@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 # Changes here will be overwritten by Copier
-_commit: 6a0f1bb
+_commit: f43b419
 _src_path: https://github.com/python-project-templates/base.git
 add_docs: true
 add_extension: cython
 
@@ -31,10 +31,10 @@ jobs:
       fail-fast: false
       matrix:
         platform:
-          - ubuntu-latest
+          - ubuntu-24.04
           - ubuntu-24.04-arm
-          - macos-latest
-          - windows-latest
+          - macos-26
+          - windows-2025
         python:
           - version: "3.11"
             cibuildwheel: "cp311"
@@ -70,11 +70,11 @@ jobs:
 
       - name: Lint
         run: make lint
-        if: matrix.platform == 'ubuntu-latest' && matrix.python.primary
+        if: matrix.platform == 'ubuntu-24.04' && matrix.python.primary
 
       - name: Checks
         run: make checks
-        if: matrix.platform == 'ubuntu-latest' && matrix.python.primary
+        if: matrix.platform == 'ubuntu-24.04' && matrix.python.primary
 
       - name: Test
         run: make coverage
@@ -90,23 +90,61 @@ jobs:
         uses: EnricoMi/publish-unit-test-result-action@d0a4676d0e0b938bc201470d88276b7c74c712b3  # v2.24.0
         with:
           files: '**/junit.xml'
-        if: matrix.platform == 'ubuntu-latest' && matrix.python.primary && (github.event_name != 'pull_request' || github.event.pull_request.head.repo.full_name == github.repository)
+        if: matrix.platform == 'ubuntu-24.04' && matrix.python.primary && (github.event_name != 'pull_request' || github.event.pull_request.head.repo.full_name == github.repository)
 
       - name: Upload coverage
         uses: codecov/codecov-action@fb8b3582c8e4def4969c97caa2f19720cb33a72f  # v7.0.0
         with:
           token: ${{ secrets.CODECOV_TOKEN }}
 
-      - name: Build distributions
+      - name: Build distributions (Linux x86_64)
         run: |
-          make clean
+          rm -rf dist
+          make dist-py-sdist
           make dist-py-wheel
           make dist-check
         env:
-          CIBW_BUILD: "${{ matrix.python.cibuildwheel }}-*"
+          CIBW_BUILD: "${{ matrix.python.cibuildwheel }}-manylinux*"
+        if: matrix.platform == 'ubuntu-24.04'
 
-      - name: Test distributions
-        run: make test-dist
+      - name: Build distributions (Linux ARM64)
+        run: |
+          rm -rf dist
+          make dist-py-wheel
+          make dist-check
+        env:
+          CIBW_BUILD: "${{ matrix.python.cibuildwheel }}-manylinux*"
+        if: matrix.platform == 'ubuntu-24.04-arm'
+
+      - name: Build distributions (macOS)
+        run: |
+          rm -rf dist
+          make dist-py-wheel
+          make dist-check
+        env:
+          CIBW_BUILD: "${{ matrix.python.cibuildwheel }}-macos*"
+        if: matrix.platform == 'macos-26'
+
+      - name: Build distributions (Windows)
+        run: |
+          if (Test-Path dist) { Remove-Item dist -Recurse -Force }
+          make dist-py-wheel
+          make dist-check
+        env:
+          CIBW_BUILD: "${{ matrix.python.cibuildwheel }}-win_amd64"
+        if: matrix.platform == 'windows-2025'
+
+      - name: Test wheel
+        uses: actions-ext/python/test-wheel@ec67f82b3bd863948308a41ecb9e70547cbb19c7
+        with:
+          module: python_template_cython
+        if: runner.os == 'Linux'
+
+      - name: Test source distribution
+        uses: actions-ext/python/test-sdist@ec67f82b3bd863948308a41ecb9e70547cbb19c7
+        with:
+          module: python_template_cython
+        if: matrix.platform == 'ubuntu-24.04'
 
       - name: Upload distributions
         uses: actions/upload-artifact@043fb46d1a93c77aae656e7c1c64a875d1fc6a0a  # v7.0.1
 
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ permissions:
 
 jobs:
   docs:
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    runs-on: ubuntu-24.04
     if: github.event.workflow_run.conclusion == 'success' || github.event_name == 'workflow_dispatch'
     steps:
       - name: Checkout
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ jobs:
       - name: Download distributions
         uses: actions/download-artifact@3e5f45b2cfb9172054b4087a40e8e0b5a5461e7c  # v8
         with:
-          pattern: dist-ubuntu-latest-3.11
+          pattern: dist-ubuntu-24.04-3.11
           merge-multiple: true
           path: dist
           run-id: ${{ github.event.workflow_run.id }}
 
