Prep for v1.4.0 release (#130)

* Prep for 1.4.0

* Remove committed release drafts and update release-prep skill

* Update skill ordering

* Better changlog syntax, agent instructions

* Focus CHANGELOGS to user-facing

Author: andystaples

.github/copilot-instructions.md

@@ -8,6 +8,17 @@ building durable orchestrations. The repo contains two packages:
 - `durabletask` — core SDK (in `durabletask/`)
 - `durabletask.azuremanaged` — Azure Durable Task Scheduler provider (in `durabletask-azuremanaged/`)
 
+## Changelog Requirements
+
+- ALWAYS document user-facing changes in the appropriate changelog under
+  `## Unreleased`.
+- Update `CHANGELOG.md` for core SDK changes and
+  `durabletask-azuremanaged/CHANGELOG.md` for provider changes.
+- If a change affects both packages, update both changelogs.
+- Do NOT document internal-only changes in changelogs, including CI/workflow
+  updates, test-only changes, refactors with no user-visible behavior change,
+  and implementation details that do not affect public behavior or API.
+
 ## Language and Style
 
 - Python 3.10+ is required.

.github/skills/release-prep/SKILL.md

@@ -0,0 +1,112 @@
+---
+name: release-prep
+description: >-
+  Prepare a release for durabletask and durabletask.azuremanaged. Use when the
+  user asks for release prep, version bumping, changelog updates, or release
+  body drafting. Trigger phrases include: release prep, prepare vX.Y.Z,
+  changelog for release, and draft GitHub release notes.
+---
+
+# Release Prep
+
+This skill prepares a coordinated release for both packages in this repository:
+
+- `durabletask`
+- `durabletask.azuremanaged`
+
+The skill accepts a target version (for example `1.4.0`) and performs the
+required changes consistently.
+
+## Inputs
+
+- `version`: Target semantic version (for example `1.4.0`)
+- Optional: `baseTag` overrides for comparison if tags are non-standard
+
+If `version` is not provided, ask the user before continuing.
+
+## Steps
+
+### 1. Determine source range and collect commits
+
+- Root package range: `v<previousVersion>..HEAD`
+- Azure managed package range: `azuremanaged-v<previousVersion>..HEAD`
+- Use commit subjects and touched files to classify each change as:
+  - `durabletask` only
+  - `durabletask.azuremanaged` only
+  - shared/infra/docs changes
+
+### 2. Update package versions
+
+Update both project versions:
+
+- `pyproject.toml` -> `version = "<version>"`
+- `durabletask-azuremanaged/pyproject.toml` -> `version = "<version>"`
+
+Update azuremanaged dependency floors:
+
+- `durabletask>=<version>`
+- `durabletask[azure-blob-payloads]>=<version>`
+
+### 3. Update changelogs
+
+- Add a new `## v<version>` section directly under `## Unreleased` in:
+  - `CHANGELOG.md`
+  - `durabletask-azuremanaged/CHANGELOG.md`
+- Ensure user-facing changes since the previous release tags are represented.
+- Keep entries concise and grouped by type (`ADDED`, `CHANGED`, `FIXED`, `REMOVED`) where
+  applicable.
+- Exclude internal-only changes from changelogs (for example CI/workflow-only
+  updates, test-only changes, and implementation refactors with no public
+  behavior or API impact).
+
+### 4. Validate
+
+- Run diagnostics on changed markdown and TOML files.
+- Fix formatting or heading issues introduced by release prep changes.
+- Verify the final diff only contains release-prep updates.
+
+### 5. Wait for merge and tags before release drafting
+
+Before creating draft releases in GitHub UI, require explicit user
+confirmation of both conditions:
+
+- The version-bump/release-prep PR is merged
+- Tags `v<version>` and `azuremanaged-v<version>` already exist in the target
+  repository
+
+If either condition is not met, stop after preparing release body text and ask
+the user to confirm once merge and tags are complete.
+
+### 6. Draft GitHub release bodies
+
+Draft two release body texts for the GitHub Releases UI (do not add files to
+the repository):
+
+- Tag: `v<version>`
+- Tag: `azuremanaged-v<version>`
+
+Match existing release structure:
+
+- Title (`# v<version>` or `# azuremanaged-v<version>`)
+- `## What's Changed`
+- `## External Links`
+- `### Contributors`
+
+Include:
+
+- PyPI link for the exact release version
+- Full changelog compare link
+- Contributor handles from the commit range
+- Keep drafts in the assistant response (or PR comment) so they can be pasted
+  directly into the Releases section
+- Keep the release body focused on user-facing changes and avoid internal-only
+  details (CI/test updates or implementation-only notes)
+
+
+## Output
+
+Return a short summary with:
+
+- Updated files
+- Commit coverage confirmation
+- Any manual follow-ups (for example, tag creation or publishing)

