fix(release): keep index.html's cache-busting version tags in sync

static/index.html hardcodes ?v= query strings on style.css, the per-page
CSS files and loader.js, plus an app-version meta tag. Nothing kept them
in sync with VERSION, so they'd silently drifted to different stale
versions each (found live: style.css one release behind, loader.js
sixteen releases behind). The static-file middleware marks any CSS/JS
request with a ?v= query as max-age=31536000 immutable, so a browser
that had ever loaded e.g. magazine.js?v=1.26.10 kept serving that exact
response for a year no matter how many times the file changed on disk
or how hard the page was force-reloaded.

release.py now rewrites every ?v=X.Y.Z and the app-version meta tag to
the new version on every release, so a release is what invalidates the
cache rather than a manual, easy-to-forget edit.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -7,6 +7,13 @@ Follows [Keep a Changelog](https://keepachangelog.com/en/1.0.0/) · versioned wi
 
 ## [Unreleased]
 
+---
+
+## [1.43.1] — 2026-09-22
+
+### Fixed
+- **Front-end changes could appear to never take effect, no matter how hard the page was reloaded.** `static/index.html` hardcodes `?v=` cache-busting query strings on `style.css`, the per-page CSS files and `loader.js`, plus an `<meta name="app-version">` tag — nothing kept these in sync with `VERSION`, so they had silently drifted to different stale versions each (found live: `style.css` one release behind, `loader.js` sixteen releases behind). The server's static-file middleware marks any CSS/JS request *with* a `?v=` query as `Cache-Control: public, max-age=31536000, immutable` — a reasonable rule for genuinely fingerprinted assets, but since these tags never changed, a browser that had ever loaded e.g. `magazine.js?v=1.26.10` kept serving that exact response for a year, regardless of how many times the file changed on disk or how hard the page was force-reloaded. `scripts/release.py` now rewrites every `?v=X.Y.Z` and the `app-version` meta tag to the new version on every release, so a release is what actually invalidates the cache — not a manual, easy-to-forget edit.
+
 ## [1.43.0] — 2026-09-22
 
 ### Added
@@ -4314,7 +4321,8 @@ Initial feature-complete release.
 
 ---
 
-[Unreleased]: https://github.com/mARTin-B78/tts-voice-creator-clone-and-design-2/compare/v1.26.10...HEAD
+[Unreleased]: https://github.com/mARTin-B78/tts-voice-creator-clone-and-design-2/compare/v1.43.1...HEAD
+[1.43.1]: https://github.com/mARTin-B78/tts-voice-creator-clone-and-design-2/compare/v1.43.0...v1.43.1
 [1.26.10]: https://github.com/mARTin-B78/tts-voice-creator-clone-and-design-2/compare/v1.26.9...v1.26.10
 [1.26.9]: https://github.com/mARTin-B78/tts-voice-creator-clone-and-design-2/compare/v1.26.8...v1.26.9
 [1.26.1]: https://github.com/mARTin-B78/tts-voice-creator-clone-and-design-2/compare/v1.26.0...v1.26.1

VERSION

@@ -1 +1 @@
-1.43.0
+1.43.1

scripts/release.py

@@ -32,9 +32,31 @@ from pathlib import Path
 REPO_ROOT  = Path(__file__).parent.parent
 VERSION_FILE  = REPO_ROOT / "VERSION"
 CHANGELOG_FILE = REPO_ROOT / "CHANGELOG.md"
+INDEX_HTML_FILE = REPO_ROOT / "static" / "index.html"
 GITHUB_REPO = "mARTin-B78/tts-voice-creator-clone-and-design-2"
 GITHUB_BASE = f"https://github.com/{GITHUB_REPO}"
 
