diff --git a/.github/workflows/audit.yaml b/.github/workflows/audit.yaml
index 81ca89d2..b9882d8c 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/audit.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/audit.yaml
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ jobs:
         && github.event.pull_request.draft == false
     steps:
       - name: Checkout repo 🛎
-        uses: actions/checkout@v3
+        uses: actions/checkout@v4
 
       - name: Normalize inputs 🛠️
         id: normalizer
diff --git a/.github/workflows/bioccheck.yaml b/.github/workflows/bioccheck.yaml
index 03aa5d19..4284a8e1 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/bioccheck.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/bioccheck.yaml
@@ -90,7 +90,7 @@ jobs:
 
       - name: Get branch names 🌿
         id: branch-name
-        uses: tj-actions/branch-names@v6
+        uses: tj-actions/branch-names@v7
 
       - name: Checkout repo (PR) 🛎
         uses: actions/checkout@v3
@@ -101,7 +101,7 @@ jobs:
           repository: ${{ github.event.pull_request.head.repo.full_name }}
 
       - name: Checkout repo 🛎
-        uses: actions/checkout@v3
+        uses: actions/checkout@v4
         if: github.event_name != 'pull_request'
         with:
           ref: ${{ steps.branch-name.outputs.head_ref_branch }}
diff --git a/.github/workflows/branch-cleanup.yaml b/.github/workflows/branch-cleanup.yaml
index 4a11ecb3..f9b09b25 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/branch-cleanup.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/branch-cleanup.yaml
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ jobs:
         shell: bash
 
       - name: Checkout Code 🛎
-        uses: actions/checkout@v3
+        uses: actions/checkout@v4
 
       - name: Cleanup branches 🌿
         uses: phpdocker-io/github-actions-delete-abandoned-branches@v1
diff --git a/.github/workflows/build-check-install.yaml b/.github/workflows/build-check-install.yaml
index c7d934de..3b4418dd 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/build-check-install.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/build-check-install.yaml
@@ -203,14 +203,14 @@ jobs:
 
       - name: Get branch names 🌿
         id: branch-name
-        uses: tj-actions/branch-names@v6
+        uses: tj-actions/branch-names@v7
 
       - name: Checkout gh-pages 🛎
         if: >-
           inputs.publish-unit-test-report-gh-pages == true
             && github.event_name != 'pull_request'
         id: checkout-gh-pages
-        uses: actions/checkout@v3
+        uses: actions/checkout@v4
         with:
           ref: gh-pages
           path: gh-pages
@@ -275,10 +275,10 @@ jobs:
         if: >-
           inputs.publish-unit-test-report-gh-pages == true
             && github.event_name != 'pull_request'
-        uses: actions/setup-node@v3
+        uses: actions/setup-node@v4
         id: npm-cache
         with:
-          node-version: 18
+          node-version: 20
 
       - name: Install xunit-viewer ⚙️
         if: >-
@@ -289,7 +289,7 @@ jobs:
         shell: bash
 
       - name: Checkout repo (PR) 🛎
-        uses: actions/checkout@v3
+        uses: actions/checkout@v4
         if: github.event_name == 'pull_request'
         with:
           ref: ${{ steps.branch-name.outputs.head_ref_branch }}
@@ -297,7 +297,7 @@ jobs:
           repository: ${{ github.event.pull_request.head.repo.full_name }}
 
       - name: Checkout repo 🛎
-        uses: actions/checkout@v3
+        uses: actions/checkout@v4
         if: github.event_name != 'pull_request'
         with:
           ref: ${{ steps.branch-name.outputs.head_ref_branch }}
@@ -443,7 +443,7 @@ jobs:
 
       - name: Fetch report from ${{ env.junit_xml_storage }} ⤵️
         if: env.junit_xml_comparison == 'true'
-        uses: actions/checkout@v3
+        uses: actions/checkout@v4
         with:
           path: ${{ env.junit_xml_storage }}
           fetch-depth: 0
@@ -812,7 +812,7 @@ jobs:
         && github.event.pull_request.draft == false
     steps:
       - name: Checkout repo 🛎
-        uses: actions/checkout@v3
+        uses: actions/checkout@v4
 
