diff --git a/CONTRIBUTING.md b/CONTRIBUTING.md
index 3e327f4..29d52aa 100644
--- a/CONTRIBUTING.md
+++ b/CONTRIBUTING.md
@@ -95,6 +95,6 @@ This is why every test in the suite pairs an `expectTypeOf(...)` with an `assert
 Publishing is CI-only by policy. Local `npm publish` is not supported. The maintainer triggers releases from `main`:
 
 1. All intended changes are merged to `main` and passing CI.
-2. The maintainer runs `npm run create:release` — an interactive prompt suggests a version (based on the latest CHANGELOG entry); the maintainer confirms or edits it.
-3. `scripts/release.sh` creates a single release commit (changelog + package.json bump, amended into one commit), tags it, and pushes everything to Gitea.
+2. The maintainer runs `npm run create:release`. VS Code opens `CHANGELOG.md` to finalize the `[Unreleased]` notes; because pubv refuses a dirty tree, any edit is committed first (then folded into the release commit), and pubv's interactive prompt suggests a version from those notes — the maintainer confirms or edits it.
+3. `scripts/release.sh` creates a single release commit (graduated changelog + package.json bump, amended into one commit), tags it, and pushes everything to Gitea.
 4. CI runs on the push (the `build` and `maintain` jobs); the `publish` job then fires on the tag, consuming the `dist/` artifact the `build` job produced. The job graph lives in [.gitea/workflows/ci.yml](./.gitea/workflows/ci.yml) — keep that file, not this list, as the source of truth. The publish-tier checks must pass before the artifact is published. The `publish` job also creates the Gitea release page from the matching Keep-a-Changelog section (`scripts/release-notes.sh`); it runs _before_ `npm publish` so a broken page fails CI without consuming a version, and `npm publish` stays the last step.
diff --git a/scripts/release.sh b/scripts/release.sh
index 9d45cb0..0649ec0 100755
--- a/scripts/release.sh
+++ b/scripts/release.sh
@@ -13,6 +13,12 @@ set -eu
 # package.json + the lockfile; `--amend` folds them into pubv's single commit;
 # tag AFTER the amend (so the tag is never orphaned) and push.
 #
+# The notes are finalized in VS Code *before* pubv: the [Unreleased] body is
+# what pubv's bump heuristic reads, so editing afterwards would inform the
+# changelog only, not the version choice. pubv refuses a dirty tree, so that
+# edit is committed as a staging commit and folded back into the single release
+# commit below.
+#
 # Rejected: the conventional-commits family (our history is gitmoji, not
 # Conventional; and we want hand-written notes); changesets/rtk (config + a
 # heavier version/publish flow that fights our CI-only publish); knope/kacl/
@@ -52,12 +58,23 @@ if ! git remote set-head origin --auto >/dev/null 2>&1; then
     exit 1
 fi
 
+# The [Unreleased] body drives pubv's bump heuristic, so finalize it first.
+echo "Opening ${CHANGELOG} in VS Code to finalize the release notes..."
+code --wait "${CHANGELOG}"
+
+# pubv refuses a dirty tree (its "continue with a dirty tree?" prompt defaults
+# to No), so a changed changelog must be committed before it runs. That commit
+# is staging only — the fold below rewrites it into the single release commit.
+NOTES_MSG=":memo: Finalize release notes"
+if [ -n "$(git status --porcelain -- "${CHANGELOG}")" ]; then
+    echo "Committing finalized release notes..."
+    git add "${CHANGELOG}"
+    git commit -m "${NOTES_MSG}"
+fi
+
 echo "Running pubv..."
 pubv --no-tag --no-push --tag-prefix=none
 
-echo "Opening ${CHANGELOG} in VS Code..."
-code --wait "${CHANGELOG}"
-
 echo "Reading version from ${CHANGELOG}..."
 
 VERSION=$(
@@ -75,6 +92,14 @@ echo "Release version: ${VERSION}"
 echo "Updating package.json and package-lock.json..."
 npm version "${VERSION}" --no-git-tag-version
 
+# If pubv's graduation commit sits on top of our staging notes commit, drop it
+# back into the index so the amend below rewrites the notes commit into the one
+# release commit. A message check, not a flag, so a re-run after pubv aborted
+# still folds a notes commit left behind by the earlier attempt.
+if [ "$(git log -1 --format=%s HEAD~1 2>/dev/null || true)" = "${NOTES_MSG}" ]; then
+    git reset --soft HEAD~1
+fi
+
 echo "Amending release commit..."
 git add package.json package-lock.json "${CHANGELOG}"
 git commit --amend -m ":bookmark: Release ${VERSION}"