pypi-release

name	pypi-release
description	Use whenever a Python package is ready to publish to PyPI — the build, twine check, version bump, tag, and upload runbook. Runs validate_release.py to catch version drift (pyproject vs __version__ vs the intended tag) and stale dist/ artifacts before upload. Triggers — "publish to PyPI", "cut a release", "twine upload", "release v1.2.0". Owns scripts — validate_release. Complements the ship skill; Do NOT use this to scaffold project tooling (see python-bootstrap) or to upgrade dependencies (see dep-upgrade).
argument-hint	--tag vX.Y.Z
user-invocable	true

pypi-release

Take a Python package from a clean working tree to a published PyPI release: pre-flight, build, check, dry-run, tag, upload, verify.

CANARY: pypi-release-loaded-2026-06-04-ea39c2b5-820c8d070baea5a5

When to load

Load when a package is being published or re-published to PyPI (or TestPyPI): cutting a new version, bumping and tagging, or running twine upload.

This is packaging, not promotion. For the pre-merge production sign-off (compatibility, observability, rollback) defer to the ship skill; the two compose but do not overlap.

Step 1 — Pre-flight

Run from the project root. The script reconciles the version across pyproject.toml, the package __version__, and the tag about to be pushed, and flags stale dist/ artifacts:

python3 "${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/scripts/validate_release.py" --tag vX.Y.Z

Resolve every mismatch before continuing: version_consistent: false means the declared and __version__ strings disagree; tag_matches_version: false means the tag does not match the code; dist.stale lists artifacts from a previous version that must be cleared.

Then confirm the version is not already on PyPI — uploads are immutable and a clash fails late:

curl -s -o /dev/null -w "%{http_code}\n" https://pypi.org/pypi/PKG/X.Y.Z/json
# 404 = free to publish; 200 = already taken, bump the version

Step 2 — Clean build + check

rm -rf dist/                 # never upload alongside stale artifacts
uv build                     # builds sdist + wheel into dist/
uvx twine check dist/*       # validates metadata + long-description rendering

Step 3 — TestPyPI dry-run

Always rehearse on TestPyPI first; it catches metadata and credential problems without burning a real version:

uvx twine upload --repository testpypi dist/*
uv run --with PKG --index-url https://test.pypi.org/simple/ \
  --extra-index-url https://pypi.org/simple/ python -c "import PKG; print(PKG.__version__)"

Step 4 — Tag, publish, verify

git tag vX.Y.Z && git push origin vX.Y.Z
uvx twine upload dist/*

Then verify the release is installable from the real index and the version matches:

uv run --with PKG==X.Y.Z python -c "import PKG; print(PKG.__version__)"

Gotchas

• A published version is immutable. PyPI refuses re-upload of an existing name==version, even after yank. If the upload fails with "File already exists", the only fix is a new version — bump, rebuild, re-tag. Catch it in Step 1 with the index check, not at upload time.
• __version__ drift ships the wrong number. When pyproject says one version and the package __version__ says another, the wheel installs but reports a stale version at runtime. The pre-flight flags this; for single-source-of-truth use dynamic = ["version"] with hatch-vcs rather than hand-syncing two strings.
• Stale dist/ uploads the previous build. twine upload dist/* globs everything in the directory — leftover artifacts from an earlier version get pushed too. Always rm -rf dist/ before uv build.
• Skipping TestPyPI burns a real version. A long-description that fails to render, or a missing classifier, is only visible after upload — and the version is then spent. The TestPyPI rehearsal is cheap insurance.
• Tagging before the upload succeeds. If the tag is pushed but the upload then fails for a fixable reason, the tag no longer matches what is on PyPI. Prefer tagging immediately before upload, and delete/move the tag if the upload has to be redone under the same version.
• TestPyPI installs need the fallback index. TestPyPI rarely hosts a package's dependencies; install from it with --extra-index-url pointing at real PyPI, or the dependency resolution fails and masks a working release.