Harden release script so failed builds cannot continue to publish steps #90

Problem

The current release script can continue after a failed artifact build. During the v0.9.10 release, python3 setup.py sdist bdist_wheel failed because the active Python environment was missing release/build tooling, but the script continued into signing, upload, and Git push steps.

That left the release in a partial state:

• The version bump commit and tag were created.
• No dist/ directory or artifacts were produced.
• The script attempted to cd dist, failed, then signed files in the repo root instead.
• twine upload dist/* failed because no artifacts existed.
• The version commit and tag were pushed even though PyPI upload failed.

Proposed fix

Harden release.sh so failures stop the release before any later side effects happen.

Suggested changes:

• Add strict shell behavior near the top of the script:

set -euo pipefail

• Run preflight checks before bumpversion creates a commit/tag:
  • clean working tree
  • required Python version is available
  • setuptools, wheel, twine, and bumpversion are available
  • requested GPG key exists locally
• Use module-based Python commands to avoid PATH mismatches:

python -m twine check dist/*
python -m twine upload dist/*

• Add twine check dist/* before upload.
• Ensure signing only happens inside an existing dist/ directory and only for regular files.
• Push Git commit/tag only after artifact build, signing, metadata validation, and PyPI upload all succeed.
• Consider pushing upstream explicitly instead of relying on the local branch tracking remote.

Optional improvement

Split the release into separate prepare and publish phases:

• prepare: bump version, build artifacts, sign artifacts, run twine check
• publish: upload to PyPI, then push Git commit/tag

This would provide an inspection point before irreversible publishing steps.

Acceptance criteria

• A missing dependency or failed build exits before signing, uploading, or pushing Git changes.
• A missing dist/ directory cannot cause repo-root files to be signed.
• The script validates artifacts with twine check before upload.
• The script uses a single known Python environment for build and upload commands.
• Documentation lists all local release tooling needed for a successful release.