diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes
index ade44ab7c..040321c04 100644
--- a/.gitattributes
+++ b/.gitattributes
@@ -1 +1,2 @@
 tableauserverclient/_version.py export-subst
+tableauserverclient/bin/_version.py export-subst
diff --git a/.github/workflows/publish-pypi.yml b/.github/workflows/publish-pypi.yml
index cae0f409c..052113e7c 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/publish-pypi.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/publish-pypi.yml
@@ -1,9 +1,12 @@
 name: Publish to PyPi
 
-# This will publish a package to TestPyPi (and real Pypi if run on master) with a version
-# number generated by versioneer from the most recent tag looking like v____
-# TODO: maybe move this into the package job so all release-based actions are together
+# This will build a package with a version set by versioneer from the most recent tag matching v____
+# It will publish to TestPyPi, and to real Pypi *if* run on master where head has a release tag
+# For a live run, this should only need to be triggered by a newly published repo release. 
+# This can also be run manually for testing
 on:
+  release:
+    types: [published]
   workflow_dispatch:
   push:
     tags:
@@ -23,7 +26,7 @@ jobs:
       - name: Build dist files
         run: |
           python -m pip install --upgrade pip
-          pip install -e .[test] build
+          python -m pip install -e .[test] build
           python -m build
           git describe --tag --dirty --always
           
diff --git a/MANIFEST.in b/MANIFEST.in
index 9b7512fb9..7acbed103 100644
--- a/MANIFEST.in
+++ b/MANIFEST.in
@@ -4,8 +4,6 @@ include CONTRIBUTORS.md
 include LICENSE
 include LICENSE.versioneer
 include README.md
-include tableauserverclient/_version.py
-include versioneer.py
 recursive-include docs *.md
 recursive-include samples *.py
 recursive-include samples *.txt
@@ -18,5 +16,4 @@ recursive-include test *.png
 recursive-include test *.py
 recursive-include test *.xml
 recursive-include test *.tde
-global-include *.pyi
 global-include *.typed
diff --git a/publish.sh b/publish.sh
deleted file mode 100755
index 46d54a1ee..000000000
--- a/publish.sh
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,11 +0,0 @@
-#!/usr/bin/env bash
-
-# tag the release version and confirm a clean version number
-git tag vxxxx
-git describe --tag --dirty --always 
-
-set -e
-
-rm -rf dist
-python setup.py sdist bdist_wheel
-twine upload dist/*
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index 68f7589ca..3118182cb 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 [build-system]
-requires = ["setuptools>=75.0", "versioneer[toml]==0.29", "wheel"]
+requires = ["setuptools>=77.0", "versioneer[toml]==0.29", "wheel"]
 build-backend = "setuptools.build_meta"
 
 [project]
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ name="tableauserverclient"
 dynamic = ["version"]
 description='A Python module for working with the Tableau Server REST API.'
 authors = [{name="Tableau", email="github@tableau.com"}]
-license = {file = "LICENSE"}
+license-files = ["LICENSE"]
 readme = "README.md"
 
 dependencies = [
@@ -35,6 +35,12 @@ repository = "https://github.com/tableau/server-client-python"
 test = ["black==24.8", "build", "mypy==1.4", "pytest>=7.0", "pytest-cov", "pytest-subtests",
     "requests-mock>=1.0,<2.0"]
 
+[tool.setuptools.packages.find]
+where = ["tableauserverclient", "tableauserverclient.helpers", "tableauserverclient.models", "tableauserverclient.server", "tableauserverclient.server.endpoint"]
+
+[tool.setuptools.dynamic]
+version = {attr = "versioneer.get_version"}
+
 [tool.black]
 line-length = 120
 target-version = ['py39', 'py310', 'py311', 'py312', 'py313']
@@ -61,5 +67,5 @@ addopts = "--junitxml=./test.junit.xml"
 VCS = "git"
 style = "pep440-pre"
 versionfile_source = "tableauserverclient/bin/_version.py"
-versionfile_build = "tableauserverclient/bin/_version.py"
+versionfile_build = "_version.py"
 tag_prefix = "v"
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index bdce51f2e..b52ba267e 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -2,14 +2,7 @@
 from setuptools import setup
 
