fix(release): bump TOOL_VERSION to 0.26.0 — sidecar staleness was inert

TOOL_VERSION had been frozen at 0.21.1 for four releases despite its own
comment saying "Bump this constant and CHANGELOG.md together at release
time".  It is not cosmetic: backfill_sidecars.py decides whether to
regenerate with

    ver_ok = sidecar.source.tool_version >= event_file_io.TOOL_VERSION

so with the constant stuck at 0.21.1 and every sidecar stamped 0.21.1,
a backfill WITHOUT --force skipped the entire store.  That is precisely
the failure the check exists to prevent, and it means every sidecar
regenerated during the 0.26.0 decode work is stamped 0.21.1 while having
been produced by 0.26.0 code.

Verified: a non-force dry-run over the snapshot now reports
written=11603 skipped(uptodate)=0, where before it would have skipped
all 11,603.  Prod therefore does not need --force to pick up the decode
corrections — the version difference alone is enough.

Note the installed dist metadata reads 0.12.0, older than the constant,
so the best-effort "prefer installed metadata when newer" path correctly
defers to TOOL_VERSION.

Also bumps the README header, which still read v0.22.0.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01HgTe8CamXAHcAmaQ6QNcog

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -6,6 +6,16 @@ All notable changes to seismo-relay are documented here.
 
 ## [Unreleased]
 
+---
+
+## v0.26.0 — 2026-08-27
+
+**Series-3 decode correctness.**  Two body-model rewrites, a systematic
+scale error affecting every geophone reading ever produced, a recovered
+file format, and two artifact-hygiene bugs where stale files outlived the
+decodes that made them.  All 11,603 series-3 binaries in the production
+snapshot now pass every check.
+
 ### Fixed
 
 - **Series-3 health sweep: 11,603 / 11,603 binaries now clean on every check.**
@@ -261,11 +271,22 @@ gitignored fixtures).
   the ACH queue with garbage events. Store-wide it affects 2 units of 21 across
   6 episodes; see `scratch/offset_candidates.csv` and the project memory notes.
 
-- **Still open:** 3 of 75 ground-truth events truncate at a segment-header
+- ~~**Still open:** 3 of 75 ground-truth events truncate at a segment-header
-  variant with a variable-width prefix before the channel-id field (2, 4 or 6
+  variant with a variable-width prefix.~~ **Resolved later the same day** — the
-  bytes observed) and an `01 00` marker instead of `02 00`. See the protocol
+  record-chain rewrite (above) showed there is no variable prefix; it was
-  reference, "Unmapped: variable-prefix segment descriptors". Examples:
+  walker drift. All 75 are now sample-count exact.
-  `BE12599/N599LPNB.JF0W` at body offset 1155, `BE9558/K558LOF2.820W` at 1485.
+
+- **Still open after this release:**
+  - **Series-4 (Thor / Micromate) is not verified** — UM-series sits at ~48%
+    against device peaks with a ~1.7% systematic bias and a near-zero tail.
+    Thor IDFW is pinned to `decode_waveform_legacy` deliberately.
+  - **14 sensitive-range files** show a decoded/truth ratio of exactly 8.0
+    (= 10.0/1.25) — a units bug, not a codec one. Never chased.
+  - **`backfill_sidecars.py --force` also inserts DB rows** for store files
+    that have none (1,286 on the snapshot; one-time per store), and the
+    dry-run does not report that count before you commit to it.
+  - **Verification is uneven:** per-sample proof on the 11% of files with a
+    preserved `_ASCII.TXT`, peak-and-structure consistency on the other 89%.
 
 ---
 

CLAUDE.md

@@ -2,7 +2,34 @@
 
 Ground-up Python replacement for **Blastware**, Instantel's Windows-only software for
 managing MiniMate Plus seismographs. Connects over direct RS-232 or cellular modem
-(Sierra Wireless RV50 / RV55). Current version: **v0.21.0**.
+(Sierra Wireless RV50 / RV55). Current version: **v0.26.0**.
+
+---
+
+## Where things stand (updated 2026-08-27)
+
+Read this first when picking the project back up.
+
+- **Series-3 decode is correct and verified.** All 11,603 series-3 binaries in
+  the prod snapshot pass every check (channel lengths, peaks vs the device's
+  own reported PPV, nothing above full scale, length vs declared record time).
+  Ground truth: 1,211/1,211 histograms exact per-interval and 75/75 waveform
+  sample counts exact against preserved Blastware ASCII exports.
+  ⚠ That is per-sample proof on 11% of files and peak-only consistency on the
+  other 89% — see `docs/instantel_protocol_reference.md` §7.6.1.
+- **Series-4 (Thor / Micromate) is NOT verified.** UM-series sits at ~48%
+  against device peaks with a ~1.7% systematic bias and a near-zero tail.
+  Thor IDFW is pinned to `decode_waveform_legacy` deliberately.
+- **Open, not blocking:** 14 sensitive-range files show an exact 8x
+  (= 10.0/1.25) units discrepancy; `scripts/backfill_sidecars.py --force` also
+  inserts DB rows for store files that have none (one-time per store) and the
+  dry-run does not report that count.
+- **After any codec change, regenerate the store** — `backfill_sidecars.py
+  --force` then `backfill_event_shape.py`, DB backup first. Stored `.h5` files
+  do not update themselves.
+- **Parked:** the "offset" hardware-fault investigation (Appendix E of the
+  protocol reference) pending the multi-year BW archive.
+
 
 When new information about the protocol is discovered, please update the instantel_protocol_reference.md with the findings in addition to this document
 

README.md

@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-# seismo-relay  `v0.22.0`
+# seismo-relay  `v0.26.0`
 
 A ground-up replacement for **Blastware** — Instantel's aging Windows-only
 software for managing seismographs.  Supports both the **MiniMate Plus

minimateplus/event_file_io.py

@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@ SIDECAR_KIND   = "sfm.event"
 # bumped without a `pip install` re-run — leading to confusing stale
 # version stamps in sidecars.  Bump this constant and CHANGELOG.md
 # together at release time.
-TOOL_VERSION = "0.21.1"
+TOOL_VERSION = "0.26.0"
 
 try:
     # Best-effort: prefer the installed metadata when it's NEWER than the

pyproject.toml

@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ build-backend = "setuptools.build_meta"
 
 [project]
 name = "seismo-relay"
-version = "0.25.0"
+version = "0.26.0"
 description = "Python client and REST server for MiniMate Plus seismographs"
 requires-python = ">=3.10"
 dependencies = [

sfm/server.py

@@ -90,7 +90,7 @@ app = FastAPI(
         "Implements the minimateplus RS-232 protocol library.\n"
         "Proxied by terra-view at /api/sfm/*."
     ),
-    version="0.25.0",
+    version="0.26.0",
 )
 
 # Allow requests from the waveform viewer opened as a local file (file://)