diff --git a/.github/workflows/everything-mcp-diff.yml b/.github/workflows/everything-mcp-diff.yml
index ca94985acc..3de61944a4 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/everything-mcp-diff.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/everything-mcp-diff.yml
@@ -52,6 +52,9 @@
 # dispatches only a workflow whose file exists on the default branch (`main`),
 # and both version workflows dispatch this one by file name from `v2/main`, so
 # renaming it here would break their dispatch until the next milestone merge.
+# The rename is staged instead: `mcp-interface-diff.yml` lands on `main` first
+# as a dispatch-only placeholder (#5463), then #5527 moves this file's contents
+# there, switches the callers and deletes this file.
 #
 # See: https://github.com/modelcontextprotocol/inspector/issues/1034
 name: MCP Interface Diff
diff --git a/.github/workflows/mcp-interface-diff.yml b/.github/workflows/mcp-interface-diff.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..4bda642ed5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/mcp-interface-diff.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,42 @@
+# Placeholder for the MCP interface diff's future file name (#5463, Step 1 of
+# a rename staged across a milestone merge).
+#
+# The interface diff lives in `everything-mcp-diff.yml`, a name left over from
+# when it diffed only the Everything server. GitHub dispatches a workflow only
+# when its file exists on the default branch (`main`), and both version
+# workflows (`version-packages.yml`, `prepare-python-release.yml`) dispatch
+# the diff by file name from `v2/main`. Renaming it in one step on `v2/main`
+# would break their dispatch until the next milestone merge. So the rename is
+# staged:
+#
+# 1. This file ships to `main` in a milestone merge. It is a placeholder, not
+#    a copy of the diff: a dispatch resolves the file name on `main` but runs
+#    the file as it is on the dispatched ref, so a placeholder makes the name
+#    dispatchable as well as a copy would, without a second copy to keep in
+#    step meanwhile. It has only a `workflow_dispatch` trigger, so it never
+#    runs beside the real diff on a push or a pull request.
+# 2. After that merge, #5527 (Step 2) moves `everything-mcp-diff.yml`'s
+#    contents here, switches the callers to this name, and deletes the old
+#    file.
+#
+# Until then, nothing dispatches this file, and a manual dispatch only says
+# where the diff is.
+name: MCP Interface Diff (rename placeholder)
+
+on:
+  workflow_dispatch:
+
+permissions:
+  contents: read
+
+jobs:
+  placeholder:
+    name: Point to the interface diff
+    timeout-minutes: 5
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    steps:
+      - name: Say where the interface diff runs
+        run: |
+          echo "This file is a placeholder for a staged rename (#5463, #5527)."
+          echo "The MCP interface diff runs from .github/workflows/everything-mcp-diff.yml:"
+          echo "  gh workflow run everything-mcp-diff.yml --ref <branch>"
diff --git a/AGENTS.md b/AGENTS.md
index bad74767a6..28b1d587ed 100644
--- a/AGENTS.md
+++ b/AGENTS.md
@@ -64,6 +64,7 @@ servers/
 ├── .github/workflows/        typescript.yml, python.yml (per-package CI), release.yml (publishes on a GitHub Release),
 │                             version-packages.yml (the changesets PR), prepare-python-release.yml (the CalVer PR),
 │                             everything-mcp-diff.yml (each changed server's interface diff on PRs),
+│                             mcp-interface-diff.yml (a dispatch-only placeholder for that file's new name, #5463),
 │                             main-source.yml (a PR into main must bring nothing that is not on v2/main),
 │                             and the scheduled sweeps that file issues: dependency-refresh.yml, dependabot-alerts.yml, sdk-watch.yml
 ├── .github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE/   Bug and feature issue forms; config.yml routes security and new servers away
diff --git a/scripts/version-pr-ci.test.mjs b/scripts/version-pr-ci.test.mjs
index 4166bed272..31bd4ed19c 100644
--- a/scripts/version-pr-ci.test.mjs
+++ b/scripts/version-pr-ci.test.mjs
@@ -257,3 +257,18 @@ test("RELEASING.md names the statuses a version PR is merged on", () => {
     assert.ok(releasing.includes(`\`${context}\``), context);
   assert.doesNotMatch(releasing, /Close and reopen the PR to run CI/);
 });
+
+// #5463 (Step 1 of a staged rename): `mcp-interface-diff.yml` exists so the
+// name is on `main` before #5527 (Step 2) points the version workflows at it.
+// Until then it must not run beside the real diff on a push or a pull
+// request, and nothing may dispatch it yet: the version workflows keep
+// dispatching `everything-mcp-diff.yml` (pinned in VERSION_WORKFLOWS above).
+test("mcp-interface-diff.yml is a dispatch-only placeholder until Step 2", () => {
+  const wf = workflow("mcp-interface-diff.yml");
+  assert.deepEqual(Object.keys(wf.on), ["workflow_dispatch"]);
+  for (const { file } of VERSION_WORKFLOWS)
+    assert.ok(
+      !read(`.github/workflows/${file}`).includes("mcp-interface-diff.yml"),
+      `${file} does not dispatch the placeholder yet`,
+    );
+});