diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yml b/.github/workflows/release.yml
index 2735622ee..fd5fd74b3 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yml
@@ -1,5 +1,9 @@
 name: Release
 
+concurrency:
+  group: release-main
+  cancel-in-progress: false
+
 on:
   workflow_dispatch:
     inputs:
@@ -19,13 +23,25 @@ jobs:
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     permissions:
       contents: write
+      pull-requests: write
     outputs:
       new_version: ${{ steps.compute.outputs.new_version }}
       tag: ${{ steps.tag.outputs.tag }}
+      bump_branch: ${{ steps.bump_branch.outputs.name }}
     steps:
+      - name: Ensure workflow is running on main
+        shell: bash
+        run: |
+          set -euo pipefail
+          if [[ "${GITHUB_REF_NAME}" != "main" ]]; then
+            echo "This workflow must be run on the main branch. Current ref: ${GITHUB_REF_NAME}" >&2
+            exit 1
+          fi
+
       - name: Checkout repository
         uses: actions/checkout@v6
         with:
+          ref: main
           fetch-depth: 0
 
       - name: Compute new version
@@ -78,14 +94,19 @@ jobs:
           echo "Updating all version references to $NEW_VERSION"
           python3 tools/update_versions.py --version "$NEW_VERSION"
 
-      - name: Commit and push changes
+      - name: Commit version bump to a temporary branch
+        id: bump_branch
         env:
           NEW_VERSION: ${{ steps.compute.outputs.new_version }}
         shell: bash
         run: |
           set -euo pipefail
+          BRANCH="release/v${NEW_VERSION}"
+          echo "name=$BRANCH" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+
           git config user.name "GitHub Actions"
           git config user.email "actions@github.com"
+          git checkout -b "$BRANCH"
           git add MCPForUnity/package.json manifest.json "Server/pyproject.toml" Server/README.md README.md docs/i18n/README-zh.md
           if git diff --cached --quiet; then
             echo "No version changes to commit."
@@ -93,26 +114,79 @@ jobs:
             git commit -m "chore: bump version to ${NEW_VERSION}"
           fi
 
-          BRANCH="${GITHUB_HEAD_REF:-${GITHUB_REF_NAME}}"
-          echo "Pushing to branch: $BRANCH"
+          echo "Pushing bump branch $BRANCH"
           git push origin "$BRANCH"
 
-      - name: Create and push tag
+      - name: Create PR for version bump into main
+        id: bump_pr
+        env:
+          GH_TOKEN: ${{ github.token }}
+          NEW_VERSION: ${{ steps.compute.outputs.new_version }}
+          BRANCH: ${{ steps.bump_branch.outputs.name }}
+        shell: bash
+        run: |
+          set -euo pipefail
+          PR_URL=$(gh pr create \
+            --base main \
+            --head "$BRANCH" \
+            --title "chore: bump version to ${NEW_VERSION}" \
+            --body "Automated version bump to ${NEW_VERSION}.")
+          echo "pr_url=$PR_URL" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+          PR_NUMBER=$(echo "$PR_URL" | grep -oE '[0-9]+$')
+          echo "pr_number=$PR_NUMBER" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+
+      - name: Enable auto-merge and merge PR
+        env:
+          GH_TOKEN: ${{ github.token }}
+          PR_NUMBER: ${{ steps.bump_pr.outputs.pr_number }}
+        shell: bash
+        run: |
+          set -euo pipefail
+          # Enable auto-merge (requires repo setting "Allow auto-merge")
+          gh pr merge "$PR_NUMBER" --merge --auto || true
+          # Wait for PR to be merged (poll up to 2 minutes)
+          for i in {1..24}; do
+            STATE=$(gh pr view "$PR_NUMBER" --json state -q '.state')
+            if [[ "$STATE" == "MERGED" ]]; then
+              echo "PR merged successfully."
+              exit 0
+            fi
+            echo "Waiting for PR to merge... (state: $STATE)"
+            sleep 5
+          done
+          echo "PR did not merge in time. Attempting direct merge..."
+          gh pr merge "$PR_NUMBER" --merge
+
+      - name: Fetch merged main and create tag
         env:
           TAG: ${{ steps.tag.outputs.tag }}
         shell: bash
         run: |
           set -euo pipefail
+          git fetch origin main
+          git checkout main
+          git pull origin main
+
           echo "Preparing to create tag $TAG"
 
