diff --git a/BUILDER.md b/BUILDER.md
index 0ab03f1..9066716 100644
--- a/BUILDER.md
+++ b/BUILDER.md
@@ -11,6 +11,8 @@ triage bug, and the move is to say so on the issue, not to guess.
 - Respect dependency order: inside an epic, take the earliest unblocked
   unclaimed child. Between epics and strays, prefer the issue that unblocks
   the most other work.
+- In a repository that adopts version epics, read [RELEASES.md](RELEASES.md)
+  before choosing among release-window members.
 - **Your own red head outranks a new claim.** A failing check at the head
   of a PR you authored is picked up **before claiming another issue** —
   repairing your own red PR comes ahead of new work, which is why the
diff --git a/CONTRIBUTING.md b/CONTRIBUTING.md
index 7b1666c..9c8a7b7 100644
--- a/CONTRIBUTING.md
+++ b/CONTRIBUTING.md
@@ -96,7 +96,7 @@ Two consumption modes, split by what has a runtime:
   "runtime" is an agent reading the working tree of the repo it stands in —
   a doc that requires a cross-repo fetch before it governs is a doc that
   sometimes goes unread. So the agent-facing set — **AGENTS.md, TRIAGE.md,
-  BUILDER.md, REVIEWER.md, LABELS.md** — is vendored into each governed
+  BUILDER.md, REVIEWER.md, LABELS.md, RELEASES.md** — is vendored into each governed
   repo at **`.ceremony/`**, byte-identical to this repo at the pinned ref,
   by the sync tool (issue #19). A CI guard diffs the mirror against the pin
   on every PR: hand-editing a vendored file, or bumping the pin without
diff --git a/RELEASES.md b/RELEASES.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d3d6816
--- /dev/null
+++ b/RELEASES.md
@@ -0,0 +1,113 @@
+# Release management
+
+This file describes the release-management pattern available to governed
+repositories. Adoption is per repository and operator-ruled: a repository
+without version epics is not out of compliance. A repo-local roadmap is the
+map; each epic remains the source of truth for its own release. Where an older
+repo-local description differs from this file, this file governs.
+
+## The ladder
+
+Represent each planned release with one version epic. The epic is the working
+surface for that release: it states the goal, names the members, and records
+the ordered waves as checklists. Keep the machine-readable progress checklist
+under a heading matching `## Task list`, case-insensitively; the issue-flow
+sweep reads task rows there until the next heading when it decides whether to
+nudge triage about a completed epic. Other member or wave headings are not
+completion inputs.
+
+Keep a short repo-local roadmap beside the epics. The roadmap shows the whole
+ladder and points to each working surface; it does not duplicate the live
+member lists or ordering. crew's roadmap discussion [heavy-duty/crew#338](https://github.com/heavy-duty/crew/discussions/338)
+maps the ladder whose `0.1.2` working surface moved from the crufty ledger
+[heavy-duty/crew#162](https://github.com/heavy-duty/crew/issues/162) to
+[heavy-duty/crew#346](https://github.com/heavy-duty/crew/issues/346).
+
+## Gates
+
+Each version epic declares `Blocked by <predecessor>`. Special ordering — a
+double gate or an out-of-chain gate — is written explicitly on that epic;
+there is no hidden global schedule. The epic carries `epic` and the
+repository's release label, with no queue label. Its `Blocked by` line is a
+declaration a human reads: shipping closes the predecessor, then triage opens
+the next window by hand as the first step of release-init. The issue-flow
+sweep does not promote version epics; automating that gate would require a
+separately specified change to its queue-category model.
+
+The gate orders windows, not their contents. Members enter a release only by
+decision during release-init. The double gate on
+[heavy-duty/crew#163](https://github.com/heavy-duty/crew/issues/163) and the
+out-of-chain track on [heavy-duty/crew#348](https://github.com/heavy-duty/crew/issues/348)
+are worked examples of exceptions declared where they apply.
+
+## Release-init
+
+The predecessor closing and clearing the next epic's declared gate is the
+trigger, and today triage must notice it and open that window by hand.
+[heavy-duty/ceremony#253](https://github.com/heavy-duty/ceremony/issues/253)
+tracks the not-yet-shipped sweep announcement of that duty; do not treat the
+announcement as present until the consumer's pin carries it. Triage runs five
+steps:
+
+1. Mint the epic's “to mint when this arc opens” list together with findings,
+   deferred work, and discussion outcomes accumulated since the epic was
+   written. Each member initially declares `Blocked by <the epic>`.
+2. Graph hard `Blocked by` edges and same-file clusters on the epic.
+3. Write the waves into the epic body as checklists in claim order, with a
+   separate verification lane and the progress view under `## Task list`.
+4. Ask the operator to bless the order, then have triage open the first wave
+   by applying the flip mechanics below. The operator's blessing is the one
+   step this chain never automates.
+5. Ship through the repository's cut process, close the epic, and treat that
+   close as the trigger for the next window.
+
+heavy-duty/crew#346 is the worked wave plan; its graph made both hard edges
+and shared-file contention visible before builders entered the queue. If init
+finds no work worth minting, the operator either folds the empty window into a
+later release or skips the version, recording that ruling on the epic before
+closing it unshipped.
+
+## One primary window, declared parallel tracks
+
+Run one primary release window by default. A cut takes whatever has landed, so
+interleaving unrelated windows blurs both the release story and the evidence
+behind it. Gates open windows; they do not silently admit members, so builders
+still see one deliberately ordered queue.
+
+The operator may declare a parallel track at init when its footprint is
+disjoint from the primary window: another repository, another artifact, or
+provably non-overlapping clusters. The declaration names the boundary and any
+bridge work that must rejoin the primary. [heavy-duty/crew#348](https://github.com/heavy-duty/crew/issues/348)
+is the worked example: its app and artifact form a parallel track while its
+small crew-side bridge remains in the primary window.
+
+## Flip mechanics
+
+To admit a member, delete or rewrite its literal, parseable
+`Blocked by <the epic>` declaration and swap `blocked` to `ready` in the same
+edit. Markdown or HTML strikethrough is insufficient: the blocker parser reads
+the raw marker text and still returns the reference. Never preserve history by
+negating the marker phrase — the parser unions declarations even when prose
+says they no longer apply. Preserve the history only after rewriting the
+marker into non-parseable prose, then verify that the parser returns an empty
+set for the release gate.
+
+Release membership is a decision, never a sweep default. Triage performs each
+flip only after the operator blesses the wave; the issue-flow sweep may resolve
+ordinary issue dependencies, but it does not choose a release's contents.
+heavy-duty/crew#346 records the member-by-member flip that opened its first
+wave.
+
+## The ledger pattern
+
+When a release epic has become too crufty to remain a clear working surface,
+create a replacement and treat the old epic as a ledger. Do not close the old
+epic until every live member declaration points at the replacement and the
+blocker parser verifies the new set. Closing early can release every member
+that still names the old issue.
+
+The [heavy-duty/crew#162](https://github.com/heavy-duty/crew/issues/162) to
+[heavy-duty/crew#346](https://github.com/heavy-duty/crew/issues/346)
+transition is the worked example: all member declarations were re-pointed and
+parse-verified before #162 closed; #162 remains the historical record while
+#346 is the release's working surface.
diff --git a/TRIAGE.md b/TRIAGE.md
index 840c09a..75e1b6d 100644
--- a/TRIAGE.md
+++ b/TRIAGE.md
@@ -122,6 +122,7 @@ label): the approach, the decisions, the constraint list, and a
 dependency-ordered task list of child issues. Children reference the epic;
 the epic's checklist is the progress view. Builders never pick the epic
 itself. Keep the checklist current — a stale epic misleads every scan.
+Repositories that adopt version epics follow [RELEASES.md](RELEASES.md).
 
