chore: document the release process in a CONTRIBUTING.md

CONTRIBUTING.md

@@ -0,0 +1,69 @@
+# Contributing to pybedlite
+
+## Getting Setup for Development Work
+
+Clone the repository to your local machine.
+Note that pybedlite includes [cgranges][cgranges-link] as a submodule, so you must use the `--recurse-submodules` option:
+
+```
+git clone --recurse-submodules https://github.com/fulcrumgenomics/pybedlite.git
+```
+
+[Poetry][poetry-link] is used to manage the python development environment.
+
+A simple way to create an environment with the desired version of python and poetry is to use [conda][conda-link].  E.g.:
+
+```bash
+conda create -n pybedlite python=3.8 poetry=1.6
+conda activate pybedlite
+poetry install
+```
+
+If the methods listed above do not work try the following:
+
+```bash
+mamba create -n pybedlite -c conda-forge "python=3.9.16" "poetry=1.6.1"
+mamba activate pybedlite
+poetry install
+```
+
+[poetry-link]: https://github.com/python-poetry/poetry
+[conda-link]:  https://docs.conda.io/en/latest/miniconda.html
+[cgranges-link]: https://github.com/lh3/cgranges
+
+## Checking the Build
+
+Check the library with:
+
+```bash
+poetry run ./ci/check.sh
+```
+
+## Building the Documentation
+
+Build the documentation with:
+
+```bash
+(cd docs/ && poetry run make html)
+```
+
+## Creating a Release on PyPi
+
+1. Clone the repository recursively and ensure you are on the `main` (un-dirty) branch
+2. Checkout a new branch to prepare the library for release
+3. Bump the version of the library to the desired SemVer with `poetry version #.#.#`
+4. Commit the version bump changes with a Git commit message like `chore(release): bump to #.#.#`
+5. Push the commit to the upstream remote, open a PR, ensure tests pass, and seek reviews
+6. Squash merge the PR
+7. Tag the new commit on the main branch of the repository with the new SemVer
+
+GitHub Actions will take care of the remainder of the deploy and release process with:
+
+1. Unit tests will be run for safety-sake
+2. A source distribution will be built
+3. Many multi-arch multi-Python binary distributions will be built
+4. Assets will be deployed to PyPi with the new SemVer
+5. A [Conventional Commit](https://www.conventionalcommits.org/en/v1.0.0/)-aware changelog will be drafted
+6. A GitHub release will be created with the new SemVer and the drafted changelog
+
+Consider editing the changelog if there are any errors or necessary enhancements.

README.md

@@ -40,58 +40,21 @@
 
 See documentation on [pybedlite.readthedocs.org][rtd-link].
 
-```
+```bash
 pip install pybedlite
 ```
 OR
-```
+```bash
 conda install -c bioconda pybedlite
 ```
 OR
-```
+```bash
 conda create -n pybedlite pybedlite
 conda activate pybedlite
 ```
 
 [rtd-link]:    http://pybedlite.readthedocs.org/en/stable
 
-**Requires python 3.8+** (for python < 3.8, please use pybedlite <= 0.0.3)
-
-# Getting Setup for Development Work
-
-Clone the repository to your local machine. Note that pybedlite >= 0.0.4 includes [cgranges][cgranges-link] as a submodule, so you must use the `--recurse-submodules` option:
-```
-git clone --recurse-submodules https://github.com/fulcrumgenomics/pybedlite.git
-```
-
-[Poetry][poetry-link] is used to manage the python development environment.
-
-A simple way to create an environment with the desired version of python and poetry is to use [conda][conda-link].  E.g.:
+## Development and Testing
 
-```bash
-conda create -n pybedlite python=3.8 poetry
-conda activate pybedlite
-poetry install
-```
-
-If the methods listed above do not work try the following:
-```bash
-mamba create -n pybedlite -c conda-forge "python=3.9.16" "poetry=1.6.1"
-mamba activate pybedlite
-poetry install
-```
-
-If, during `poetry install` on Mac OS X errors are encountered running gcc/clang to build `pybedtools` or other packages with native code, try setting the following and re-running `poetry install`:
-```bash
-export CFLAGS="-stdlib=libc++"
-``` 
-
-[poetry-link]: https://github.com/python-poetry/poetry
-[conda-link]:  https://docs.conda.io/en/latest/miniconda.html
-[cgranges-link]: https://github.com/lh3/cgranges
-
-## Checking the Build
-### Run all checks with:
-```bash
-./ci/check.sh
-```
+See the [contributing guide](./CONTRIBUTING.md) for more information.

pyproject.toml

@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ classifiers = [
 	"Topic :: Software Development :: Documentation",
 	"Topic :: Software Development :: Libraries :: Python Modules",
 ]
-include = ["LICENSE"]
+include = ["LICENSE", "CONTRIBUTING.md"]
 packages = [{ include = "pybedlite" }, { include = "cgranges" }]
 
 [tool.poetry.dependencies]