9.1.0 release plan

[AA-Turner]

I intend to release Sphinx 9.1.0 next week (w/c 29 Dec). Currently targeting the 29th.

9.1.0 is a small release. It primarily drops support for Python 3.11 and Docutils 0.20, with a few other bug fixes.

Please let me know if there are any features or bugfixes you would like to have included in the release, or any other matters.

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cc: @sphinx-doc/developers @sphinx-doc/triagers

[AA-Turner]

I have published a candidate release, Sphinx 9.1.0rc1, to the Python Package Index.

For awareness and/or pre-release testing, cc:

• @agoose77 / @choldgraf (https://github.com/executablebooks/sphinx-book-theme)
• @bsipocz / @pllim / @Cadair (https://github.com/astropy/sphinx-automodapi)
• @drammock / @gabalafou / @trallard (https://github.com/pydata/pydata-sphinx-theme)
• @eli-schwartz / @mgorny (Gentoo)
• @hugovk (https://github.com/python/python-docs-theme)
• @humitos (https://github.com/readthedocs/sphinx_rtd_theme)
• @jarrodmillman / @larsoner (https://github.com/numpy/numpydoc)
• @jbms / @2bndy5 (https://github.com/jbms/sphinx-immaterial/)
• @jdknight (https://github.com/sphinx-contrib/confluencebuilder)
• @joeced (https://github.com/sphinx-contrib/matlabdomain)
• @lucyleeow (https://github.com/sphinx-gallery/sphinx-gallery)
• @mgeier (https://github.com/mgeier/insipid-sphinx-theme/ & https://github.com/spatialaudio/nbsphinx/)
• @pradyunsg (https://github.com/pradyunsg/furo)

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[2bndy5]

What's the timeline on this RC phase? Has that policy been fleshed out? I see there's a documented release process, but it only mentions beta versions (specifically about semantic version tags). It doesn't mention release candidates (unless the "Beta" concept is considered identical to "Release Candidate").

I ask because if the v9.0 RC phase was longer, the (somewhat significant) change in supported python versions could have been lumped into a major version bump (instead of a minor version bump).

[AA-Turner]

Python version support isn't a major-version-change, it was intentional to release 9.0 with support for the older versions of dependencies. Major versions are used generally for planned removals and when otherwise justified; importantly note that Sphinx doesn't use SemVer or similar schemes.

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[bsipocz]

It looks all clear from the sphinx-automodapi POV. I didn't do extensive testing but don't see anything popping up when running a few test docs builds.

[mgorny]

Python 3.11 removal is going to be a major pain in the arse, especially given all the cyclic dependencies between sphinx and sphinxcontrib-* packages. Trying to figure out how to proceed about it in Gentoo.

[mgeier]

If #14196 is acknowledged as unintentional regression, it would be good to fix it in 9.1.

[hugovk]

"Sphinx parallel build error!" with CPython docs + python-docs-theme:

• Test Sphinx 9.1 hugovk/cpython#78
• https://app.readthedocs.org/projects/hugovk-cpython/builds/30768288/

[danieleades]

Python 3.11 removal is going to be a major pain in the arse, especially given all the cyclic dependencies between sphinx and sphinxcontrib-* packages. Trying to figure out how to proceed about it in Gentoo.

Could be worth bringing them all into the same workspace

[drammock]

Quite apart from the question of Python version support, I'd still like an answer to @2bndy5's questions:

What's the timeline on this RC phase? Has that policy been fleshed out?

[humitos]

Currently targeting the 23rd or 24th, though I may push to after Christmas if it'd be prefered.

Please 🙏

🙂

[AA-Turner]

Quite apart from the question of Python version support, I'd still like an answer to @2bndy5's questions:

What's the timeline on this RC phase? Has that policy been fleshed out?

It would be good for downstream extensions to test in CI with Sphinx master, to catch (potential) regressions as early as possible. The RC phase should be brief (ideally no more than 5 days), and following feedback should contain at least one clear weekday.

Longer term, I would like to have smaller and more frequent releases (the gap between 8.2 and 9.0 was nine months).

unless the "Beta" concept is considered identical "Release Candidate"

Yes, we should update the docs here. We used to have a more complex release structure, since the simplification we only do RC releases then final.

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