diff --git a/cmake/BuildSettings.cmake b/cmake/BuildSettings.cmake
index 74f655d1f..180ec0f44 100644
--- a/cmake/BuildSettings.cmake
+++ b/cmake/BuildSettings.cmake
@@ -25,11 +25,16 @@ omnitrace_add_option(OMNITRACE_BUILD_STATIC_LIBGCC
                      "Build with -static-libgcc if possible" OFF)
 omnitrace_add_option(OMNITRACE_BUILD_STATIC_LIBSTDCXX
                      "Build with -static-libstdc++ if possible" OFF)
+omnitrace_add_option(OMNITRACE_BUILD_STACK_PROTECTOR "Build with -fstack-protector" ON)
 
 omnitrace_add_interface_library(omnitrace-static-libgcc
                                 "Link to static version of libgcc")
 omnitrace_add_interface_library(omnitrace-static-libstdcxx
                                 "Link to static version of libstdc++")
+omnitrace_add_interface_library(omnitrace-static-libgcc-optional
+                                "Link to static version of libgcc")
+omnitrace_add_interface_library(omnitrace-static-libstdcxx-optional
+                                "Link to static version of libstdc++")
 
 target_compile_definitions(omnitrace-compile-options INTERFACE $<$<CONFIG:DEBUG>:DEBUG>)
 
@@ -194,6 +199,18 @@ if(OMNITRACE_USE_COMPILE_TIMING)
     target_link_libraries(omnitrace-compile-options INTERFACE omnitrace-compile-timing)
 endif()
 
+# ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------#
+# fstack-protector
+#
+omnitrace_add_interface_library(omnitrace-stack-protector
+                                "Adds stack-protector compiler flags")
+add_target_flag_if_avail(omnitrace-stack-protector "-fstack-protector-strong"
+                         "-Wstack-protector")
+
+if(OMNITRACE_BUILD_STACK_PROTECTOR)
+    target_link_libraries(omnitrace-compile-options INTERFACE omnitrace-stack-protector)
+endif()
+
 # ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------#
 # developer build flags
 #
@@ -281,13 +298,6 @@ else()
     set(OMNITRACE_USE_SANITIZER OFF)
 endif()
 
-if(MSVC)
-    # VTune is much more helpful when debug information is included in the generated
-    # release code.
-    add_flag_if_avail("/Zi")
-    add_flag_if_avail("/DEBUG")
-endif()
-
 # ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------#
 # static lib flags
 #
@@ -308,6 +318,16 @@ target_link_options(
     omnitrace-static-libstdcxx INTERFACE
     $<$<COMPILE_LANGUAGE:CXX>:$<$<CXX_COMPILER_ID:GNU,Clang>:-static-libstdc++>>)
 
+if(OMNITRACE_BUILD_STATIC_LIBGCC)
+    target_link_libraries(omnitrace-static-libgcc-optional
+                          INTERFACE omnitrace-static-libgcc)
+endif()
+
+if(OMNITRACE_BUILD_STATIC_LIBSTDCXX)
+    target_link_libraries(omnitrace-static-libstdcxx-optional
+                          INTERFACE omnitrace-static-libstdcxx)
+endif()
+
 # ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------#
 # user customization
 #
diff --git a/cmake/Formatting.cmake b/cmake/Formatting.cmake
index b199739ca..4ebd539a3 100644
--- a/cmake/Formatting.cmake
+++ b/cmake/Formatting.cmake
@@ -41,8 +41,21 @@ find_program(OMNITRACE_CLANG_FORMAT_EXE NAMES clang-format-11 clang-format-mp-11
                                               clang-format)
 
 find_program(OMNITRACE_CMAKE_FORMAT_EXE NAMES cmake-format)
+find_program(OMNITRACE_BLACK_FORMAT_EXE NAMES black)
 
