NHSDigital · georgeRobertson · Mar 17, 2026 · Mar 17, 2026 · Mar 17, 2026 · Mar 17, 2026
diff --git a/.github/pull_request_template.md b/.github/pull_request_template.md
@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+## TLDR of changes
+
+
+## What kind of changes does this PR introduce?
+
+__Tick all that apply__
+
+- [ ] fix: A bug fix. Correlates with PATCH in SemVer
+- [ ] feat: A new feature. Correlates with MINOR in SemVer
+- [ ] docs: Documentation only changes
+- [ ] style: Changes that do not affect the meaning of the code (white-space, formatting, missing semi-colons, etc)
+- [ ] refactor: A code change that neither fixes a bug nor adds a feature
+- [ ] perf: A code change that improves performance
+- [ ] test: Adding missing or correcting existing tests
+- [ ] build: Changes that affect the build system or external dependencies (example scopes: pip, docker, npm)
+- [ ] ci: Changes to CI configuration files and scripts (example scopes: GitLabCI)
+
+
+## Please check if the PR fulfills these requirements
+
+- [ ] I have read and followed the [Contributing guidance](../CONTRIBUTE.md)
+- [ ] Docs have been added / updated
+- [ ] Tests and Linting in the CI are passing
+- [ ] Changes have been reviewed and approved by a Project Maintainer
diff --git a/CONTRIBUTE.md b/CONTRIBUTE.md
@@ -1,30 +1,42 @@
 # DVE Contributing guidelines
 
-# Developer information
+__If you're planning to contribute to the DVE, please follow all the guidance below. Failure to follow the guidance in this document may result in your contributions being automatically rejected.__
 
 ## Getting started
 
-To begin with I would recommend that users read all the documentation available within the [docs](./docs/). It gives an overview of how the DVE works and how to work with the dischema json document.
+I would recommend that you read all the documentation available within the [docs](https://nhsdigital.github.io/data-validation-engine/). It gives an overview of how the DVE works and how to work with the dischema json document.
 
 ## General requirements
-To start contributing to the DVE project you will need the following tooling available:
+
+To start contributing to the DVE project you will need the tooling listed within the `.tool-versions` or `mise.toml`. The following tools are required because...
+
 | Tool | Version | Reason |
 | ---- | ------- | ------ |
-| `Python` | 3.7.17 | Currently supported version of `Python` for the DVE. |
-| `Poetry` | 1.4.2 | Build and venv tool used for the DVE. |
+| `Python` | 3.11 | Latest version of Python supported by the DVE. |
+| `Poetry` | 2.2.1 | Build and package manager tool used for the DVE. |
 | `Java` | java liberica-1.8.0 | `Java` version required for `PySpark`. |
-| `pre-commit` | 2.21.0 | Currently installed as part of the `poetry` venv but seperate installation is fine. |
-| `commitizen` | 3.9.1 | Like `pre-commit`, installed as part of the `poetry` venv but seperate installation is fine. This is used to manage commits and automated semantic versioning. |
+| `pre-commit` | 4.3.0 | Currently installed as part of the `poetry` venv but seperate installation is fine. |
+| `commitizen` | 4.9.1 | Like `pre-commit`, installed as part of the `poetry` venv but seperate installation is fine. This is used to manage commits and automated semantic versioning. |
 | `git-secrets` | Latest | Utilised as part of the `pre-commit` to ensure that no secrets are commited to the repository. There is a helper installation script within [scripts](/scripts/git-secrets/). |
 
-Additionally, we have created a [asdf support](.tool-versions) and [mise-en-toml](.mise.toml) for those utilising `asdf` or `mise-en-toml` software.
+You can install all the developer requirements with the following command:
+
+```bash
+poetry install --with dev
+```
 
 ## Testing Requirements
 
 Testing requirements are given in [pyproject.toml](./poetry.toml#48) under `tool.poetry.group.test.dependencies`. These are always pinned versions for consistency, but should be updated regularly if new versions are released. The following core packages are used for testing:
  - [pytest](https://docs.pytest.org/en/stable/): Used for Python unit tests, and some small e2e tests which check coverage.
  - [behave](https://github.com/behave/behave): Used for full, business-driven end-to-end tests.
- - [coverage](https://coverage.readthedocs.io/en/7.10.7/): Used to get coverage for `pytest` tests.
+ - [coverage](https://coverage.readthedocs.io/en/): Used to get coverage for `pytest` tests.
+
+You can install these requirements with the following command:
+
+```bash
+poetry install --with test
+```
 
 ## Linting/Formatting/Type Checking Requirements
 
@@ -38,6 +50,12 @@ This mostly breaks down to:
 
 We use these tools to ensure that code quality is not excessively compromised, even when working at pace.
 
