diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci.yml b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
index 4b55761..8de1780 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
 # CI for NextIteration.SpectreConsole.Settings.
 # Canonical shape defined in NextIteration.Standards STANDARD.md section 3 — change it
-# there first, then here.
+# there first, then here. Section 3.0.1 requires this file's non-comment content to match
+# templates/.github/workflows/ci.yml exactly, apart from the tag glob below. It does.
+# This repo has no EXCEPTIONS.md entry, so there is nothing else here that differs.
 #
 # The single required status check is `ci`, the aggregating gate below. `build` and `test`
 # must NOT be required directly: `test` is a matrix, so its check names carry the matrix
@@ -9,11 +11,12 @@
 # The test matrix runs all three platforms (STANDARD.md 3.1.1). This library has no
 # OS-native backend, but it is a filesystem library: `AtomicFile` needs a different
 # replace primitive on Windows (`ReplaceFile`) than on POSIX (`rename(2)`), and path
-# handling, file locking and case sensitivity all differ. No EXCEPTIONS.md entry applies
-# to this repo.
+# handling, file locking and case sensitivity all differ.
 #
-# `release` is a fifth, tag-gated job beyond STANDARD.md 3.1's four. It cuts the GitHub
-# release from CHANGELOG.md after `publish`, and cannot run on a pull request.
+# GitHub releases for this repo are cut by hand, as in every other repo in the estate.
+# There used to be a fifth `release` job here that built them from CHANGELOG.md; it was
+# removed because it was the only thing in the estate diverging from this template, and
+# 3.1's four job names are a closed set. Do not add it back without an EXCEPTIONS.md entry.
 name: CI
 
 on:
@@ -165,39 +168,3 @@ jobs:
           --api-key "${{ steps.login.outputs.NUGET_API_KEY }}"
           --source https://api.nuget.org/v3/index.json
           --skip-duplicate
-
-  # Beyond STANDARD.md 3.1's canonical four, and downstream of `publish`, so a GitHub
-  # release is only ever cut for bytes that actually reached nuget.org. Tag-gated, so it
-  # can never run on a pull request.
-  release:
-    needs: publish
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
-    timeout-minutes: 10
-    if: startsWith(github.ref, 'refs/tags/')
-
-    permissions:
-      contents: write   # creating the GitHub release
-
-    steps:
-      - uses: actions/checkout@v7
-
-      # Pull the section for this tag's version out of CHANGELOG.md
-      # (e.g. tag v0.1.0 -> the "## [0.1.0] — …" block) for the release body.
-      # Falls back to a minimal note if the section isn't found.
-      - name: Build release notes
-        run: |
-          version="${GITHUB_REF_NAME#v}"
-          awk -v ver="$version" '
-            $0 ~ "^## \\[" ver "\\]" { capture = 1; next }
-            capture && /^## \[/ { exit }
-            capture && /^\[.*\]: / { exit }
-            capture { print }
-          ' CHANGELOG.md > release-notes.md
-          if [ ! -s release-notes.md ]; then
-            echo "Release $GITHUB_REF_NAME" > release-notes.md
-          fi
-
-      - name: Create GitHub release
-        env:
-          GH_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
-        run: gh release create "$GITHUB_REF_NAME" --title "$GITHUB_REF_NAME" --notes-file release-notes.md --verify-tag
diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index e2e8631..dda90d1 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -59,6 +59,13 @@ floor.
   `setup-dotnet` v6, `upload-artifact` v7, `download-artifact` v8) and dropped
   the now-redundant `FORCE_JAVASCRIPT_ACTIONS_TO_NODE24` override — those majors
   already run on Node 24.
+- Removed the `release` job that cut the GitHub release automatically from
+  `CHANGELOG.md`. `ci.yml`'s non-comment content is now identical to the canonical
+  template apart from the tag glob — the same as every other repo in the estate — and
+  `STANDARD.md` §3.0.1 now requires that and checks it. GitHub releases for this package
+  are cut by hand, as they already were everywhere else. **No consumer impact:** the job
+  only ever ran on a `v*` tag, after the package had already been pushed to nuget.org.
+  Publishing is unchanged.
 - Adopted the canonical CI shape from
   [NextIteration.Standards](https://github.com/StuartMeeks/NextIteration.Standards)
   (`STANDARD.md` section 3). `build` and `test` are now separate jobs, `test`
diff --git a/CLAUDE.md b/CLAUDE.md
index 4658352..6f786cd 100644
--- a/CLAUDE.md
+++ b/CLAUDE.md
@@ -89,5 +89,12 @@ The single required status check is `ci` — an aggregating gate over `build` an
 Renaming those jobs is safe; the ruleset never names them. Do not make them required
 checks directly.
 
-`ci.yml` also carries a `release` job beyond the four `STANDARD.md` 3.1 names. It is
-tag-gated and downstream of `publish`, and cuts the GitHub release from `CHANGELOG.md`.
+**`ci.yml` is not yours to edit freely.** `STANDARD.md` §3.0.1 requires its non-comment
+content to match `templates/.github/workflows/ci.yml` in the standards repo exactly, apart
+from the tag glob and steps carrying an `EXCEPTIONS.md` entry. This repo has no such entry,
+so the only permitted difference is `tags: [ 'v*' ]` and the header comment. `audit-drift.sh`
+checks this. Change the template first, then every repo — never this file alone.
+
+GitHub releases here are cut by hand, as in every other repo in the estate. A fifth
+`release` job used to build them from `CHANGELOG.md`; it was removed as the estate's only
+divergence from the canonical workflow. Adding it back needs an `EXCEPTIONS.md` entry.