diff --git a/.github/release.yml b/.github/release.yml
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+++ b/.github/release.yml
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+# Configuration for GitHub's auto-generated release notes
+# (used by `gh release create --generate-notes` and the "Generate release notes"
+# button). Merged pull requests are grouped by label; unlabelled PRs fall into
+# "Other Changes".
+changelog:
+  exclude:
+    labels:
+      - no-changelog
+    authors:
+      - dependabot[bot]
+      - github-actions[bot]
+  categories:
+    - title: Features
+      labels:
+        - enhancement
+        - feature
+    - title: Fixes
+      labels:
+        - bug
+        - fix
+    - title: Documentation
+      labels:
+        - documentation
+        - docs
+    - title: Dependencies
+      labels:
+        - dependencies
+    - title: Other Changes
+      labels:
+        - "*"
diff --git a/RELEASING.md b/RELEASING.md
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+++ b/RELEASING.md
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+# Releasing
+
+Releases are published to PyPI automatically when a GitHub Release is created —
+there is no manual upload step and no stored API token.
+
+## Cut a release
+
+1. Make sure `main` is green and contains everything for the release.
+2. Create a GitHub Release with a semantic-version tag (the leading `v` is
+   stripped by `setuptools_scm`, so `v0.2.0` becomes version `0.2.0`):
+
+   ```bash
+   gh release create v0.2.0 --generate-notes
+   ```
+
+   `--generate-notes` fills the body from the merged pull requests, grouped by
+   label according to [`.github/release.yml`](.github/release.yml). Review and
+   edit the notes, then publish the release.
+3. Publishing the release triggers
+   [`.github/workflows/publish.yml`](.github/workflows/publish.yml), which builds
+   the sdist + wheel and uploads them to PyPI via
+   [Trusted Publishing](https://docs.pypi.org/trusted-publishers/) (OIDC).
+
+## Versioning
+
+- The version is derived from the git tag by `setuptools_scm`; never hardcode a
+  version in `pyproject.toml`.
+- Between releases the version is a development version (e.g. after `v0.2.0`,
+  `0.2.1.dev5+g<sha>`), a PEP 440 *local* version that PyPI rejects — so only a
+  tagged release can be published (a built-in safety net against accidental
+  uploads).
+
+## Notes
+
+- Label pull requests (`enhancement`, `bug`, `documentation`, `dependencies`,
+  ...) so the generated notes are grouped; unlabelled PRs still appear under
+  **Other Changes**.
+- The PyPI trusted publisher is configured for the project `thermoscreening`
+  (owner `MolarVerse`, repository `ThermoScreening`, workflow `publish.yml`, no
+  environment). If a release's publish job fails with `invalid-publisher`, these
+  four values on PyPI must match the workflow.
+- To publish **conda-forge** as well (the channel that also pulls the DFTB+ /
+  xtb / tblite backends), `PQAnalysis` first needs to be available on
+  conda-forge; then submit a recipe via `staged-recipes`.