+You can install these requirements with the following command:
+
+```bash
+poetry install --with lint
+```
+
 ## Installation for Development
 
 We are utilising Poetry for build dependency management and packaging. If you're on a system that has `Make` available, you can simply run `make install` to setup a local virtual environment with all the dependencies installed (this won't install Poetry for you).
@@ -50,6 +68,16 @@ Tests should be run after installing the package for development as outlined abo
 - To check the coverage run `poetry run coverage report -m`
 - To run the behave tests, run `poetry run behave tests/features` (these are not included in coverage calculations)
 
+## Committing
+
+We use [commitizen](https://github.com/commitizen-tools/commitizen) to commit new changes. This ensures...
+
+1. A consistent standard for the commit messages
+2. Generation of changelog from the commit messages
+3. Allows for automatic bumping of the version based on the changes
+
+Please use `poetry run cz c` or `cz c` (if already in the venv).
+
 ## Submitting a pull request
 
 If you want to contribute to the DVE then please follow the steps below:

diff --git a/docs/user_guidance/install.md b/docs/user_guidance/install.md
@@ -83,6 +83,7 @@ Once you have installed the DVE you are almost ready to use it. To be able to ru
 
 | DVE Version  | Python Version | DuckDB Version | Spark Version | Pydantic Version |
 | ------------ | -------------- | -------------- | ------------- | ---------------- |
+| >=0.7.2      | >=3.10,<3.12   | 1.1.*          | 3.4.*         | 1.10.16          |
 | >=0.6        | >=3.10,<3.12   | 1.1.*          | 3.4.*         | 1.10.15          |
 | >=0.2,<0.6   | >=3.10,<3.12   | 1.1.0          | 3.4.4         | 1.10.15          |
 | 0.1          | >=3.7.2,<3.8   | 1.1.0          | 3.2.1         | 1.10.15          |
diff --git a/poetry.lock b/poetry.lock
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
@@ -1,12 +1,11 @@
-[tool.poetry]
+[project]
 name = "data-validation-engine"
-version = "0.7.1"
+dynamic = [ "version" ]
 description = "`nhs data validation engine` is a framework used to validate data"
-authors = ["NHS England <england.contactus@nhs.net>"]
-readme = "README.md"
-packages = [
-    { include = "dve", from = "src" },
+authors = [
+    { name = "NHS England", email = "england.contactus@nhs.net" }
 ]
+readme = "README.md"
 classifiers = [
     "Programming Language :: Python :: 3",
     "Programming Language :: Python :: 3.10",
@@ -15,6 +14,20 @@ classifiers = [
     "Topic :: Software Development :: Libraries",
     "Typing :: Typed",
 ]
+license = "MIT"
+
+[project.urls]
+Homepage = "https://github.com/NHSDigital/data-validation-engine"
+Documentation = "https://nhsdigital.github.io/data-validation-engine/"
+Repository = "https://github.com/NHSDigital/data-validation-engine.git"
+Issues = "https://github.com/NHSDigital/data-validation-engine/issues"
+Changelog = "https://github.com/NHSDigital/data-validation-engine/blob/main/CHANGELOG.md"
+
+[tool.poetry]
+version = "0.7.1"
+packages = [
+    { include = "dve", from = "src" },
+]
 
 [tool.poetry.dependencies]
 python = ">=3.10,<3.12"
@@ -28,7 +41,7 @@ openpyxl = "^3.1"
 pandas = "^2.2.2"
 polars = "0.20.*"
 pyarrow = "^17.0.0"
-pydantic = "1.10.15"
+pydantic = "1.10.16"
 pyspark = "3.4.*"
 typing_extensions = "^4.6.2"