From 3ae321fcbdf2a3db3b231e2750d39a6b78a40a5a Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: thePR0M3TH3AN <53631862+PR0M3TH3AN@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Sat, 14 Mar 2026 17:05:54 -0400
Subject: [PATCH] docs: establish AI workflow for delayed release management
 using UPCOMING_RELEASE.md

---
 RELEASE.md          |  4 ++++
 UPCOMING_RELEASE.md | 14 ++++++++++++++
 2 files changed, 18 insertions(+)
 create mode 100644 UPCOMING_RELEASE.md

diff --git a/RELEASE.md b/RELEASE.md
index 8bf1205..8b6070a 100644
--- a/RELEASE.md
+++ b/RELEASE.md
@@ -1,5 +1,9 @@
 # VoxVera Release Process
 
+**⚠️ ATTENTION AI AGENTS (CRITICAL WORKFLOW):**
+Do **NOT** automatically package, tag, or push a new release after completing a set of changes. Releases should **ONLY** be triggered when the user explicitly requests one (e.g., "Package a release now" or "Let's release this").
+Instead of releasing immediately, you must append a summary of your completed work to the `UPCOMING_RELEASE.md` file. This allows development to span multiple context sessions and ensures that new releases contain a substantial amount of value. When a release is finally requested, use the contents of `UPCOMING_RELEASE.md` to format the GitHub Release notes, and then clear the document for the next cycle.
+
 This document outlines the mandatory steps to perform before every release to ensure code quality, cross-language integrity, and professional distribution assets.
 
 ## 1. Pre-Flight Checks (Quality Assurance)
diff --git a/UPCOMING_RELEASE.md b/UPCOMING_RELEASE.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f548693
--- /dev/null
+++ b/UPCOMING_RELEASE.md
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+# Upcoming Release Notes
+
+*This document serves as a running changelog for the NEXT version of VoxVera. AI agents must append notable changes here as they are completed. Once a release is explicitly requested by the user, these notes will be used to format the GitHub Release description, and this file should be cleared/reset for the next cycle.*
+
+### Version: Unreleased
+
+#### 🚀 New Features
+- *(Add new features here)*
+
+#### 🛠 Improvements
+- *(Add improvements here)*
+
+#### 🐛 Bug Fixes
+- *(Add bug fixes here)*