diff --git a/build-python-package/action.yml b/build-python-package/action.yml
index 9a58a97..459c5d8 100644
--- a/build-python-package/action.yml
+++ b/build-python-package/action.yml
@@ -13,30 +13,37 @@ runs:
   using: composite
   steps:
     - name: Build
-      shell: bash
+      shell: bash -leo pipefail {0}
       run: |
+        python3 --version
         if [[ -f setup.py ]]; then
           # old style setup.py project
           # (must manually install build dependencies)
           echo "setup.py detected"
+          echo "::group::Installing build dependencies"
           python3 -m pip install wheel setuptools
+          echo "::endgroup::"
           python3 setup.py bdist_wheel sdist
         else
           # PEP517 project
           # (must install a builder, this installs build deps for us)
           echo "PEP 517 project detected"
+          echo "::group::Installing build dependencies"
           python3 -m pip install build
+          echo "::endgroup::"
           python3 -m build
         fi
 
     - name: Check build
-      shell: bash
+      shell: bash -leo pipefail {0}
       run: |
+        echo "::group::Installing twine"
         python3 -m pip install twine
+        echo "::endgroup::"
         twine check dist/*
 
     - name: Check dependencies
       if: inputs.check-dependencies == 'true'
       # ^ string comparison needed due to https://github.com/actions/runner/issues/2238
-      shell: bash
+      shell: bash -leo pipefail {0}
       run: python3 -m pip install -e .[all] --dry-run --ignore-installed
diff --git a/install-cylc-components/action.yml b/install-cylc-components/action.yml
index 5e9167d..b51a338 100644
--- a/install-cylc-components/action.yml
+++ b/install-cylc-components/action.yml
@@ -80,6 +80,7 @@ runs:
       # NOTE: use login shell to allow us to work with setup-micromamba
       shell: bash -elo pipefail {0}
       run: |
+        python --version
         wget \
           https://raw.githubusercontent.com/cylc/cylc-admin/master/docs/status/branches.json
         cat branches.json
diff --git a/towncrier-draft/action.yml b/towncrier-draft/action.yml
index 8dc54b4..a14305b 100644
--- a/towncrier-draft/action.yml
+++ b/towncrier-draft/action.yml
@@ -6,7 +6,9 @@ runs:
   steps:
     - name: Install Towncrier if needed
       shell: bash -elo pipefail {0}
-      run: python3 -m pip install -q towncrier
+      run: |
+        python3 -m pip install -q towncrier
+        towncrier --version
 
     - name: Get package version if NodeJS project
       id: node