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 .DEFAULT_GOAL := help
-.PHONY: develop requirements build install lint-py lint-docs lint lints fix-py fix-docs fix format check-dist check-types checks check test tests coverage show-version patch minor major dist dist-build dist-py-wheel dist-py-sdist dist-check test-dist publish deep-clean clean help
+.PHONY: develop requirements build install lint-py lint-docs lint lints fix-py fix-docs fix format check-dist check-types checks check test tests coverage show-version patch minor major dist dist-build dist-py-wheel dist-py-sdist dist-check publish deep-clean clean help
 
 develop:  ## install dependencies and build library
 	uv pip install -e '.[develop]'
@@ -14,16 +14,16 @@ install:  ## install library
 	uv pip install .
 
 lint-py:  ## lint Python with ruff
-	python -m ruff check python_template_cython .github/scripts
-	python -m ruff format --check python_template_cython .github/scripts
+	python -m ruff check python_template_cython
+	python -m ruff format --check python_template_cython
 
 lint-docs:  ## lint documentation
 	python -m mdformat --check README.md docs/development.md
 	python -m codespell_lib README.md docs/development.md
 
 fix-py:  ## autoformat Python code
-	python -m ruff check --fix python_template_cython .github/scripts
-	python -m ruff format python_template_cython .github/scripts
+	python -m ruff check --fix python_template_cython
+	python -m ruff format python_template_cython
 
 fix-docs:  ## autoformat documentation
 	python -m mdformat README.md docs/development.md
@@ -34,8 +34,8 @@ lints: lint
 fix: fix-py fix-docs  ## run all autoformatters
 format: fix
 
-check-dist:  ## check sdist and wheel contents
-	check-dist -v --rebuild
+check-dist:  ## check python sdist and wheel with check-dist
+	check-dist -v
 
 check-types:  ## check Python types (advisory)
 	ty check python_template_cython
@@ -66,18 +66,15 @@ major:  ## bump a major version
 dist-build:  ## build local Python distributions
 	python -m build -w -s
 
-dist-py-wheel: dist-py-sdist  ## build portable native wheels from the sdist
-	python -m cibuildwheel --output-dir dist dist/*.tar.gz
+dist-py-wheel:  ## build python wheel
+	python -m cibuildwheel --output-dir dist
 
-dist-py-sdist:  ## build a source distribution
-	python -m build --sdist --outdir dist
+dist-py-sdist:  ## build python sdist
+	python -m build --sdist -o dist
 
-dist-check:  ## check distribution metadata
+dist-check:  ## run python dist checker with twine
 	python -m twine check dist/*
 
-test-dist:  ## test installed wheels and rebuild source distributions
-	python .github/scripts/test-distributions.py
-
 dist:  ## build and check local distributions
 	$(MAKE) clean
 	$(MAKE) dist-build
 
@@ -11,12 +11,9 @@ make lint
 make checks
 make coverage
 make dist
-make test-dist
 ```
 
-On Windows, activate with `.venv\Scripts\activate` instead. `make test-dist` installs
-compatible wheels in fresh environments and verifies compiled imports outside the
-checkout. It also rebuilds each sdist into a wheel and repeats those checks.
+On Windows, activate with `.venv\Scripts\activate` instead.
 
 To compile another `.py` or `.pyx` module, add its path to
 `[tool.hatch.build.targets.wheel.hooks.cython.options.files].targets` in
@@ -29,7 +26,8 @@ is excluded because builds do not enable Cython line tracing.
 
 For portable wheels, run `make dist-py-wheel` on the target platform. Linux wheel
 builds require Docker. Run `make dist-py-sdist` to build an sdist without compiling
-extensions. CI runs tests against each installed wheel through cibuildwheel.
+extensions. CI runs tests against each installed wheel through cibuildwheel, then
+installs the built wheel and sdist in fresh environments to verify they import.
 
 To update the template from a clean branch:
 
 
@@ -44,7 +44,6 @@ develop = [
     "hatchling",
     "mdformat",
     "mdformat-tables>=1",
-    "packaging",
     "pytest",
     "pytest-cov",
     "ruff",