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -7,6 +7,8 @@ and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0
 
 ## Unreleased
 
+## v1.4.0
+
 ADDED
 
 - Added large payload externalization support for automatically
@@ -22,16 +24,21 @@ ADDED
 - Added `AsyncTaskHubGrpcClient` for asyncio-based applications using `grpc.aio`
 - Added `DefaultAsyncClientInterceptorImpl` for async gRPC metadata interceptors
 - Added `get_async_grpc_channel` helper for creating async gRPC channels
+- Added orchestration restart client support
+- Added batch client actions for purge and query operations across orchestrations and entities
+- Added worker work item filtering support
+- Added new `work_item_filtering` sample
 - Improved distributed tracing support with full span coverage for orchestrations, activities, sub-orchestrations, timers, and events
 
 CHANGED
 
-- Refactored `TaskHubGrpcClient` to share request-building and validation logic
-  with `AsyncTaskHubGrpcClient` via module-level helper functions
+- Improved timer scheduling behavior for orchestrator timers
 
 FIXED:
 
 - Fix unbound variable in entity V1 processing
+- Fixed `compute_next_delay` returning `None` when `max_retry_interval` is not set
+- Fixed multiple entity-related bugs across ID parsing and failure handling
 
 ## v1.3.0
 
@@ -103,72 +110,72 @@ FIXED:
 
 ## v0.3.0
 
-### New
+ADDED
 
 - Added `ConcurrencyOptions` class for fine-grained concurrency control with separate limits for activities and orchestrations. The thread pool worker count can also be configured.
 
-### Fixed
+FIXED
 
 - Fixed an issue where a worker could not recover after its connection was interrupted or severed
 
 ## v0.2.1
 
-### New
+ADDED
 
 - Added `set_custom_status` orchestrator API ([#31](https://github.com/microsoft/durabletask-python/pull/31)) - contributed by [@famarting](https://github.com/famarting)
 - Added `purge_orchestration` client API ([#34](https://github.com/microsoft/durabletask-python/pull/34)) - contributed by [@famarting](https://github.com/famarting)
 - Added new `durabletask-azuremanaged` package for use with the [Durable Task Scheduler](https://learn.microsoft.com/azure/azure-functions/durable/durable-task-scheduler/durable-task-scheduler) - by [@RyanLettieri](https://github.com/RyanLettieri)
 
-### Changes
+CHANGED
 
 - Protos are compiled with gRPC 1.62.3 / protobuf 3.25.X instead of the latest release. This ensures compatibility with a wider range of grpcio versions for better compatibility with other packages / libraries ([#36](https://github.com/microsoft/durabletask-python/pull/36)) - by [@berndverst](https://github.com/berndverst)
 - Http and grpc protocols and their secure variants are stripped from the host name parameter if provided. Secure mode is enabled if the protocol provided is https or grpcs ([#38](https://github.com/microsoft/durabletask-python/pull/38) - by [@berndverst)(https://github.com/berndverst)
 - Improve ProtoGen by downloading proto file directly instead of using submodule ([#39](https://github.com/microsoft/durabletask-python/pull/39) - by [@berndverst](https://github.com/berndverst)
 
-### Updates
+CHANGED
 
 - Updated `durabletask-protobuf` submodule reference to latest
 
 ## v0.1.1a1
 
-### New
+ADDED
 
 - Add recursive flag in terminate_orchestration to support cascade terminate ([#27](https://github.com/microsoft/durabletask-python/pull/27)) - contributed by [@shivamkm07](https://github.com/shivamkm07)
 
