🍓 0.256.0

This release drops support for Python 3.8, which reached its end-of-life (EOL)
in October 2024. The minimum supported Python version is now 3.9.

We strongly recommend upgrading to Python 3.9 or a newer version, as older
versions are no longer maintained and may contain security vulnerabilities.

Releases contributed by @bellini666 via #3730