-if(OMNITRACE_CLANG_FORMAT_EXE)
+add_custom_target(format-omnitrace)
+if(NOT TARGET format)
+    add_custom_target(format)
+endif()
+foreach(_TYPE source python cmake)
+    if(NOT TARGET format-${_TYPE})
+        add_custom_target(format-${_TYPE})
+    endif()
+endforeach()
+
+if(OMNITRACE_CLANG_FORMAT_EXE
+   OR OMNITRACE_BLACK_FORMAT_EXE
+   OR OMNITRACE_CMAKE_FORMAT_EXE)
     file(GLOB_RECURSE sources ${PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR}/source/*.cpp)
     file(GLOB_RECURSE headers ${PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR}/source/*.hpp
          ${PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR}/source/*.hpp.in ${PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR}/source/*.h
@@ -63,16 +76,25 @@ if(OMNITRACE_CLANG_FORMAT_EXE)
         list(REMOVE_ITEM examples ${external})
         list(REMOVE_ITEM cmake_files ${external})
     endif()
-    add_custom_target(
-        format-omnitrace-source
-        ${OMNITRACE_CLANG_FORMAT_EXE} -i ${sources} ${headers} ${examples}
-        COMMENT "[omnitrace] Running C++ formatter ${OMNITRACE_CLANG_FORMAT_EXE}...")
-    add_custom_target(format-omnitrace)
-    add_dependencies(format-omnitrace format-omnitrace-source)
-    if(NOT TARGET format)
-        add_custom_target(format)
+
+    if(OMNITRACE_CLANG_FORMAT_EXE)
+        add_custom_target(
+            format-omnitrace-source
+            ${OMNITRACE_CLANG_FORMAT_EXE} -i ${sources} ${headers} ${examples}
+            COMMENT "[omnitrace] Running C++ formatter ${OMNITRACE_CLANG_FORMAT_EXE}...")
+    endif()
+
+    if(OMNITRACE_BLACK_FORMAT_EXE)
+        add_custom_target(
+            format-omnitrace-python
+            ${OMNITRACE_BLACK_FORMAT_EXE} ${PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR}
+            COMMENT
+                "[omnitrace] Running Python formatter ${OMNITRACE_BLACK_FORMAT_EXE}...")
+        if(NOT TARGET format-python)
+            add_custom_target(format-python)
+        endif()
     endif()
-    add_dependencies(format format-omnitrace)
+
     if(OMNITRACE_CMAKE_FORMAT_EXE)
         add_custom_target(
             format-omnitrace-cmake
@@ -82,10 +104,20 @@ if(OMNITRACE_CLANG_FORMAT_EXE)
         if(NOT TARGET format-cmake)
             add_custom_target(format-cmake)
         endif()
-        add_dependencies(format-cmake format-omnitrace-cmake)
     endif()
+
+    foreach(_TYPE source python cmake)
+        if(TARGET format-omnitrace-${_TYPE})
+            add_dependencies(format-omnitrace format-omnitrace-${_TYPE})
+            add_dependencies(format-${_TYPE} format-omnitrace-${_TYPE})
+        endif()
+    endforeach()
+
+    foreach(_TYPE source python)
+        if(TARGET format-omnitrace-${_TYPE})
+            add_dependencies(format format-omnitrace-${_TYPE})
+        endif()
+    endforeach()
 else()
-    message(
-        AUTHOR_WARNING
-            "clang-format could not be found. format build target not available.")
+    message(STATUS "clang-format could not be found. format build target not available.")
 endif()
diff --git a/cmake/Packages.cmake b/cmake/Packages.cmake
index 8045023ee..2ac9db549 100644
--- a/cmake/Packages.cmake
+++ b/cmake/Packages.cmake
@@ -505,6 +505,11 @@ endif()
 target_compile_definitions(omnitrace-timemory-config INTERFACE TIMEMORY_PAPI_ARRAY_SIZE=16
                                                                TIMEMORY_USE_ROOFLINE=0)
 
+if(OMNITRACE_BUILD_STACK_PROTECTOR)
+    add_target_flag_if_avail(omnitrace-timemory-config "-fstack-protector-strong"
+                             "-Wstack-protector")
+endif()
+
 set(TIMEMORY_EXTERNAL_INTERFACE_LIBRARY
     omnitrace-timemory-config
     CACHE STRING "timemory configuration interface library")
diff --git a/scripts/build-release.sh b/scripts/build-release.sh
index 2b230a153..33a84fc8a 100755
--- a/scripts/build-release.sh
+++ b/scripts/build-release.sh
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@
 : ${LTO:="OFF"}
 : ${STRIP:="ON"}
 : ${LIBGCC:="ON"}
-: ${LIBSTDCXX:="OFF"}
+: ${LIBSTDCXX:="ON"}
 : ${MAX_THREADS:=2048}
 : ${PERFETTO_TOOLS:="ON"}
 : ${HIDDEN_VIZ:="ON"}
diff --git a/source/bin/omnitrace/CMakeLists.txt b/source/bin/omnitrace/CMakeLists.txt
index 97eeaeb6c..5391286b4 100644
--- a/source/bin/omnitrace/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/source/bin/omnitrace/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@
 
 set(CMAKE_INTERPROCEDURAL_OPTIMIZATION OFF)
 
