Release v0.5.0: Async tape storage

Key Changes

1. Added opt-in Responses API mode

LLM now supports use_responses: bool = False for explicit Responses mode.

• When enabled (and supported by the provider), non-stream requests use the Responses API.
• Added internal conversion from chat/tool history to Responses input items.
• Tool-call extraction now supports both completion-style and responses-style payloads.

Files involved:

• src/republic/llm.py
• src/republic/core/execution.py
• src/republic/clients/chat.py
• tests/test_responses_handling.py

2. Tape subsystem refactored for async support

Tape management now supports both sync and async paths, including async storage and context lifecycle.

• Added AsyncTapeStore protocol.
• Added AsyncTapeStoreAdapter to wrap sync stores for async usage.
• Added AsyncTapeManager for async read/write/handoff/record flows.
• TapeQuery is now generic and supports await query.all() for async stores.
• Tape session now provides async tape methods: read_messages_async, append_async, reset_async, handoff_async.

Files involved:

• src/republic/tape/store.py
• src/republic/tape/manager.py
• src/republic/tape/query.py
• src/republic/tape/session.py
• src/republic/tape/__init__.py

3. Expanded top-level exports for async tape types

republic top-level exports now include:

• AsyncTapeManager
• AsyncTapeStore

Files involved:

• src/republic/__init__.py

4. Reliability and release pipeline fixes

• Fixed TapeEntry.copy() to preserve timestamp during copies.
• Fixed docs deployment workflow permissions by adding contents: write to deploy-docs and updating actions/checkout version.

Files involved:

• src/republic/tape/entries.py
• .github/workflows/on-release-main.yml

Behavior Changes and Upgrade Notes

AsyncTapeStore with sync APIs

When tape_store is an AsyncTapeStore, sync APIs with tape=... raise ErrorPayload.

Use async APIs instead:

• chat_async
• tool_calls_async
• run_tools_async
• stream_async
• stream_events_async

LLM direct tape helpers moved behind session objects

LLM no longer directly exposes:

• tapes()
• handoff(...)
• read_messages(...)
• query(...)
• reset_tape(...)

Migration: use operations on the session returned by llm.tape("<name>").

Documentation Updates

• docs/guides/tape.md now includes Async Tape Store usage and sync/async behavior rules.

Commit List

• 2d330aa fix: add permissions for contents write in deploy-docs job
• edd9400 chore: bump version to 0.5.0 in pyproject.toml, about.py, and uv.lock
• 4ffea2d feat: Refactor tape management to support asynchronous operations (#19)
• 04525fb fix: import time and include timestamp in TapeEntry copy method
• b9069a5 feat: add opt-in Responses API mode (#18)

Upgrade Checklist

• If you use an async tape backend, migrate tape-related calls to async APIs.
• If you relied on removed LLM tape helpers, migrate to llm.tape(name).
• Enable Responses behavior explicitly with LLM(..., use_responses=True) when needed.