           if git ls-remote --tags origin | grep -q "refs/tags/$TAG$"; then
-            echo "Tag $TAG already exists on remote. Skipping tag creation."
-            exit 0
+            echo "Tag $TAG already exists on remote. Refusing to release." >&2
+            exit 1
           fi
 
           git tag -a "$TAG" -m "Version ${TAG#v}"
           git push origin "$TAG"
 
+      - name: Clean up release branch
+        if: always()
+        env:
+          GH_TOKEN: ${{ github.token }}
+          BRANCH: ${{ steps.bump_branch.outputs.name }}
+        shell: bash
+        run: |
+          set -euo pipefail
+          git push origin --delete "$BRANCH" || true
+
       - name: Create GitHub release
         uses: softprops/action-gh-release@v2
         with:
@@ -120,6 +194,70 @@ jobs:
           name: ${{ steps.tag.outputs.tag }}
           generate_release_notes: true
 
+  sync_beta:
+    name: Merge main back into beta via PR
+    needs:
+      - bump
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    permissions:
+      contents: write
+      pull-requests: write
+    steps:
+      - name: Checkout main
+        uses: actions/checkout@v6
+        with:
+          ref: main
+          fetch-depth: 0
+
+      - name: Create PR to merge main into beta
+        id: sync_pr
+        env:
+          GH_TOKEN: ${{ github.token }}
+          NEW_VERSION: ${{ needs.bump.outputs.new_version }}
+        shell: bash
+        run: |
+          set -euo pipefail
+          # Check if beta is behind main
+          git fetch origin beta
+          if git merge-base --is-ancestor origin/main origin/beta; then
+            echo "beta is already up to date with main. Skipping PR."
+            echo "skipped=true" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+            exit 0
+          fi
+
+          PR_URL=$(gh pr create \
+            --base beta \
+            --head main \
+            --title "chore: sync main (v${NEW_VERSION}) into beta" \
+            --body "Automated sync of version bump from main into beta.")
+          echo "pr_url=$PR_URL" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+          PR_NUMBER=$(echo "$PR_URL" | grep -oE '[0-9]+$')
+          echo "pr_number=$PR_NUMBER" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+          echo "skipped=false" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+
+      - name: Enable auto-merge and merge sync PR
+        if: steps.sync_pr.outputs.skipped != 'true'
+        env:
+          GH_TOKEN: ${{ github.token }}
+          PR_NUMBER: ${{ steps.sync_pr.outputs.pr_number }}
+        shell: bash
+        run: |
+          set -euo pipefail
+          # Enable auto-merge (requires repo setting "Allow auto-merge")
+          gh pr merge "$PR_NUMBER" --merge --auto || true
+          # Wait for PR to be merged (poll up to 2 minutes)
+          for i in {1..24}; do
+            STATE=$(gh pr view "$PR_NUMBER" --json state -q '.state')
+            if [[ "$STATE" == "MERGED" ]]; then
+              echo "Sync PR merged successfully."
+              exit 0
+            fi
+            echo "Waiting for sync PR to merge... (state: $STATE)"
+            sleep 5
+          done
+          echo "Sync PR did not merge in time. Attempting direct merge..."
+          gh pr merge "$PR_NUMBER" --merge
+
   publish_docker:
     name: Publish Docker image
     needs:
diff --git a/docs/guides/RELEASING.md b/docs/guides/RELEASING.md
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..89119922f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/guides/RELEASING.md