-add_executable(omnitrace-exe ${_EXCLUDE})
+add_executable(omnitrace-exe)
 
 target_sources(
     omnitrace-exe
@@ -22,12 +22,9 @@ target_sources(
 
 target_link_libraries(
     omnitrace-exe
-    PRIVATE omnitrace::omnitrace-headers
-            omnitrace::omnitrace-dyninst
-            omnitrace::omnitrace-compile-options
-            omnitrace::omnitrace-compile-definitions
-            timemory::timemory-headers
-            $<IF:$<BOOL:${OMNITRACE_USE_SANITIZER}>,omnitrace::omnitrace-sanitizer,>)
+    PRIVATE omnitrace::omnitrace-headers omnitrace::omnitrace-dyninst
+            omnitrace::omnitrace-compile-options omnitrace::omnitrace-compile-definitions
+            omnitrace::omnitrace-sanitizer timemory::timemory-headers)
 
 set_target_properties(
     omnitrace-exe
diff --git a/source/lib/omnitrace-dl/CMakeLists.txt b/source/lib/omnitrace-dl/CMakeLists.txt
index 08a33efc4..6c332abd9 100644
--- a/source/lib/omnitrace-dl/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/source/lib/omnitrace-dl/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -23,13 +23,8 @@ target_include_directories(
            $<INSTALL_INTERFACE:${CMAKE_INSTALL_INCLUDEDIR}>)
 target_link_libraries(
     omnitrace-dl-library
-    PUBLIC
-        ${dl_LIBRARY}
-        $<BUILD_INTERFACE:omnitrace::common-library>
-        $<BUILD_INTERFACE:omnitrace::omnitrace-compile-definitions>
-        $<BUILD_INTERFACE:$<IF:$<BOOL:${OMNITRACE_BUILD_STATIC_LIBGCC}>,omnitrace::omnitrace-static-libgcc,>>
-        $<BUILD_INTERFACE:$<IF:$<BOOL:${OMNITRACE_BUILD_STATIC_LIBSTDCXX}>,omnitrace::omnitrace-static-libstdcxx,>>
-    )
+    PUBLIC $<BUILD_INTERFACE:${dl_LIBRARY}> $<BUILD_INTERFACE:omnitrace::common-library>
+           $<BUILD_INTERFACE:omnitrace::omnitrace-compile-definitions>)
 
 add_target_cxx_flag_if_avail(omnitrace-dl-library "-ftls-model=global-dynamic")
 add_target_cxx_flag_if_avail(omnitrace-dl-library "-g")
diff --git a/source/lib/omnitrace/CMakeLists.txt b/source/lib/omnitrace/CMakeLists.txt
index 2533d2fd4..18a10a2ae 100644
--- a/source/lib/omnitrace/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/source/lib/omnitrace/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -35,11 +35,10 @@ target_link_libraries(
         $<BUILD_INTERFACE:omnitrace::omnitrace-rocprofiler>
         $<BUILD_INTERFACE:omnitrace::omnitrace-rocm-smi>
         $<BUILD_INTERFACE:omnitrace::omnitrace-rccl>
-        $<BUILD_INTERFACE:$<IF:$<BOOL:${OMNITRACE_BUILD_LTO}>,omnitrace::omnitrace-lto,>>
-        $<BUILD_INTERFACE:$<IF:$<BOOL:${OMNITRACE_BUILD_STATIC_LIBGCC}>,omnitrace::omnitrace-static-libgcc,>>
-        $<BUILD_INTERFACE:$<IF:$<BOOL:${OMNITRACE_BUILD_STATIC_LIBSTDCXX}>,omnitrace::omnitrace-static-libstdcxx,>>
-        $<BUILD_INTERFACE:$<IF:$<BOOL:${OMNITRACE_USE_SANITIZER}>,omnitrace::omnitrace-sanitizer,>>
-    )
+        $<BUILD_INTERFACE:omnitrace::omnitrace-static-libgcc-optional>
+        $<BUILD_INTERFACE:omnitrace::omnitrace-static-libstdcxx-optional>
+        $<BUILD_INTERFACE:omnitrace::omnitrace-sanitizer>
+        $<BUILD_INTERFACE:$<IF:$<BOOL:${OMNITRACE_BUILD_LTO}>,omnitrace::omnitrace-lto,>>)
 
 # ------------------------------------------------------------------------------#
 #
diff --git a/source/python/CMakeLists.txt b/source/python/CMakeLists.txt
index f9e958ff4..eaad46f97 100644
--- a/source/python/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/source/python/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -5,8 +5,8 @@
 # ########################################################################################
 
 if(OMNITRACE_BUILD_STATIC_LIBSTDCXX)
-    omnitrace_message(FATAL_ERROR
-                      "static libstdc++ is not compatible with python bindings")
+    # omnitrace_message(FATAL_ERROR "static libstdc++ is not compatible with python
+    # bindings")
 endif()
 