       - name: Get package build filename 📦
         run: |
diff --git a/.github/workflows/gitleaks.yaml b/.github/workflows/gitleaks.yaml
index a00802d0..7b791fe0 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/gitleaks.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/gitleaks.yaml
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ jobs:
         && github.event.pull_request.draft == false
     steps:
       - name: Checkout repo 🛎
-        uses: actions/checkout@v3
+        uses: actions/checkout@v4
 
       - name: Download and install gitleaks 💧
         run: |
@@ -55,7 +55,7 @@ jobs:
             (echo "Error moving gitleaks for /usr/bin" && exit 1)
         shell: bash
         env:
-          GITLEAKS_VERSION: "8.16.3"
+          GITLEAKS_VERSION: "8.18.1"
 
       - name: Run gitleaks ☔
         run: gitleaks -v detect --no-git ${{ inputs.additional-args }} --source .
@@ -70,7 +70,7 @@ jobs:
         && inputs.check-for-pii == true
     steps:
       - name: Checkout repo 🛎
-        uses: actions/checkout@v3
+        uses: actions/checkout@v4
         with:
           fetch-depth: 0
 
diff --git a/.github/workflows/grammar.yaml b/.github/workflows/grammar.yaml
index 46788fe1..07ae221b 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/grammar.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/grammar.yaml
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ jobs:
 
     steps:
       - name: Checkout Code 🛎
-        uses: actions/checkout@v3
+        uses: actions/checkout@v4
 
       - name: Restore npm cache 💰
         uses: actions/cache@v3
@@ -54,7 +54,7 @@ jobs:
         uses: actions/setup-node@v3
         id: npm-cache
         with:
-          node-version: 18
+          node-version: 20
 
       - name: Install write-good and deps ⏬
         if: steps.npm-cache.outputs.cache-hit != 'true'
@@ -63,7 +63,7 @@ jobs:
 
       - name: Get changed files 🗞
         id: changed-files
-        uses: tj-actions/changed-files@v37
+        uses: tj-actions/changed-files@v40
         with:
           separator: ","
           files: |
@@ -75,7 +75,7 @@ jobs:
             **.md
 
       - name: Run write-good 🏃‍♀️
-        uses: actions/github-script@v6
+        uses: actions/github-script@v7
         with:
           github-token: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
           script: |
diff --git a/.github/workflows/licenses.yaml b/.github/workflows/licenses.yaml
index 50572612..4daa53ea 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/licenses.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/licenses.yaml
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ jobs:
         && github.event.pull_request.draft == false
     steps:
       - name: Checkout repo 🛎
-        uses: actions/checkout@v3
+        uses: actions/checkout@v4
 
       - name: Generate license report 📜
         uses: insightsengineering/r-license-report@v1
diff --git a/.github/workflows/links.yaml b/.github/workflows/links.yaml
index 4e763bc3..3a1e664e 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/links.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/links.yaml
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ jobs:
         && github.event.pull_request.draft == false
     steps:
       - name: Checkout repo 🛎
-        uses: actions/checkout@v3
+        uses: actions/checkout@v4
 
       - name: Check URLs in docs 🔬
         uses: lycheeverse/lychee-action@v1.8.0
diff --git a/.github/workflows/linter.yaml b/.github/workflows/linter.yaml
index 9932dc95..9fa94821 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/linter.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/linter.yaml
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ jobs:
         && github.event.pull_request.draft == false
     steps:
       - name: Checkout repo 🛎
-        uses: actions/checkout@v3
+        uses: actions/checkout@v4
         with:
           fetch-depth: 0
 
@@ -92,7 +92,7 @@ jobs:
       image: ghcr.io/insightsengineering/rstudio:latest
     steps:
       - name: Checkout repo 🛎
-        uses: actions/checkout@v3
+        uses: actions/checkout@v4
         with:
           fetch-depth: 0
 
diff --git a/.github/workflows/pkgdown.yaml b/.github/workflows/pkgdown.yaml
index 4f263880..5480e3f3 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/pkgdown.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/pkgdown.yaml
@@ -143,7 +143,7 @@ jobs:
 
       - name: Get branch names 🌿
         id: branch-name
-        uses: tj-actions/branch-names@v6
+        uses: tj-actions/branch-names@v7
 
       - name: Get current branch or tag 🏷️
         id: current-branch-or-tag
@@ -158,7 +158,7 @@ jobs:
         shell: bash
 
