace __version__ = "1.1.0" with importlib.metadata.version() lookup, falling back to "0.0.0" when not installed from a built package

Type of Change

• Bug fix (non-breaking change that fixes an issue)
• New feature (non-breaking change that adds functionality)
• Breaking change (fix or feature that would cause existing functionality to change)
• Documentation update

Checklist

• My code follows the project style guidelines (black, ruff, mypy)
• I have performed a self-review of my own code
• I have commented my code, particularly in hard-to-understand areas
• I have added tests that prove my fix/feature works
• New and existing tests pass with my changes
• Test coverage remains > 80%
• I have updated the documentation (docstrings, README, guides)
• I have added an entry to CHANGELOG.md
• I have updated type hints for modified functions

Testing

# Validate pyproject.toml structure
python -c "
import tomllib
with open('pyproject.toml', 'rb') as f:
    data = tomllib.load(f)
assert 'version' not in data['project']
assert 'version' in data['project']['dynamic']
assert 'setuptools-scm>=8' in data['build-system']['requires']
print('OK')
"

# Verify runtime fallback (uninstalled)
python -c "
from importlib.metadata import PackageNotFoundError, version
try: v = version('pyhwm2014')
except PackageNotFoundError: v = '0.0.0'
assert v == '0.0.0'
print('Fallback OK')
"

Additional Context

This is Phase 1 of the automated release plan. Subsequent phases will add towncrier changelog generation, uv build, and a GitHub Actions release workflow triggered by version tags.

Original prompt

---

This section details on the original issue you should resolve

<issue_title>Modern Python Package Release Plan (uv workflow)</issue_title>
<issue_description># Plan: Automated Python Package Releases

Goal

Create a fully automated release workflow where:

• versions come from git tags
• changelogs are generated automatically
• CI builds and publishes the package
• maintainers only create a tag to release

---

Phase 1 -- Version comes from git tags

[project]
name = "pyhwm14"
description = "Python interface for the Horizontal Wind Model 2014 (HWM14)"
readme = "README.md"
requires-python = ">=3.13"
dynamic = ["version"]

This means the version comes from git tags automatically.

---

Phase 2 — Changelog with Towncrier

Towncrier generates release notes automatically.

Create configuration in pyproject.toml.

[tool.towncrier]
package = "mypackage"
directory = "changelog.d"
filename = "CHANGELOG.md"

Create fragments for changes.

Example:

changelog.d/123.feature.md

Contents:

Added support for XYZ.

Types typically used:

feature
bugfix
doc
removal
misc

These fragments are merged into the changelog during release.

---

Phase 3 — Build Package

Build locally with:

uv build

Artifacts appear in:

dist/
  pyhwm14-x.y.z.tar.gz
  pyhwm14-x.y.z.whl

---

Phase 4 — Automated Publishing

Use GitHub Trusted Publishing for PyPI.

Workflow .github/workflows/release.yml:

name: Release

on:
  push:
    tags:
      - "v*"

jobs:
  publish:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    permissions:
      id-token: write

    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4

      - name: Install uv
        run: curl -Ls https://astral.sh/uv/install.sh | sh

      - run: uv build

      - run: uv publish

---

Phase 5 — Release Process

Maintainers release by tagging.

git tag v0.3.0
git push --tags

Automated steps:

1. version derived from tag
2. package built
3. package uploaded to PyPI
4. release created

---

Result

Maintainers only need to:

1. merge pull requests
2. create a release tag

Everything else is automated.
</issue_description>

<agent_instructions>Let's start with resolving Phase 1, if you understand the Issue.</agent_instructions>

Comments on the Issue (you are @copilot in this section)

• Fixes Modern Python Package Release Plan (uv workflow) #16

---

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