From 63ab0e50cfed6302c4eeab218f7343ad1de95c87 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Pavlo Strunkin <pashidlos@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, 3 Nov 2026 08:42:02 +0200
Subject: [PATCH] ci: release 6.0.0 candidates from the next branch

Pushes to next release X.0.0-rc.N under the npm dist-tag next and a GitHub pre-release; master keeps releasing to latest.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
---
 .github/workflows/release.yml | 3 +++
 README.md                     | 8 ++++++++
 package.json                  | 7 +++++++
 3 files changed, 18 insertions(+)

diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yml b/.github/workflows/release.yml
index 465ca8a..4a4b0b7 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yml
@@ -3,6 +3,9 @@ on:
   push:
     branches:
       - master
+      - next
+concurrency:
+  group: release
 jobs:
   release:
     name: Release
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 34c1e51..c304e5a 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -193,6 +193,14 @@ Every push to `master` runs [semantic-release](https://semantic-release.gitbook.
 It then publishes to npm through trusted publishing with provenance, tags `vX.Y.Z`, and writes the GitHub release.
 The `version` field in `package.json` is a placeholder. The released version lives in the tags and on npm.
 
+### Release candidates
+
+Every push to `next` releases a pre-release of the next version, `X.Y.Z-rc.N` (`6.0.0-rc.1` once a breaking change is in). It goes to npm under the `next` dist-tag, never `latest`: `npm install @visual-regression-tracker/agent-codeceptjs@next` installs the candidate, and a plain install keeps getting the last stable release. Its GitHub release is marked as a pre-release.
+
+Breaking changes go into `next` through pull requests that target it. Merge `master` into `next` when `master` gets new commits.
+
+To release the final version, merge `next` into `master` with a merge commit, not a squash, so that semantic-release still sees the breaking commits. That push releases it to `latest`. The repository deletes merged branches, so create `next` again from `master` before the next round of candidates.
+
 ## License
 
 [Apache-2.0](LICENSE)
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 1f5b784..37581ac 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -54,6 +54,13 @@
     "typescript": "^6.0.3"
   },
   "release": {
+    "branches": [
+      "master",
+      {
+        "name": "next",
+        "prerelease": "rc"
+      }
+    ],
     "preset": "conventionalcommits"
   },
   "overrides": {