       - name: Checkout repo (PR) 🛎
-        uses: actions/checkout@v3
+        uses: actions/checkout@v4
         if: github.event_name == 'pull_request'
         with:
           ref: ${{ steps.branch-name.outputs.head_ref_branch }}
@@ -166,7 +166,7 @@ jobs:
           repository: ${{ github.event.pull_request.head.repo.full_name }}
 
       - name: Checkout repo 🛎
-        uses: actions/checkout@v3
+        uses: actions/checkout@v4
         if: github.event_name != 'pull_request'
         with:
           ref: ${{ steps.branch-name.outputs.head_ref_branch }}
@@ -227,7 +227,7 @@ jobs:
 
       - name: Checkout gh-pages 🛎
         if: startsWith(github.ref, 'refs/tags/v') || github.event_name == 'push'
-        uses: actions/checkout@v3
+        uses: actions/checkout@v4
         with:
           path: "gh-pages"
           fetch-depth: 0
@@ -284,7 +284,7 @@ jobs:
         && !contains(github.event.commits[0].message, '[skip docs]')
     steps:
       - name: Checkout repo 🛎
-        uses: actions/checkout@v3
+        uses: actions/checkout@v4
         with:
           path: ${{ github.event.repository.name }}
           ref: "gh-pages"
@@ -308,7 +308,7 @@ jobs:
         && !contains(github.event.commits[0].message, '[skip docs]')
     steps:
       - name: Checkout repo 🛎
-        uses: actions/checkout@v3
+        uses: actions/checkout@v4
 
       - name: Download artifact ⏬
         uses: actions/download-artifact@v3
diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yaml b/.github/workflows/release.yaml
index 5280e414..6c0bc86d 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yaml
@@ -49,11 +49,11 @@ jobs:
         shell: bash
 
       - name: Checkout repo 🛎
-        uses: actions/checkout@v3
+        uses: actions/checkout@v4
 
       - name: Get branch names 🌿
         id: branch-name
-        uses: tj-actions/branch-names@v6
+        uses: tj-actions/branch-names@v7
 
       - name: Check if running for rc tag 🏷️
         id: rc-tag
diff --git a/.github/workflows/roxygen.yaml b/.github/workflows/roxygen.yaml
index 6a7c363f..604b26a3 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/roxygen.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/roxygen.yaml
@@ -76,10 +76,10 @@ jobs:
 
       - name: Get branch names 🌿
         id: branch-name
-        uses: tj-actions/branch-names@v6
+        uses: tj-actions/branch-names@v7
 
       - name: Checkout repo (PR) 🛎
-        uses: actions/checkout@v3
+        uses: actions/checkout@v4
         if: github.event_name == 'pull_request'
         with:
           ref: ${{ steps.branch-name.outputs.head_ref_branch }}
@@ -87,7 +87,7 @@ jobs:
           repository: ${{ github.event.pull_request.head.repo.full_name }}
 
       - name: Checkout repo 🛎
-        uses: actions/checkout@v3
+        uses: actions/checkout@v4
         if: github.event_name != 'pull_request'
         with:
           ref: ${{ steps.branch-name.outputs.head_ref_branch }}
diff --git a/.github/workflows/spelling.yaml b/.github/workflows/spelling.yaml
index 94a9a5a7..305a8773 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/spelling.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/spelling.yaml
@@ -59,7 +59,7 @@ jobs:
         shell: bash
 
       - name: Checkout Code 🛎
-        uses: actions/checkout@v3
+        uses: actions/checkout@v4
         with:
           token: ${{ steps.github-token.outputs.token }}
 
@@ -110,11 +110,11 @@ jobs:
 
       - name: Commit and push changes 📌
         if: github.event_name == 'push'
-        uses: stefanzweifel/git-auto-commit-action@v4
+        uses: stefanzweifel/git-auto-commit-action@v5
         with:
           commit_message: "[skip actions] Update WORDLIST"
           file_pattern: "${{ steps.file-pattern.outputs.file-pattern }}"
-          commit_user_name: insights-engineering-bot
+          commit_user_name: github-actions
           commit_user_email: >-
-            68416928+insights-engineering-bot@users.noreply.github.com
+            41898282+github-actions[bot]@users.noreply.github.com
         continue-on-error: true
diff --git a/.github/workflows/style.yaml b/.github/workflows/style.yaml
index 227533f7..4ee96170 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/style.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/style.yaml
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ jobs:
 
     steps:
       - name: Checkout Code 🛎
-        uses: actions/checkout@v3
+        uses: actions/checkout@v4
         with:
           path: ${{ github.event.repository.name }}
           fetch-depth: 0
@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@ jobs:
       - name: Get branch names 🌿
         if: inputs.auto-update
         id: branch-name
-        uses: tj-actions/branch-names@v6
+        uses: tj-actions/branch-names@v7
 
