[mveril]

Summary

Prepare the first public beta, v0.1.0-beta.1, without creating a tag or publishing packages. Document the post-publication Cargo and tagged Nix flake installation paths in the manual and README. Replace the changelog date placeholder with the actual publication date before tagging.

Version consistency

Both Cargo packages, the CLI's core dependency, and Cargo.lock use 0.1.0-beta.1. Cargo metadata confirms the dependency requirement is ^0.1.0-beta.1. Current version examples have been refreshed; historical test fixtures remain unchanged.

Changelog

Move the launch inventory and scientific limitations into the beta section, retain Unreleased, and update release and comparison links. The dist announcement contains these notes and limitations.

Documentation publishing

The publishing workflow validates the tag and package version, retains existing snapshots, and publishes releases under /RustiQ/v0.1.0-beta.1/, development under /dev/, and the latest beta through /beta/. The book build and publisher tests pass, including the Cargo and Nix installation documentation; actual deployment remains to be verified after tagging. The offline book is included in the release workflow.

Distribution checks

The dist plan lists all six existing target archives, SHA-256 artifacts, and the corresponding source archive. The workflow includes the executable, offline manual, license files and notices. Run the documented six-platform artifact rehearsal and source reconstruction before publication; the plan alone does not verify built archive contents.

Tests

• cargo check --workspace --locked: passed.
• cargo deny --locked --workspace --all-features check: passed with existing warnings and advisory exceptions.
• nix build .#book: passed.
• dist plan --tag v0.1.0-beta.1 --output-format=json: passed, with cross-compilation rustup warnings; announcement checked.
• python3 -m pytest tools/test_publish_docs.py tools/test_book_links.py tools/test_release_smoke.py: passed (44 tests).
• cargo test --workspace --locked: passed (three core tests ignored by the existing suite).
• python3 tools/distribution.py check: passed after regenerating notices with cargo-about 0.9.2.
• cargo publish --dry-run --workspace --locked --allow-dirty: passed for both crates, without uploading.
• python3 tools/distribution.py source: passed for the earlier preparation commit, including offline dependency resolution; rerun for the final commit; extracted-source reconstruction was started but interrupted after several minutes of optimized compilation; it remains to be completed.

Remaining manual actions and publication risks

• Set the actual release date in CHANGELOG.md before tagging; merge the preparation PR first.
• Run the six-platform release artifact rehearsal and verify the corresponding-source archive and its separately calculated checksum. After tagging, verify versioned documentation and the beta alias.
• Before crates.io publication, confirm the registry token and repeat the dry run from the final release commit. Cargo publishes core before the CLI. The documented Nickel transitive dependency exceptions include unfixed RUSTSEC-2026-0292 and unmaintained RUSTSEC-2026-0247; decide explicitly whether to accept that risk or hold publication. No exceptions were changed.