+# static/index.html hardcodes ?v= cache-busting query strings on style.css,
+# the per-page CSS files and loader.js, plus an <meta name="app-version">
+# tag. Nothing previously kept these in sync with VERSION, so they silently
+# drifted to different stale versions each (seen live: style.css one release
+# behind, loader.js sixteen releases behind) -- StaticCacheHeadersMiddleware
+# in server.py marks any *.css/js request WITH a ?v= query
+# "Cache-Control: public, max-age=31536000, immutable", so once a browser
+# had fetched e.g. magazine.js?v=1.26.10 it kept serving that exact response
+# for a year regardless of how many times the file changed on disk or how
+# hard the page was reloaded. Rewriting every ?v=X.Y.Z to the new version on
+# every release is what actually invalidates that cache.
+_VERSION_QUERY_RE = re.compile(r"(\?v=)\d+\.\d+\.\d+")
+_APP_VERSION_META_RE = re.compile(r'(<meta name="app-version" content=")[^"]*(")')
+
+
+def bump_index_html(new_str: str) -> str:
+    html = INDEX_HTML_FILE.read_text()
+    html = _VERSION_QUERY_RE.sub(rf"\g<1>{new_str}", html)
+    html = _APP_VERSION_META_RE.sub(rf"\g<1>{new_str}\g<2>", html)
+    return html
+
 
 def read_version() -> tuple[int, int, int]:
     text = VERSION_FILE.read_text().strip()
@@ -124,13 +146,17 @@ def main() -> None:
             print(f"    {line}")
     print()
 
+    index_html = bump_index_html(new_str)
+
     if not dry:
         CHANGELOG_FILE.write_text(changelog)
         VERSION_FILE.write_text(new_str + "\n")
+        INDEX_HTML_FILE.write_text(index_html)
         print(f"  ✓ Wrote VERSION  → {new_str}")
         print(f"  ✓ Wrote CHANGELOG.md")
+        print(f"  ✓ Wrote static/index.html cache-busting tags → {new_str}")
 
-        git("add", "VERSION", "CHANGELOG.md")
+        git("add", "VERSION", "CHANGELOG.md", "static/index.html")
         git("commit", "--no-verify", "-m", f"Release v{new_str}")
         git("tag", "-a", f"v{new_str}", "-m", f"v{new_str}")
 

static/index.html

@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@
   <meta name="format-detection" content="telephone=no">
   <meta name="color-scheme" content="light dark">
   <meta name="theme-color" content="#2563EB">
-<meta name="app-version" content="1.34.1">
+<meta name="app-version" content="1.43.1">
   <link rel="manifest" href="/manifest.webmanifest">
   <link rel="icon" href="/static/icon.svg" type="image/svg+xml">
   <link rel="apple-touch-icon" href="/static/icon.svg">
@@ -27,12 +27,12 @@
 
   <!-- ── Core styles (local — no CDN dependency for first paint) ────────── -->
   <link rel="stylesheet" href="/static/vendor/mdi/materialdesignicons.min.css">
-<link rel="stylesheet" href="/static/style.css?v=1.42.3">
-<link rel="stylesheet" href="/static/css/resource-diagnostics.css?v=1.42.3">
-<link rel="stylesheet" href="/static/css/background-jobs.css?v=1.42.3">
-<link rel="stylesheet" href="/static/css/voice-design.css?v=1.42.3">
-<link rel="stylesheet" href="/static/css/rehearser.css?v=1.42.3">
-<link rel="stylesheet" href="/static/css/audiobook.css?v=1.42.3">
+<link rel="stylesheet" href="/static/style.css?v=1.43.1">
+<link rel="stylesheet" href="/static/css/resource-diagnostics.css?v=1.43.1">
+<link rel="stylesheet" href="/static/css/background-jobs.css?v=1.43.1">
+<link rel="stylesheet" href="/static/css/voice-design.css?v=1.43.1">
+<link rel="stylesheet" href="/static/css/rehearser.css?v=1.43.1">
+<link rel="stylesheet" href="/static/css/audiobook.css?v=1.43.1">
 
 
   <!-- ── Flag icons — non-blocking (loaded async, icons appear after JS) ── -->
@@ -403,7 +403,7 @@ window.toggleNavTree = function(treeId, chevronId) {
 </script>
 
 <!-- loader.js: fetches sections → loads JS modules → removes skeleton -->
-<script src="/static/loader.js?v=1.26.10"></script>
+<script src="/static/loader.js?v=1.43.1"></script>
 
 </body>
 </html>