 ## v0.1.0
 
-### New
+ADDED
 
 - Retry policies for activities and sub-orchestrations ([#11](https://github.com/microsoft/durabletask-python/pull/11)) - contributed by [@DeepanshuA](https://github.com/DeepanshuA)
 
-### Fixed
+FIXED
 
 - Fix try/except in orchestrator functions not being handled correctly ([#21](https://github.com/microsoft/durabletask-python/pull/21)) - by [@cgillum](https://github.com/cgillum)
 - Updated `durabletask-protobuf` submodule reference to latest distributed tracing commit - by [@cgillum](https://github.com/cgillum)
 
 ## v0.1.0a5
 
-### New
+ADDED
 
 - Adds support for secure channels ([#18](https://github.com/microsoft/durabletask-python/pull/18)) - contributed by [@elena-kolevska](https://github.com/elena-kolevska)
 
-### Fixed
+FIXED
 
 - Fix zero argument values sent to activities as None ([#13](https://github.com/microsoft/durabletask-python/pull/13)) - contributed by [@DeepanshuA](https://github.com/DeepanshuA)
 
 ## v0.1.0a3
 
-### New
+ADDED
 
 - Add gRPC metadata option ([#16](https://github.com/microsoft/durabletask-python/pull/16)) - contributed by [@DeepanshuA](https://github.com/DeepanshuA)
 
-### Changes
+CHANGED
 
 - Removed Python 3.7 support due to EOL ([#14](https://github.com/microsoft/durabletask-python/pull/14)) - contributed by [@berndverst](https://github.com/berndverst)
 
 ## v0.1.0a2
 
-### New
+ADDED
 
 - Continue-as-new ([#9](https://github.com/microsoft/durabletask-python/pull/9))
 - Support for Python 3.7+ ([#10](https://github.com/microsoft/durabletask-python/pull/10)) - contributed by [@DeepanshuA](https://github.com/DeepanshuA)

durabletask-azuremanaged/CHANGELOG.md

@@ -7,6 +7,11 @@ and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0
 
 ## Unreleased
 
+## v1.4.0
+
+- Updates base dependency to durabletask v1.4.0
+  - Includes restart support, batch actions, work item filtering, timer improvements,
+    distributed tracing improvements, and entity bug fixes
 - Added `AsyncDurableTaskSchedulerClient` for async/await usage with `grpc.aio`
 - Added `DTSAsyncDefaultClientInterceptorImpl` async gRPC interceptor for DTS authentication
 - Added `payload_store` parameter to `DurableTaskSchedulerWorker`,
@@ -15,6 +20,7 @@ and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0
 - Added `azure-blob-payloads` optional dependency that installs
   `durabletask[azure-blob-payloads]` — install with
   `pip install durabletask.azuremanaged[azure-blob-payloads]`
+- Improved worker timer handling to align with durabletask timer updates
 
 ## v1.3.0
 

durabletask-azuremanaged/pyproject.toml

@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ build-backend = "setuptools.build_meta"
 
 [project]
 name = "durabletask.azuremanaged"
-version = "1.3.0"
+version = "1.4.0"
 description = "Durable Task Python SDK provider implementation for the Azure Durable Task Scheduler"
 keywords = [
     "durable",
@@ -26,13 +26,13 @@ requires-python = ">=3.10"
 license = {file = "LICENSE"}
 readme = "README.md"
 dependencies = [
-    "durabletask>=1.3.0",
+    "durabletask>=1.4.0",
     "azure-identity>=1.19.0"
 ]
 
 [project.optional-dependencies]
 azure-blob-payloads = [
-    "durabletask[azure-blob-payloads]>=1.3.0"
+    "durabletask[azure-blob-payloads]>=1.4.0"
 ]
 
 [project.urls]

pyproject.toml

@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ build-backend = "setuptools.build_meta"
 
 [project]
 name = "durabletask"
-version = "1.3.0"
+version = "1.4.0"
 description = "A Durable Task Client SDK for Python"
 keywords = [
     "durable",