       - name: Install styler 👚
         run: |
@@ -60,7 +60,7 @@ jobs:
 
       - name: Get changed files 🗞
         id: changed-files
-        uses: tj-actions/changed-files@v35
+        uses: tj-actions/changed-files@v40
         with:
           path: ${{ github.event.repository.name }}
           separator: ","
diff --git a/.github/workflows/test-coverage.yaml b/.github/workflows/test-coverage.yaml
index da4f1016..f8f67044 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/test-coverage.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/test-coverage.yaml
@@ -123,14 +123,14 @@ jobs:
 
       - name: Get branch names 🌿
         id: branch-name
-        uses: tj-actions/branch-names@v6
+        uses: tj-actions/branch-names@v7
 
       - name: Checkout gh-pages 🛎
         if: >-
           github.event_name != 'pull_request'
             && inputs.publish-coverage-report-gh-pages == true
         id: checkout-gh-pages
-        uses: actions/checkout@v3
+        uses: actions/checkout@v4
         with:
           ref: gh-pages
           path: gh-pages
@@ -166,7 +166,7 @@ jobs:
         shell: bash
 
       - name: Checkout repo (PR) 🛎
-        uses: actions/checkout@v3
+        uses: actions/checkout@v4
         if: github.event_name == 'pull_request'
         with:
           ref: ${{ steps.branch-name.outputs.head_ref_branch }}
@@ -174,7 +174,7 @@ jobs:
           repository: ${{ github.event.pull_request.head.repo.full_name }}
 
       - name: Checkout repo 🛎
-        uses: actions/checkout@v3
+        uses: actions/checkout@v4
         if: github.event_name != 'pull_request'
         with:
           ref: ${{ steps.branch-name.outputs.head_ref_branch }}
@@ -303,10 +303,10 @@ jobs:
     steps:
       - name: Get branch names 🌿
         id: branch-name
-        uses: tj-actions/branch-names@v6
+        uses: tj-actions/branch-names@v7
 
       - name: Checkout repo 🛎
-        uses: actions/checkout@v3
+        uses: actions/checkout@v4
         with:
           ref: ${{ steps.branch-name.outputs.head_ref_branch }}
           path: ${{ github.event.repository.name }}
diff --git a/.github/workflows/validation.yaml b/.github/workflows/validation.yaml
index 64241ddc..ef13ec1b 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/validation.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/validation.yaml
@@ -75,7 +75,7 @@ jobs:
         shell: bash
 
       - name: Checkout repo 🛎
-        uses: actions/checkout@v3
+        uses: actions/checkout@v4
 
       - name: Normalize variables 📏
         run: |
@@ -121,7 +121,7 @@ jobs:
     if: startsWith(github.ref, 'refs/tags/v')
     steps:
       - name: Checkout repo 🛎
-        uses: actions/checkout@v3
+        uses: actions/checkout@v4
 
       - name: Download artifact ⏬
         uses: actions/download-artifact@v3
diff --git a/.github/workflows/verdepcheck.yaml b/.github/workflows/verdepcheck.yaml
index d589557d..d4d56b3c 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/verdepcheck.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/verdepcheck.yaml
@@ -63,7 +63,7 @@ jobs:
         shell: bash
 
       - name: Checkout Code 🛎
-        uses: actions/checkout@v3
+        uses: actions/checkout@v4
 
       - name: Normalize variables 📏
         run: |
diff --git a/.github/workflows/version-bump.yaml b/.github/workflows/version-bump.yaml
index 02c4798e..11faf3dc 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/version-bump.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/version-bump.yaml
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ jobs:
         contains(github.event.head_commit.message, '[skip vbump]')
       )
     container:
-      image: docker.io/rocker/tidyverse:4.3.1
+      image: docker.io/rocker/tidyverse:latest
 
     steps:
       - name: Setup token 🔑
@@ -57,7 +57,7 @@ jobs:
         shell: bash
 
       - name: Checkout repo 🛎
-        uses: actions/checkout@v3
+        uses: actions/checkout@v4
         with:
           token: ${{ steps.github-token.outputs.token }}
 
