chore: prepare 1.9.0 release

[rickeylev]

Updating version markers and changelog for 1.9.0 release

[gemini-code-assist]

Summary of Changes

Hello @rickeylev, I'm Gemini Code Assist¹! I'm currently reviewing this pull request and will post my feedback shortly. In the meantime, here's a summary to help you and other reviewers quickly get up to speed!

This pull request finalizes the preparation for the 1.9.0 release by updating all version markers and the official changelog. It ensures that all documentation and internal references correctly point to the new version, providing a clear record of the changes included in this release.

Highlights

• Version Marker Updates: All instances of the placeholder VERSION_NEXT_FEATURE and the unreleased version v0-0-0 were systematically replaced with 1.9.0 across various documentation and source files.
• Changelog Finalization: The CHANGELOG.md file was updated to formally introduce the 1.9.0 release, including its release date and detailed entries for deprecated, changed, fixed, and newly added features.
• Documentation Alignment: Documentation files were adjusted to correctly reference the 1.9.0 version in versionadded and versionchanged directives, ensuring consistency with the new release.

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Changelog

• CHANGELOG.md
  • Updated the version from 'Unreleased' (v0-0-0) to 1.9.0 with a release date of 2026-02-21.
  • Deprecated implicit zipapp output for py_binary/py_test targets.
  • Fixed CurrentRepository() raising ValueError on Windows.
  • Fixed coverage warnings in tests when no sources are present.
  • Fixed Gazelle's handling of ancestor conftest.py files.
  • Added the --debugger flag for specifying extra dependencies for custom debuggers in binaries/tests.
  • Added a new Gazelle directive python_include_ancestor_conftest to control the inclusion of ancestor conftest targets.

Activity

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[gemini-code-assist]

Code Review

This pull request prepares for the 1.9.0 release by updating version markers from VERSION_NEXT_FEATURE to 1.9.0 across various documentation and build files, and updates the changelog. The changes are straightforward and look correct for a release preparation. I've suggested one improvement to the CHANGELOG.md to re-add the 'Unreleased' section for future changes.