 # if set, will screw up loading library
@@ -76,18 +76,16 @@ set(pybind_libs pybind11::module)
 add_library(libpyomnitrace-interface INTERFACE)
 target_link_libraries(
     libpyomnitrace-interface
-    INTERFACE
-        pybind11::module
-        timemory::timemory-headers
-        omnitrace::omnitrace-headers
-        omnitrace::omnitrace-compile-options
-        omnitrace::omnitrace-lto
-        omnitrace::omnitrace-dl-library
-        omnitrace::omnitrace-user-library
-        omnitrace::omnitrace-python
-        omnitrace::omnitrace-python-compile-options
-        $<BUILD_INTERFACE:$<IF:$<BOOL:${OMNITRACE_BUILD_STATIC_LIBGCC}>,omnitrace::omnitrace-static-libgcc,>>
-    )
+    INTERFACE pybind11::module
+              timemory::timemory-headers
+              omnitrace::omnitrace-headers
+              omnitrace::omnitrace-compile-options
+              omnitrace::omnitrace-static-libgcc-optional
+              omnitrace::omnitrace-lto
+              omnitrace::omnitrace-dl-library
+              omnitrace::omnitrace-user-library
+              omnitrace::omnitrace-python
+              omnitrace::omnitrace-python-compile-options)
 
 omnitrace_target_compile_definitions(libpyomnitrace-interface
                                      INTERFACE OMNITRACE_PYBIND11_SOURCE)
diff --git a/source/python/libpyomnitrace.cpp b/source/python/libpyomnitrace.cpp
index 0f2cbb4ff..153cca77e 100644
--- a/source/python/libpyomnitrace.cpp
+++ b/source/python/libpyomnitrace.cpp
@@ -77,6 +77,9 @@ PYBIND11_MODULE(libpyomnitrace, omni)
 {
     using namespace pyomnitrace;
 
+    py::doc("Omnitrace Python bindings for profiling, user API, and code coverage "
+            "post-processing");
+
     static bool _is_initialized = false;
     static bool _is_finalized   = false;
     static auto _get_use_mpi    = []() {
@@ -162,10 +165,25 @@ PYBIND11_MODULE(libpyomnitrace, omni)
         },
         "Finalize omnitrace");
 
-    py::doc("omnitrace profiler for python");
     pyprofile::generate(omni);
     pycoverage::generate(omni);
     pyuser::generate(omni);
+
+    auto _python_path = tim::get_env("OMNITRACE_PATH", std::string{}, false);
+    auto _libpath     = std::string{ "libomnitrace-dl.so" };
+    if(!_python_path.empty()) _libpath = TIMEMORY_JOIN("/", _python_path, _libpath);
+    // permit env override if default path fails/is wrong
+    _libpath = tim::get_env("OMNITRACE_DL_LIBRARY", _libpath);
+    // this is necessary when building with -static-libstdc++
+    // without it, loading libomnitrace.so within libomnitrace-dl.so segfaults
+    if(!dlopen(_libpath.c_str(), RTLD_NOW | RTLD_GLOBAL))
+    {
+        auto _msg =
+            TIMEMORY_JOIN("", "dlopen(\"", _libpath, "\", RTLD_NOW | RTLD_GLOBAL)");
+        perror(_msg.c_str());
+        fprintf(stderr, "[omnitrace][dl][pid=%i] %s :: %s\n", getpid(), _msg.c_str(),
+                dlerror());
+    }
 }
 
 //======================================================================================//
diff --git a/source/python/omnitrace/__init__.py b/source/python/omnitrace/__init__.py
index 484fb232b..0773cbbeb 100644
--- a/source/python/omnitrace/__init__.py
+++ b/source/python/omnitrace/__init__.py
@@ -35,6 +35,12 @@
 """
 
 try:
+    import os
+
+    os.environ["OMNITRACE_PATH"] = os.path.abspath(
+        os.path.join(os.path.dirname(__file__), "../../..")
+    )
+
     from .libpyomnitrace import coverage
     from . import user
     from .profiler import Profiler, FakeProfiler
diff --git a/source/python/omnitrace/user.py b/source/python/omnitrace/user.py
index 9b7411923..59f08f9b7 100644
--- a/source/python/omnitrace/user.py
+++ b/source/python/omnitrace/user.py
@@ -93,7 +93,7 @@ def stop(self):
             _count = Region._counter
             self._active = False
             if _count != self._count:
-                raise LogicError(
+                raise RuntimeError(
                     f"{self._label} was not popped in the order it was pushed. Current stack number: {_count}, expected stack number: {self._count}"
                 )
             _libuser.pop_region(self._label)