@@ -77,8 +77,8 @@ jobs:
           if [ -f NEWS.md ]
           then {
             git config --global --add safe.directory $(pwd)
-            DESC_VERSION=$(R --slave -e 'cat(paste(desc::desc_get_version()))' | tr -d '\n')
-            NEWS_VERSION=$(awk '/^#+ /{print $3,$4; exit}' NEWS.md | tr -d '\n')
+            DESC_VERSION=$(R --slave -e 'cat(paste(desc::desc_get_version()))' | tr -d '\n' | xargs)
+            NEWS_VERSION=$(awk '/^#+ /{print $3,$4; exit}' NEWS.md | tr -d '\n' | xargs)
             FIRST_NEWS_LINE=$(head -1 NEWS.md)
             if [ "${{ inputs.vbump-after-release }}" == "true" ]; then
               # Add a new section with the released version that will be vbumped below.
@@ -87,7 +87,7 @@ jobs:
             fi
             # Replace only the first occurence of $NEWS_VERSION,
             # but only if it's not already set to (development version)
-            if [ "${NEWS_VERSION}" != "(development version)" ]
+            if [ $NEWS_VERSION != "(development version)" ]
             then {
               sed -i "0,/$NEWS_VERSION/s/$NEWS_VERSION/$DESC_VERSION/" NEWS.md
             }
@@ -110,7 +110,7 @@ jobs:
             steps.precommit-config-exists.outputs.files_exists == 'true'
         uses: actions/setup-python@v4
         with:
-          python-version: '3.11'
+          python-version: '3.12'
 
       - name: Precommit autoupdate 🅿️
         if: |
@@ -148,7 +148,7 @@ jobs:
         with:
           commit_message: "[skip actions] Bump version to ${{ env.NEW_PKG_VERSION }}"
           file_pattern: "${{ steps.file-pattern.outputs.file-pattern }}"
-          commit_user_name: insights-engineering-bot
+          commit_user_name: github-actions
           commit_user_email: >-
-            68416928+insights-engineering-bot@users.noreply.github.com
+            41898282+github-actions[bot]@users.noreply.github.com
         continue-on-error: true
diff --git a/.github/workflows/version.yaml b/.github/workflows/version.yaml
index c8b3a429..27a6a11e 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/version.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/version.yaml
@@ -35,12 +35,12 @@ jobs:
         && github.event.pull_request.draft == false
     steps:
       - name: Checkout repo 🛎
-        uses: actions/checkout@v3
+        uses: actions/checkout@v4
 
       - name: NEWS.md and DESCRIPTION Version check 🏁
         run: |
-          DESC_VERSION=$(awk -F: '/Version:/{gsub(/[ ]+/,"") ; print $2}' DESCRIPTION | tr -d '\n')
-          NEWS_VERSION=$(awk '/^#+ /{print $3,$4; exit}' NEWS.md | tr -d '\n')
+          DESC_VERSION=$(awk -F: '/Version:/{gsub(/[ ]+/,"") ; print $2}' DESCRIPTION | tr -d '\n' | xargs)
+          NEWS_VERSION=$(awk '/^#+ /{print $3,$4; exit}' NEWS.md | tr -d '\n' | xargs)
           DESC_DEV_VERSION=$(echo $DESC_VERSION | awk -F '.' '{print $NF}')
           echo "NEWS.md version: $NEWS_VERSION"
           echo "DESCRIPTION version: $DESC_VERSION"
@@ -71,12 +71,12 @@ jobs:
         && github.event.pull_request.draft == false
     steps:
       - name: Checkout repo 🛎
-        uses: actions/checkout@v3
+        uses: actions/checkout@v4
 
       - name: Set up Python 🐍
         uses: actions/setup-python@v4
         with:
-          python-version: 3.11
+          python-version: '3.12'
 
       - name: Install the regex package 📦
         uses: insightsengineering/pip-action@v2
diff --git a/NEWS.md b/NEWS.md
index 857e0444..14236bbe 100644
--- a/NEWS.md
+++ b/NEWS.md
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-# r.pkg.template 0.1.0.9130
+# r.pkg.template 0.1.0.9131
 
 ### New features