Use towncrier to manage release notes

.gitignore

@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 doc/_build/*
 doc/auto_examples/*
+doc/sg_execution_times.rst
 build/*
 dist/*
 *egg-info*

.readthedocs.yaml

@@ -10,6 +10,9 @@ build:
   os: ubuntu-22.04
   tools:
     python: "3.11"
+  jobs:
+    post_checkout:
+      - git fetch --unshallow || true
 
 # Build documentation in the docs/ directory with Sphinx
 sphinx:
@@ -20,8 +23,8 @@ formats:
   - htmlzip
 
 python:
-   install:
-      - method: pip
-        path: .
-        extra_requirements:
-           - doc
+  install:
+    - method: pip
+      path: .
+      extra_requirements:
+          - doc

CHANGES.rst

@@ -2,10 +2,12 @@ Changelog
 *********
 
 Changelog entries for the development version are available at
-https://holospy.readthedocs.io/en/latest/changes.html
+https://exspy.readthedocs.io/en/latest/changes.html
 
-0.1.dev0 (UNRELEASED)
-=====================
+
+.. towncrier-draft-entries:: |release| [UNRELEASED]
+
+.. towncrier release notes start
 
 - Enable ``signal_range`` arguments when using ``subpixel=True`` in :py:meth:`~.signals.EELSSpectrum.align_zero_loss_peak` (`#7 <https://github.com/hyperspy/exspy/pull/7>`_)
 - Support for tabulated :ref:`Generalised Oscillator Strengths (GOS) <eels.GOS>` using the

doc/conf.py

@@ -42,6 +42,7 @@
     "sphinx.ext.intersphinx",
     "sphinx.ext.napoleon",
     "sphinx_gallery.gen_gallery",
+    "sphinxcontrib.towncrier",
 ]
 
 linkcheck_ignore = [
@@ -147,3 +148,10 @@
 
 copybutton_prompt_text = r">>> |\.\.\. "
 copybutton_prompt_is_regexp = True
+
+# -- Options for towncrier_draft extension -----------------------------------
+
+# Options: draft/sphinx-version/sphinx-release
+towncrier_draft_autoversion_mode = "draft"
+towncrier_draft_include_empty = False
+towncrier_draft_working_directory = ".."

pyproject.toml

@@ -68,6 +68,8 @@ file = "LICENSE"
   "sphinx-design",
   "sphinx-favicon",
   "sphinx-gallery",
+  "sphinxcontrib-towncrier",
+  "towncrier",
 ]
 "tests" = [
   "pytest     >= 5.0",
@@ -96,7 +98,10 @@ force-exclude = '''
 [tool.coverage.run]
 branch = true
 source = ["hyperspy"]
-omit = ["hyperspy/tests/*"]
+omit = [
+  "hyperspy/tests/*",
+  "prepare_release.py",
+  ]
 
 [tool.coverage.report]
 precision = 2
@@ -120,3 +125,46 @@ include = ["exspy*"]
 # Presence enables setuptools_scm, the version will be determine at build time from git
 # The version will be updated by the `prepare_release.py` script
 fallback_version = "0.1.dev0"
+
+
+[tool.towncrier]
+package = "exspy"
+filename = "CHANGES.rst"
+directory = "upcoming_changes/"
+title_format = "{version} ({project_date})"
+issue_format = "`#{issue} <https://github.com/hyperspy/exspy/issues/{issue}>`_"
+
+  [[tool.towncrier.type]]
+  directory = "new"
+  name = "New features"
+  showcontent = true
+
+  [[tool.towncrier.type]]
+  directory = "bugfix"
+  name = "Bug Fixes"
+  showcontent = true
+
+  [[tool.towncrier.type]]
+  directory = "doc"
+  name = "Improved Documentation"
+  showcontent = true
+
+  [[tool.towncrier.type]]
+  directory = "deprecation"
+  name = "Deprecations"
+  showcontent = true
+
+  [[tool.towncrier.type]]
+  directory = "enhancements"
+  name = "Enhancements"
+  showcontent = true
+
+  [[tool.towncrier.type]]
+  directory = "api"
+  name = "API changes"
+  showcontent = true
+
+  [[tool.towncrier.type]]
+  directory = "maintenance"
+  name = "Maintenance"
+  showcontent = true

releasing_guide.md

@@ -4,10 +4,10 @@ To publish a new exSpy release do the following steps:
 
 ## Preparation
 
-- Create a new PR to the 'main' branch for the release process, e.g. `release_v0.1.1` with
-  the following changes:
-  - Update and check release notes 
-  - Update dev `fallback_version` in `pyproject.toml`
+- In a pull request, prepare the release by running the `prepare_release.py` python script (e.g. `python prepare_release.py 0.2`) , which will do the following:
+  - update the release notes in `CHANGES.rst` by running `towncrier`,
+  - update the `setuptools_scm` fallback version in `pyproject.toml` (for a patch release, this will stay the same).
+- Check release notes
 - Let that PR collect comments for a day to ensure that other maintainers are comfortable
   with releasing
 - Set correct date and version number in `CHANGES.rst`