From 876085b520a2f0da5594ba16d17b2f85b07e55ad Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: sivel / Matt Martz <matt@sivel.net>
Date: Mon, 16 Mar 2026 11:43:19 -0500
Subject: [PATCH] New release v2.19.8rc1 (#86664)

---
 changelogs/CHANGELOG-v2.19.rst              | 22 ++++++++++++++++
 changelogs/changelog.yaml                   | 28 +++++++++++++++++++++
 changelogs/fragments/2.19.8rc1_summary.yaml |  3 +++
 lib/ansible/release.py                      |  2 +-
 pyproject.toml                              |  2 +-
 5 files changed, 55 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-)
 create mode 100644 changelogs/fragments/2.19.8rc1_summary.yaml

diff --git a/changelogs/CHANGELOG-v2.19.rst b/changelogs/CHANGELOG-v2.19.rst
index 0b58a5aaf8a..6c272821a90 100644
--- a/changelogs/CHANGELOG-v2.19.rst
+++ b/changelogs/CHANGELOG-v2.19.rst
@@ -4,6 +4,28 @@ ansible-core 2.19 "What Is and What Should Never Be" Release Notes
 
 .. contents:: Topics
 
+v2.19.8rc1
+==========
+
+Release Summary
+---------------
+
+| Release Date: 2026-03-16
+| `Porting Guide <https://docs.ansible.com/ansible-core/2.19/porting_guides/porting_guide_core_2.19.html>`__
+
+Minor Changes
+-------------
+
+- ansible-test - Add container/remote aliases for more loosely specifying managed test environments.
+- ansible-test - Add support for using the Ansible Core CI service from GitHub Actions.
+
+Bugfixes
+--------
+
+- ansible-connection - Prevent unpickling failures in module contexts by ensuring that AnsibleTaggedObjects in pickled responses are converted to plain types in ``JsonRpcServer``.
+- config lookup now uses preexisting constants for templating when needed.
+- yaml loading - Fix traceback when parsing YAML strings (not files) when using the pure Python implementation of PyYAML.
+
 v2.19.7
 =======
 
diff --git a/changelogs/changelog.yaml b/changelogs/changelog.yaml
index d675d448040..eb9056c54e0 100644
--- a/changelogs/changelog.yaml
+++ b/changelogs/changelog.yaml
@@ -1520,3 +1520,31 @@ releases:
     - ansible-test-spare-tire.yml
     - make-tmp-path-msg.yml
     release_date: '2026-02-17'
+  2.19.8rc1:
+    changes:
+      bugfixes:
+      - ansible-connection - Prevent unpickling failures in module contexts by ensuring
+        that AnsibleTaggedObjects in pickled responses are converted to plain types
+        in ``JsonRpcServer``.
+      - config lookup now uses preexisting constants for templating when needed.
+      - yaml loading - Fix traceback when parsing YAML strings (not files) when using
+        the pure Python implementation of PyYAML.
+      minor_changes:
+      - ansible-test - Add container/remote aliases for more loosely specifying managed
+        test environments.
+      - ansible-test - Add support for using the Ansible Core CI service from GitHub
+        Actions.
+      release_summary: '| Release Date: 2026-03-16
+
+        | `Porting Guide <https://docs.ansible.com/ansible-core/2.19/porting_guides/porting_guide_core_2.19.html>`__
+
+        '
+    codename: What Is and What Should Never Be
+    fragments:
+    - 2.19.8rc1_summary.yaml
+    - 86601-untag-jsonrpc-responses.yml
+    - ansible-test-completion-aliases.yml
+    - ansible-test-github-actions.yml
+    - configlookupfix.yml
+    - pyyaml-name.yml
+    release_date: '2026-03-16'
diff --git a/changelogs/fragments/2.19.8rc1_summary.yaml b/changelogs/fragments/2.19.8rc1_summary.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..f43e38e495a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelogs/fragments/2.19.8rc1_summary.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+release_summary: |
+   | Release Date: 2026-03-16
+   | `Porting Guide <https://docs.ansible.com/ansible-core/2.19/porting_guides/porting_guide_core_2.19.html>`__
diff --git a/lib/ansible/release.py b/lib/ansible/release.py
index ede5650d31d..a66b026699e 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/release.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/release.py
@@ -17,6 +17,6 @@
 
 from __future__ import annotations
 
-__version__ = '2.19.7.post0'
+__version__ = '2.19.8rc1'
 __author__ = 'Ansible, Inc.'
 __codename__ = "What Is and What Should Never Be"
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index ff86aaaaf1c..a7ec90ae71c 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 [build-system]
-requires = ["setuptools >= 66.1.0, <= 82.0.0", "wheel == 0.45.1"]  # lower bound to support controller Python versions, upper bound for latest version tested at release
+requires = ["setuptools >= 66.1.0, <= 82.0.1", "wheel == 0.45.1"]  # lower bound to support controller Python versions, upper bound for latest version tested at release
 build-backend = "setuptools.build_meta"
 
 [project]