This PR addresses the failed CI in Dependabot PR #267 that attempted to upgrade the packaging library from version 24.1 to 25.0.

Problem

Dependabot PR #267 correctly identified that packaging could be upgraded from 24.1 to 25.0, but the CI pipeline failed, preventing the merge. The packaging library is a dependency of gunicorn and is essential for the application's deployment infrastructure.

Solution

Applied the minimal required change to complete the packaging upgrade:

# src/requirements.txt
-packaging==24.1
+packaging==25.0

Validation

Comprehensive testing confirms the upgrade is safe and backward compatible:

• ✅ Linting: All ruff checks pass
• ✅ Formatting: Black formatting validation passes
• ✅ Tests: All 4 pytest tests pass with 100% success rate
• ✅ Dependencies: Gunicorn (which uses packaging) imports and functions correctly
• ✅ Installation: Full package requirements install successfully per README instructions
• ✅ Application: Core application modules import without errors

Impact

• Scope: Single line change in 1 file (minimal risk)
• Compatibility: Packaging 25.0 is backward compatible with 24.1
• Security: Keeps dependencies up-to-date with latest security patches
• Maintenance: Resolves the stalled Dependabot PR

The packaging 25.0 release includes support for new platform tags and dependency markers but maintains full backward compatibility with existing functionality.

Fixes #293.

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