Prepublication review completed October 9, 2026. This document records the preparation and validation performed on github-actions before its release pull request to master. The publication date in the release notes is October 9, 2026.

PyGAD 3.8.0 is published on PyPI and GitHub. PR #378 merged github-actions into master. The release tag points to commit c8752b6a901a078299998f137453f7b650046c94.

The publishing workflow passed all seven Python jobs, package checks, documentation checks, PyPI publication, and GitHub Release creation. Independent downloads confirmed that both GitHub package files match PyPI by SHA-256. Fresh installs of the wheel and source distribution passed optimization, repeated-history, transparent-chart, and PDF-report checks. Another 151 regression tests passed against the published wheel. The public latest and stable documentation builds succeeded.

Watch the published announcement video on YouTube.

At the start of this review, the latest public release was 3.7.0, published June 5, 2026. The prepared release is 3.8.0 because it adds public features, including plot_lifecycle() and generation metadata, alongside fixes and internal refactoring. A patch release would understate those additions. The main GA constructor signature is unchanged from 3.7.0; the reviewed changes do not require a new major version.

The package version is prepared in pygad/_version.py. Sphinx reads that file directly so documentation and package versions cannot drift.

• Release preparation baseline: 1,871 tests passed, one skipped, on Python 3.11.13 with NumPy 2.4.4. The skip is the unavailable Windows fork process start method.
• TensorFlow/Keras and PyTorch tests were excluded locally because those optional frameworks are absent. They are covered by the existing remote matrix on its supported framework versions.
• Latest matrix: all seven Python 3.8 through 3.14 jobs passed at commit adde6bfe83f1e8b2ba8a3c8f73205f2dbcab8951, including the lifecycle export fix, using the changed workflow and installed 3.8.0 wheels: https://github.com/ahmedfgad/GeneticAlgorithmPython/actions/runs/37995352872
• SDK compatibility: all six minimum/latest/development SDK jobs on Python 3.9 and 3.12 passed for that same commit: https://github.com/ahmedfgad/GeneticAlgorithmPython/actions/runs/37995352864
• The lifecycle fix passed all 41 focused lifecycle tests locally, related report tests, and a strict Sphinx build with -n -W --keep-going. Transparent PNG tests verify alpha, small margins and unclipped chart text.
• Wheel and source distribution built as 3.8.0 and both passed twine check. The wheel contains the logo needed by PDF reports and declares its extras.
• Installed wheel: 1,871 tests passed, one skipped, in a separate virtual environment from outside the repository. Imports resolved to the installed 3.8.0 wheel, not the source checkout. The PyPI submodule-version check was required to pass rather than silently skip if unavailable.
• HTML documentation built with -W --keep-going and no warnings.
• Generated example Markdown is current; its catalog covers 81 Python scripts and one notebook.
• Changed workflows passed actionlint 1.7.12. Whitespace checks passed.

The release workflow now runs the same full Python matrix before building and publishing. Matrix tests run outside the checkout to import the installed wheel. The workflow rejects mismatches between the tag and package version, checks distributions, and requires a clean documentation build. The GitHub Release job waits for successful PyPI publication, then downloads the published wheel and source distribution and verifies their SHA-256 hashes against the build. The documented release notes are used for both the PR and GitHub Release.

The GitHub pypi environment exists. The prior 3.7.0 release completed through the trusted-publishing workflow: https://github.com/ahmedfgad/GeneticAlgorithmPython/actions/runs/27043771194 Its previous success does not establish that account permissions can never change; the next release run remains the verification of live publishing.

• Seeded results can differ from earlier versions. Reproducibility is within the same version and environment, with independent generators per instance.
• Invalid fitness values and malformed constructor settings are rejected earlier and consistently. These corrections are detailed in the release notes.
• Saved histories retain both snapshots at repeated-run boundaries and expose actual generation numbers.
• Metadata now declares Python 3.8 or newer, matching the minimum tested version.

The reviewed tree passed the local prepublication checks. The changed test workflow and SDK compatibility workflow also passed on GitHub for the release preparation commit. Publication is authorized by the maintainer. The release notes have the requested October 9, 2026 date. The release PR uses those notes, and the merged master commit receives the matching 3.8.0 tag. Pushing that tag publishes automatically. The final verification checks PyPI installation and confirms that both GitHub assets match the published PyPI packages.

The previous source project was found at https://github.com/ahmedfgad/PyGADReleaseVideo and cloned as a sibling at D:/Projects/PyGADReleaseVideo. All video work is consolidated on main. It reuses the original animation kit, fonts, logo, typing sounds and transition effects. Bell cues use the user-approved soft wooden tap. The revised background music is the user-approved A: Warm keys. C: Floating ambient and the original release music are retained as separate three-minute WAV and MP3 tracks, with their synthesis code, in Music_Library_3.8.0/. https://github.com/ahmedfgad/PyGADReleaseVideo/tree/main/Music_Library_3.8.0 Runnable on-screen examples, real output, chapters and draft social posts are in content/3.8.0/. See that repository's RELEASE_3.8.0.md for builds.

The landscape (3840x2160), vertical (2160x3840), and square (2160x2160) videos are complete. The announcement kit was uploaded to PyGAD_3.8.0/ on that repository's main branch, with MP4 files stored through Git LFS: https://github.com/ahmedfgad/PyGADReleaseVideo/tree/main/PyGAD_3.8.0 The revised video commit is f31aaad8ff7c9bc7b02fa956b6a010848fc9ee16, using the library implementation at adde6bfe. All four MP4 objects uploaded successfully and local Git LFS integrity checks passed. A fresh authenticated download of the preview matched its SHA-256 hash. The three full videos are 134.13 seconds each, and the preview is 22.5 seconds. The opening shows the logo and version for 5.5 seconds, down from 9.5 seconds. All four run at 60 fps, with H.264 video and 48 kHz AAC stereo audio. Every encoded frame decoded successfully; contact sheets from all nine segments were visually checked in all orientations. Thumbnails, a Reel cover, chapter timestamps, title captions, draft social posts, and machine-readable media validation are included. The release video is now published on YouTube. The other platform posts remain drafts.

The October 9 revisions move section takeaways into larger, high-contrast callouts above the output and enlarge the history chart in every orientation. Plots come from 360 dpi exports. All section titles are uppercase. Code typing is reduced from 60 to 44 characters per second, and the documentation command from 34 to 30. The permutation demo highlights and prints its initial row. The lifecycle call is fully highlighted, and the library now exports its chart with small margins and optional transparency. The video uses that actual export. The worker demo explains a target sum of 20 and illustrates two real process workers reused over four generations; a pool/PID audit is included. The documentation demo uses an actual screenshot and its complete example command.

Audio checks verify the approved music and preserved non-bell effects, including all 469 typing clicks. Encoded music, typing transients, tap levels, loudness and peaks are checked in all four videos. Layout and audio measurements are included in the video repository's PyGAD_3.8.0/layout_review.json and audio_validation.json.