Hi Ben,

towncrier is a key package which makes it build dependencies also key
packages. This could be lifted by annotating test only dependencies with
nocheck. I tested the following patch:
--- a/debian/control
+++ b/debian/control
@@ -3,15 +3,15 @@ Maintainer: Ben Finney <bignose@debian.org>
 Section: devel
 Build-Depends-Indep:
     furo,
-    git,
-    mercurial,
+    git <!nocheck>,
+    mercurial <!nocheck>,
     pybuild-plugin-pyproject,
     python3-click,
     python3-click-default-group,
     python3-hatchling,
     python3-incremental,
     python3-jinja2,
-    python3-pytest,
+    python3-pytest <!nocheck>,
     python3-twisted <!nocheck>,
     python3
 Build-Depends:


Could you please apply and upload it?

Thanks!

Jochen

Control: tags -1 confirmed pending

Thank you, I have now incorporated this change. It will be part of the next
package release.

We believe that the bug you reported is fixed in the latest version of
towncrier, which is due to be installed in the Debian FTP archive.

A summary of the changes between this version and the previous one is
attached.

Thank you for reporting the bug, which will now be closed.  If you
have further comments please address them to 1149999@bugs.debian.org,
and the maintainer will reopen the bug report if appropriate.

Debian distribution maintenance software
pp.
Ben Finney <bignose@debian.org> (supplier of updated towncrier package)

(This message was generated automatically at their request; if you
believe that there is a problem with it please contact the archive
administrators by mailing ftpmaster@ftp-master.debian.org)
Format: 1.8
Date: Sat, 10 Oct 2026 11:25:27 +1100
Source: towncrier
Architecture: source
Version: 26.9.0-1
Distribution: unstable
Urgency: medium
Maintainer: Ben Finney <bignose@debian.org>
Changed-By: Ben Finney <bignose@debian.org>
Closes: 1143147 1149999
Changes:
 towncrier (26.9.0-1) unstable; urgency=medium
 .
   * The “Nourah bin Saeed al-Qahtani” release.
   * New upstream version.
     Highlights since previous release:
     * Support for Reproducible Builds, via `SOURCE_DATE_EPOCH` variable.
       Closes: bug#1143147. Thanks to Chris Lamb for the report.
     * Wrapped line length can now be configured, via `wrap` setting.
     * Access a specific fragment by its sub-issue index, with `--sub-issue`
       option.
 .
   [ Jochen Sprickerhof ]
   * debian/control:
     * Mark “Build-Depends” that are needed only for testing.
       Closes: bug#1149999.
       Thanks to Jochen Sprickerhof for the report and implementation.
   * debian/patches/unix-timestamp-is-utc.patch:
     * Interpret Unix timestamp in UTC time zone.
 .
   [ Ben Finney ]
   * debian/README.source:
     * Document policy on use of Generative AI.
   * debian/control:
     * Correct binary package synopsis descriptions.
     * Declare “Build-Depends” on all available Python versions.
   * debian/watch:
     * Declare that upstream releases have no OpenPGP signature.
   * debian/source/lintian-overrides:
     * Override false positive check for upstream release OpenPGP signature.
   * debian/patches/test-current-version-in-output.patch:
     * Remove patch now incorporated upstream.
Checksums-Sha1:
 8779d26cbfe86b81624c16d6b52e22e5aa72f1cb 3268 towncrier_26.9.0-1.dsc
 73cd88bd068de22cfbebf857c60662f2f50af669 79338 towncrier_26.9.0.orig.tar.gz
 3369d1c7a2ef676b1e665aa6d3d1880110f7c95e 17272 towncrier_26.9.0-1.debian.tar.xz
 ad317b09a8337bf4ef7324c63e5745000647ddae 9493 towncrier_26.9.0-1_amd64.buildinfo
Checksums-Sha256:
 285cdf58d9f01733259281c2290ed2f5df4f32d26752a9ef319737d5e0b6e872 3268 towncrier_26.9.0-1.dsc
 ace9031631c718cc0709107b8755e6e31350eb8acdc877af43df3177addb9a55 79338 towncrier_26.9.0.orig.tar.gz
 3efad3d865d96b845470e1c8fae952bcaa8dc1bb6b3bdcff3ee76c8e8f8293c7 17272 towncrier_26.9.0-1.debian.tar.xz
 a775dfc3484fe411659defa87ef5bd6975085a338b50dfc4c420930c730bf652 9493 towncrier_26.9.0-1_amd64.buildinfo
Files:
 3b4b8fe440df3e2dedfa73ee3b2c3fbd 3268 devel optional towncrier_26.9.0-1.dsc
 c3e7564be46f40c108ce671e6e930456 79338 devel optional towncrier_26.9.0.orig.tar.gz
 678986393e0e82bcb6d52157b826eca8 17272 devel optional towncrier_26.9.0-1.debian.tar.xz
 ba29d6345831d820dfcd612291990375 9493 devel optional towncrier_26.9.0-1_amd64.buildinfo
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