Tweak Release Notes

Tweak release notes (ISC BIND 9)

Refine the auto-generated release notes for a new BIND 9 version into the project's reviewed style, after checking that the generated content is correct and complete. Notes only — the changelog is never hand-edited.

Golden rule

Recent tags are the source of truth. This process evolves; when any convention below is unclear or seems to conflict with what you see, mirror the most recent released doc/notes/notes-9.*.rst files. Consistency — in git style and in release-note style, content, and markup — is the whole goal. Stick to existing conventions unless the maintainer asks otherwise.

Prerequisites

• gitlab (python-gitlab CLI) — issue reads use anonymous access: gitlab --server-url https://gitlab.isc.org --skip-login -o json project-issue get --project-id isc-projects/bind9 --iid <N>. No token needed for public issues.
• meson/sphinx-build — the docs build gate runs directly, no wrapper: meson setup build && meson compile -C build arm (add -Ddoc=enabled to setup if it doesn't auto-detect sphinx-build).
• The generated doc/changelog/changelog-<ver>.rst and doc/notes/notes-<ver>.rst already exist (committed by "Generate changelog" and "Prepare release notes").

Workflow

Work top to bottom. Details for every step: REFERENCE.md. Helper scripts (pure-local git/text + JSON parsing) are in scripts/. The whole workflow operates on a single release branch/checkout — one <ver> at a time.

Where the work pauses: the flags produced by steps 3 and 4 need maintainer decisions, but do not block on them — carry on with steps 5–7 for everything unflagged and present the flags together with the result. Edits that follow from flag decisions land afterwards as fixups.

1. Scope the cycle. Range = the most recent Set up version for BIND 9.X.Y commit ..HEAD. List merges + their action:audience tags: scripts/cycle-merges.py. (Action/audience taxonomy: REFERENCE.md.)

2. Audit audience→notes mapping (light checkmark). This is script- generated and rarely wrong: confirm notes-entry count == usr/pkg merge count and nothing usr/pkg is missing. Don't over-invest here.

3. Substance review — the main event. For every merge, judge whether the action (sec/new/rem/chg/fix) AND audience (usr/pkg/dev/…) match what the change actually does — not the diff's size. Read the MR/issue when in doubt. Flag mismatches for the maintainer; do not silently re-tag. Use the triage heuristics in REFERENCE.md. When the maintainer agrees a note should move section (e.g. a crash mis-tagged chg → belongs in Bug Fixes, or a sec with no CVE → Bug Fixes minus attribution — examples of past maintainer decisions, not standing rules; always flag first), reflect it in the notes only. The changelog is never edited — it is generated from the git log of the already-merged (frozen) MRs — so notes and changelog simply differ for this release, which is expected.

4. Issue close-status check. Derive the full covered-issue set (scripts/issue-refs.py <ver>), fetch each via gitlab CLI, then scripts/summarize-issues.py <dir>. Every covered issue should be closed. For any that isn't, reason: omission (closed via a non-main / private-fork branch so auto-close never fired → suggest the maintainer close it) vs ongoing (MR only referenced it, no Closes → leave open). Flag, don't fix silently.

5. Refine the notes (style + markup). Rewrite into prior-art style: add Sphinx roles to everything linkable, render the rest per prior art, fix typos, normalize phrasing, place/section entries correctly. Full rules and the markup decision table: REFERENCE.md. When unsure, grep recent notes.

6. Verify the docs build. A required gate after any notes change. Use the meson compile; the gate treats Sphinx warnings as errors, so every role target must resolve.

7. Commit. Tweak and reword release notes (verbatim subject, no body) + Assisted-by trailer; follow-ups as --fixup; finish with the standard DROP-revert of the changelog. Exact conventions: REFERENCE.md.