@@ -0,0 +1,111 @@
+# Releasing (Maintainers)
+
+This repo uses a two-branch flow to keep `main` stable for users:
+
+- `beta`: integration branch where feature PRs land
+- `main`: stable branch that should match the latest release tag
+
+## Release checklist
+
+### 1) Promote `beta` to `main` via PR
+
+- Create a PR with:
+  - base: `main`
+  - compare: `beta`
+- Ensure required CI checks are green.
+- Merge the PR.
+
+Release note quality depends on how you merge:
+
+- Squash-merging feature PRs into `beta` is OK.
+- Avoid squash-merging the `beta -> main` promotion PR. Prefer a merge commit (or rebase merge) so GitHub can produce better auto-generated release notes.
+
+### 2) Run the Release workflow (manual)
+
+- Go to **GitHub → Actions → Release**
+- Click **Run workflow**
+- Select:
+  - `patch`, `minor`, or `major`
+- Run it on branch: `main`
+
+What the workflow does:
+
+1. Creates a temporary `release/vX.Y.Z` branch with the version bump commit
+2. Opens a PR from that branch into `main`
+3. Auto-merges the PR (or waits for required checks, then merges)
+4. Creates an annotated tag `vX.Y.Z` on the merged commit
+5. Creates a GitHub Release for the tag
+6. Publishes artifacts (Docker / PyPI / MCPB)
+7. Opens a PR to merge `main` back into `beta` (so `beta` gets the bump)
+8. Auto-merges the sync PR
+9. Cleans up the temporary release branch
+
+### 3) Verify release outputs
+
+- Confirm a new tag exists: `vX.Y.Z`
+- Confirm a GitHub Release exists for the tag
+- Confirm artifacts:
+  - Docker image published with version `X.Y.Z`
+  - PyPI package published (if configured)
+  - `unity-mcp-X.Y.Z.mcpb` attached to the GitHub Release
+
+## Required repo settings
+
+### Branch protection (Rulesets)
+
+The release workflow uses PRs instead of direct pushes, so it works with strict branch protection. No bypass actors are required.
+
+Recommended ruleset for `main`:
+
+- Require PR before merging
+- Allowed merge methods: `merge`, `rebase` (no squash for promotion PRs)
+- Required approvals: `0` (so automated PRs can merge without human review)
+- Optionally require status checks
+
+Recommended ruleset for `beta`:
+
+- Require PR before merging
+- Allowed merge methods: `squash` (for feature PRs)
+- Required approvals: `0` (so the sync PR can auto-merge)
+
+### Enable auto-merge (required)
+
+The workflow uses `gh pr merge --auto` to automatically merge PRs once checks pass.
+
+To enable:
+
+1. Go to **Settings → General**
+2. Scroll to **Pull Requests**
+3. Check **Allow auto-merge**
+
+Without this setting, the workflow will fall back to direct merge attempts, which may fail if branch protection requires checks.
+
+## Failure modes and recovery
+
+### Tag already exists
+
+The workflow fails if the computed tag already exists. Pick a different bump type or investigate why a tag already exists for that version.
+
+### Bump PR fails to merge
+
+If the version bump PR cannot be merged (e.g., required checks fail):
+
+- The workflow will fail before creating a tag.
+- Fix the issue, then either:
+  - Manually merge the PR and create the tag/release, or
+  - Close the PR, delete the `release/vX.Y.Z` branch, and re-run the workflow.
+
+### Sync PR (`main -> beta`) fails
+
+If the sync PR has merge conflicts:
+
+- The workflow will fail after the release is published (artifacts are already out).
+- Manually resolve conflicts in the sync PR and merge it.
+
+### Leftover release branch
+
+If the workflow fails mid-run, a `release/vX.Y.Z` branch may remain. Delete it manually before re-running:
+
+```bash
+git push origin --delete release/vX.Y.Z
+```