release: cargo-release config for tag-driven releases

`cargo release patch --execute` now does what the last three releases
did by hand: bump Cargo.toml/Cargo.lock, rewrite PKGBUILD's pkgver,
stamp the "## Unreleased" changelog section with version and date,
commit as "release X.Y.Z", tag vX.Y.Z and push commit and tag to the
gitea remote (not `origin`, which is the GitHub upstream). The tag then
triggers .gitea/workflows/release.yml as before. No crates.io publish.

CHANGELOG.md gets a standing "## Unreleased" section to collect entries
between releases; README documents the flow.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5.1 <noreply@anthropic.com>

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -1,5 +1,11 @@
 # Changelog
 
+## Unreleased
+
+## 0.4.3 (2026-10-05)
+
+- Backlight: a config with a `!backlight` widget on a machine without `/sys/class/backlight` entries (or with a `device` name that does not exist) panicked at start ("did not find backlight device"), fatal with `panic = "abort"`. The widget now warns once on stderr, renders empty and ignores clicks, so one config can be shared between a laptop and a desktop.
+
 ## 0.4.2 (2026-10-03)
 
 - Fonts: a `font_paths` entry pointing at a file that does not exist on this machine made the font-loader thread panic and abort wldash ("Font file not found"). Pinned paths that are missing now fall back to fontconfig by name, with one line on stderr; a font that cannot be resolved at all exits with a clear message instead of a backtrace.

Cargo.lock

@@ -1071,7 +1071,7 @@ checksum = "dff9641d1cd4be8d1a070daf9e3773c5f67e78b4d9d42263020c057706765c04"
 
 [[package]]
 name = "wldash"
-version = "0.4.2"
+version = "0.4.3"
 dependencies = [
  "calloop",
  "chrono",

Cargo.toml

@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 [package]
 name = "wldash"
-version = "0.4.2"
+version = "0.4.3"
 edition = "2024"
 
 [profile.release]

PKGBUILD

@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
 # project.uhhm.no (namespace bl). pkgver is the version; the tag has
 # to agree with it and with Cargo.toml.
 pkgname=wldash
-pkgver=0.4.2
+pkgver=0.4.3
 pkgrel=1
 pkgdesc="Dashboard/launcher/control-panel for wlroots-style Wayland compositors (layer-shell)"
 arch=('x86_64' 'aarch64')

README.md

@@ -79,6 +79,17 @@ The launcher also accepts prefix operators to change its mode:
 
 - Scaling of any kind - all sizes are currently hardcoded in pixels
 
+## Releasing
+
+Releases are cut with [cargo-release](https://github.com/crate-ci/cargo-release) (`cargo install cargo-release`), configured in `release.toml`. Put a line for each change under `## Unreleased` in `CHANGELOG.md` as you go, then on a clean `master`:
+
+```
+cargo release patch            # dry run: shows the bump, replacements and tag
+cargo release patch --execute  # do it (minor/major or an explicit version also work)
+```
+
+This bumps `Cargo.toml`, `Cargo.lock` and `PKGBUILD` to the same version, stamps the changelog section with the version and date, commits as `release X.Y.Z`, tags `vX.Y.Z` and pushes commit and tag to the `gitea` remote. The tag triggers `.gitea/workflows/release.yml`, which builds the package per architecture and uploads it to the `[uhhm]` registry. The workflow refuses a tag whose version disagrees with `PKGBUILD` or `Cargo.toml`, which cannot happen when the tag comes from cargo-release.
+
 ## How to discuss
 
 Go to #kennylevinsen @ irc.libera.chat to discuss, or use [~kennylevinsen/public-inbox@lists.sr.ht](https://lists.sr.ht/~kennylevinsen/public-inbox).