 setup(
-    version=versioneer.get_version(),
-    cmdclass=versioneer.get_cmdclass(),
-    # not yet sure how to move this to pyproject.toml
-    packages=[
-        "tableauserverclient",
-        "tableauserverclient.helpers",
-        "tableauserverclient.models",
-        "tableauserverclient.server",
-        "tableauserverclient.server.endpoint",
-    ],
+    # This line is required to set the version number when building the wheel
+    # not yet sure how to move this to pyproject.toml - it may require work in versioneer
+    cmdclass=versioneer.get_cmdclass()
 )
diff --git a/tableauserverclient/__init__.py b/tableauserverclient/__init__.py
index 21e2c4760..6de77943a 100644
--- a/tableauserverclient/__init__.py
+++ b/tableauserverclient/__init__.py
@@ -139,7 +139,3 @@
     "WeeklyInterval",
     "WorkbookItem",
 ]
-
-from .bin import _version
-
-__version__ = _version.get_versions()["version"]
diff --git a/tableauserverclient/bin/__init__.py b/tableauserverclient/bin/__init__.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..e4605a43b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tableauserverclient/bin/__init__.py
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+# generated during initial setup of versioneer
+from . import _version
+__version__ = _version.get_versions()['version']
diff --git a/tableauserverclient/bin/_version.py b/tableauserverclient/bin/_version.py
index f23819e86..680304c7d 100644
--- a/tableauserverclient/bin/_version.py
+++ b/tableauserverclient/bin/_version.py
@@ -46,14 +46,13 @@ class VersioneerConfig:
 
 def get_config() -> VersioneerConfig:
     """Create, populate and return the VersioneerConfig() object."""
-    # these strings are filled in when 'setup.py versioneer' creates
-    # _version.py
+    # these strings are filled in from pyproject.toml at file generation time
     cfg = VersioneerConfig()
     cfg.VCS = "git"
     cfg.style = "pep440-pre"
     cfg.tag_prefix = "v"
     cfg.parentdir_prefix = "None"
-    cfg.versionfile_source = "tableauserverclient/_version.py"
+    cfg.versionfile_source = "tableauserverclient/bin/_version.py"
     cfg.verbose = False
     return cfg
 
diff --git a/tableauserverclient/models/column_item.py b/tableauserverclient/models/column_item.py
index 3a7416e28..9691bbef1 100644
--- a/tableauserverclient/models/column_item.py
+++ b/tableauserverclient/models/column_item.py
@@ -4,13 +4,13 @@
 
 
 class ColumnItem:
-    def __init__(self, name, description=None):
+    def __init__(self, name=None, description=None):
         self._id = None
         self.description = description
-        self.name = name
+        self._name = name
 
     def __repr__(self):
-        return f"<{self.__class__.__name__} {self._id} {self.name} {self.description}>"
+        return f"<{self.__class__.__name__} {self._id} {self._name} {self.description}>"
 
     @property
     def id(self):
diff --git a/test/http/__init__.py b/test/http/__init__.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..e69de29bb
diff --git a/test/models/__init__.py b/test/models/__init__.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..e69de29bb
diff --git a/test/models/test_repr.py b/test/models/test_repr.py
index 92d11978f..ed8f5ce9b 100644
--- a/test/models/test_repr.py
+++ b/test/models/test_repr.py
@@ -1,14 +1,13 @@
 import inspect
 
 from unittest import TestCase
-import _models  # type: ignore  # did not set types for this
+import tableauserverclient.models as TSC_models  # type: ignore  # did not set types for this
 import tableauserverclient as TSC
 
 from typing import Any
 
 
-# ensure that all models that don't need parameters can be instantiated
-# todo....
+# ensure that all models can be instantiated
 def instantiate_class(name: str, obj: Any):
     # Get the constructor (init) of the class
     constructor = getattr(obj, "__init__", None)
@@ -31,14 +30,38 @@ def instantiate_class(name: str, obj: Any):
         print(f"Class '{name}' does not have a constructor (__init__ method).")
 
 
+not_yet_done = [
+    "DQWItem",
+    "UnpopulatedPropertyError",
+    "FavoriteItem",
+    "FileuploadItem",
+    "FlowRunItem",
+    "IntervalItem",
+    "LinkedTaskItem",
+    "LinkedTaskStepItem",
+    "LinkedTaskFlowRunItem",
+    "Permission",
+    "SiteAuthConfiguration",
+    "Resource",
+    "TagItem",
+    "ExtractItem",
+]
+
+
 class TestAllModels(TestCase):
-    # not all models have __repr__ yet: see above list
+
+    # confirm that all models can be instantiated without params, and have __repr__ implemented
+    # not all do have __repr__ yet: see above list 'not_yet_done'
     def test_repr_is_implemented(self):
-        m = _models.get_defined_models()
-        for model in m:
-            with self.subTest(model.__name__, model=model):
-                print(model.__name__, type(model.__repr__).__name__)
-                self.assertEqual(type(model.__repr__).__name__, "function")
+        m = TSC_models
+        for type_name in m.__dict__:
+            if type_name in not_yet_done:
+                continue
+            model = getattr(m, type_name)
+            if inspect.isclass(model):
+                with self.subTest(type_name):
+                    self.assertTrue(hasattr(model, "__repr__"))
+                    self.assertEqual(type(model.__repr__).__name__, "function")
 
     # 2 - Iterate through the objects in the module
     def test_by_reflection(self):