Release v0.7.2

[Breakthrough]

1. Version Identifiers, Branch Prep

• Create release branch releases/0.7.2 off main; fast-forward it to main as release work lands.
• Bump __version__ in scenedetect/__init__.py (0.7.2)
• Bump docs/LATEST_VERSION (0.7.2, matches the branch suffix so generate-docs.yml updates docs/latest)
• Regular release: no -dev suffix

2. Documentation, Website, Changelog

• Docstrings / API docs reflect any signature changes (sphinx-build -W completes clean).
• docs/api/migration_guide.rst reviewed - 0.7.2 is additive-only (deprecation warnings for the framerate aliases were already documented), no update needed.
• Changelog has release notes: 0.7.2 section with summary, CLI / API / Packaging subsections, restore-old-behavior commands for the detect-hist / detect-hash default changes (Calibrate detector defaults using benchmark sweep data #559).
• website/pages/download.md updated (v0.7.2, October 11, 2026, installer links point at the v0.7.2 tag).
• website/pages/changelog.md: 0.7.2 section moved from the Development section to the top (nested under ## PySceneDetect 0.7); fresh 0.7.3 stub left at the bottom.
• website/pages/index.md and README.md: latest release version and date updated.
• website/pages/benchmarks.md: v0.7.2 default column added; note that the default-settings results predate the change (regeneration deferred, Calibrate detector defaults using benchmark sweep data #559).
• docs/cli.rst: generator output matches the committed file. Known drift: line 423 carries a hand-written sentence from fe725f2 that docs/generate_cli_docs.py does not produce, and check-docs.yml does not run the generator before its diff check, so CI cannot catch this. Decide: move the sentence into the CLI help string, or drop it; add the generator run to the workflow.

3. Tests

• Static analysis passing (ruff check + format clean, pyright 0 errors).
• Unit tests green locally: 464 passed / 2 skipped on releases/0.7.2.
• Release test suite green in CI: all 4 jobs (static, release-tests, install-matrix, long-stress) on the tag.
• pip-audit clean or exceptions documented in the changelog (pillow 12.3.0 override from 0.7.1 still in place; moviepy 2.2.1 still caps pillow<12.0).
• packaging/build_all.py produces all 4 artifacts at 0.7.2 (scenedetect and scenedetect-headless; scenedetect-core is discontinued, Create base package that does not depend on OpenCV variant #558).

4. Prepare Windows Distribution

• packaging/windows/requirements.txt updated (PyAV 19.0.1, click 8.5.0, numpy 2.5.4, platformdirs 4.13.0, tqdm 4.70.1) and bundled ffmpeg bumped to 9.0.2 in appveyor.yml. First Windows bundle on PyAV 19 and FFmpeg 9.
• scripts/update_installer.py run: .aip at ProductVersion 0.7.2, fresh ProductCode, MSI filename PySceneDetect-0.7.2-win64.msi; parity with __version__ verified.
• Run AppVeyor build on release branch, ensure resulting portable distribution and MSI installer are correct (smoke-test a PyAV-backend run in the frozen exe).

5. Tag & Draft Release

• Final commit on releases/0.7.2: "[releases] Release 0.7.2" (e152f24).
• Tag v0.7.2 on that commit and push. Wait for all tests/builds to pass.
• Approve code signing request on SignPath, download scenedetect-signed.zip
• Finalize Windows artifacts locally: drop scenedetect-signed.zip into dist/signed/, run python scripts/finalize_windows_dist.py (rebuilds portable .zip from the signed .msi, writes manifest + SHA256SUMS, runs scripts/validate_release.py).
• Draft release on Github using the tagged commit: full changelog and release notes, signed portable .ZIP, signed .MSI installer, Python .whl/.tar.gz packages, and checksum manifests (PySceneDetect-0.7.2-win64.manifest.json + SHA256SUMS)
• Verify all artifacts uploaded to Github release are valid and named correctly
• Smoke-test all release artifacts

6. Publish & Release Checks

• Dispatch release.yml (Release Orchestrator) with tag=v0.7.2 while the release is still a draft. It runs the verify-then-publish ladder (MSI install/upgrade test -> TestPyPI -> publish Github release -> PyPI -> Docker), verifying each stage before the next.
• Verify the Docker image on GHCR: ghcr.io/breakthrough/pyscenedetect:latest and the version tag.
• Verify both projects: https://pypi.org/project/scenedetect/ and https://pypi.org/project/scenedetect-headless/.
• Deploy website: generate-website.yml
• Deploy docs: generate-docs.yml
• Merge this PR (release branch back into main), verify docs/LATEST_VERSION is correct
• Manually dispatch generate-docs.yml against releases/0.7.2 to update www.scenedetect.com/docs/latest
• Smoke-test PyPI release: in a fresh venv, pip install scenedetect==0.7.2; CLI launches and scenedetect version looks correct.
• Verify download links on website are correct, PyPI project page is up to date and correct.
• Post-release on main: start the next development version (__version__, changelog stub).
• Clear / archive release-scoped tracking files.
• Announce: project site, relevant issues / discussions closed and linked to the release.