release.toml

@@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
+# cargo-release settings. Cut a release with
+#
+#     cargo release patch          # dry run, shows what would change
+#     cargo release patch --execute
+#
+# (or `minor`, `major`, or an explicit version). It bumps Cargo.toml and
+# Cargo.lock, rewrites PKGBUILD's pkgver, turns the "## Unreleased"
+# section of CHANGELOG.md into "## X.Y.Z (date)", commits, tags
+# vX.Y.Z and pushes commit + tag to the gitea remote. That tag is what
+# .gitea/workflows/release.yml builds and uploads to the [uhhm] registry.
+
+# Not on crates.io; the package goes to the Arch registry via the tag.
+publish = false
+# `origin` is the upstream kennylevinsen fork on GitHub; releases go to
+# project.uhhm.no, and the workflow only runs there.
+push-remote = "gitea"
+allow-branch = ["master"]
+tag-name = "v{{version}}"
+tag-message = "wldash {{version}}"
+pre-release-commit-message = "release {{version}}"
+
+pre-release-replacements = [
+  { file = "PKGBUILD", search = "^pkgver=.*", replace = "pkgver={{version}}", exactly = 1 },
+  { file = "PKGBUILD", search = "^pkgrel=.*", replace = "pkgrel=1", exactly = 1 },
+  { file = "CHANGELOG.md", search = "^## Unreleased$", replace = "## {{version}} ({{date}})", exactly = 1 },
+]

src/widgets/backlight.rs

@@ -26,7 +26,11 @@ fn write_file_as_u64(path: &Path, value: u64) -> Result<(), Error> {
 }
 
 pub struct Backlight {
-    device_path: PathBuf,
+    /// `None` when no backlight exists on this machine: the widget then
+    /// renders empty and ignores clicks instead of taking wldash down.
+    /// Configs are shared between hosts, so a laptop config running on a
+    /// desktop must not panic here.
+    device_path: Option<PathBuf>,
     cur: u64,
     max: u64,
     dirty: bool,
@@ -46,10 +50,13 @@ fn find_device() -> Option<PathBuf> {
 
 impl Backlight {
     fn update(&mut self) {
-        if let Ok(cur) = read_file_as_u64(self.device_path.join("brightness").as_path()) {
+        let Some(dev) = &self.device_path else {
+            return;
+        };
+        if let Ok(cur) = read_file_as_u64(dev.join("brightness").as_path()) {
             self.cur = cur;
         }
-        if let Ok(max) = read_file_as_u64(self.device_path.join("max_brightness").as_path()) {
+        if let Ok(max) = read_file_as_u64(dev.join("max_brightness").as_path()) {
             self.max = max;
         }
     }
@@ -58,11 +65,30 @@ impl Backlight {
     #[allow(clippy::new_ret_no_self)]
     pub fn new(path: Option<&str>, fm: &mut FontMap, font: &'static str, size: f32) -> BarWidget {
         let device_path = match path {
-            Some(path) => Some(Path::new("/sys/class/backlight").join(path)),
+            Some(path) => {
-            None => find_device(),
+                let p = Path::new("/sys/class/backlight").join(path);
+                if p.is_dir() {
+                    Some(p)
+                } else {
+                    eprintln!(
+                        "wldash: backlight device {:?} not found, widget disabled",
+                        p
+                    );
+                    None
+                }
+            }
+            None => {
+                let p = find_device();
+                if p.is_none() {
+                    eprintln!(
+                        "wldash: no backlight device under /sys/class/backlight, widget disabled"
+                    );
+                }
+                p
+            }
         };
         let mut dev = Backlight {
-            device_path: device_path.expect("did not find backlight device"),
+            device_path,
             cur: 0,
             max: 0,
             dirty: true,
@@ -77,9 +103,13 @@ impl Backlight {
     }
 
     pub fn set(&mut self, brightness: f32) {
+        let Some(dev) = &self.device_path else {
+            return;
+        };
         let val = (self.max as f32 * brightness.clamp(0.0, 1.0)) as u64;
-        let _ = write_file_as_u64(self.device_path.join("brightness").as_path(), val);
+        let brightness_path = dev.join("brightness");
-        if let Ok(cur) = read_file_as_u64(self.device_path.join("brightness").as_path()) {
+        let _ = write_file_as_u64(&brightness_path, val);
+        if let Ok(cur) = read_file_as_u64(&brightness_path) {
             self.cur = cur;
         }
     }
@@ -93,12 +123,14 @@ impl BarWidgetImpl for Backlight {
         self.dirty
     }
     fn value(&mut self) -> f32 {
+        self.dirty = false;
+        if self.device_path.is_none() {
+            return 0.0;
+        }
         if self.max == 0 || self.cur > self.max {
-            // what.
+            // Sysfs handed us nonsense; show full rather than a bogus ratio.
             return 1.0;
         }
-
-        self.dirty = false;
         self.cur as f32 / self.max as f32
     }
     fn color(&self) -> Color {