 ## Backlog hygiene
 
diff --git a/changelog.d/248.md b/changelog.d/248.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d6c3bbd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelog.d/248.md
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+### Added
+
+- Document the optional, operator-ruled release-epic flow for governed repositories. (#248)
diff --git a/docs/CONSUMERS.md b/docs/CONSUMERS.md
index 99e1ce2..437d64b 100644
--- a/docs/CONSUMERS.md
+++ b/docs/CONSUMERS.md
@@ -550,14 +550,18 @@ when the pinned taxonomy declares a core label the repository lacks.
 Machinery is consumed by reference — GitHub fetches the workflows and
 actions above from the pin at run time — but documents have no runtime: an
 agent reads the working tree it stands in. So the agent-facing doc set
-(ceremony's `docs/VENDORED.txt`: AGENTS.md, TRIAGE.md, BUILDER.md,
-REVIEWER.md, LABELS.md) is vendored into each consumer at **`.ceremony/`**,
+declared by ceremony's `docs/VENDORED.txt` is vendored into each consumer at **`.ceremony/`**,
 byte-identical to ceremony at the pin, plus a generated `.ceremony/README.md`
 marking the directory machine-managed. `actions/docs-sync` owns the copy:
 `--fix` writes it (and deletes what the manifest dropped — mirror means
 mirror), `--check` re-diffs it in CI on every PR, so a hand edit or a stale
 pin goes red instead of quietly governing.
 
+`RELEASES.md` joins that mirror with the first tag carrying ceremony#248.
+It is **unreleased** until that tag exists: consumers add
+`.ceremony/RELEASES.md` only with the ordinary pin bump and re-sync, never by
+copying it ahead of their pinned doctrine set.
+
 The consumer's ci.yml gains the guard alongside the others:
 
 ```yaml
diff --git a/docs/VENDORED.txt b/docs/VENDORED.txt
index 10c20a3..ff41f35 100644
--- a/docs/VENDORED.txt
+++ b/docs/VENDORED.txt
@@ -3,3 +3,4 @@ TRIAGE.md
 BUILDER.md
 REVIEWER.md
 LABELS.md
+RELEASES.md
diff --git a/test/docs-sync.test.sh b/test/docs-sync.test.sh
index 6987304..f5ecae9 100644
--- a/test/docs-sync.test.sh
+++ b/test/docs-sync.test.sh
@@ -18,6 +18,12 @@ SCRIPT="$ROOT/actions/docs-sync/docs-sync.sh"
 TMP="$(mktemp -d)"
 trap 'rm -rf "$TMP"' EXIT
 
+# RELEASES.md's consumer-availability promise is true only when the real
+# manifest carries it (#248's review round). The fixture cases below prove
+# manifest-driven behavior; this row binds that behavior to the promised file.
+check "real manifest includes the release doctrine" 0 "RELEASES.md" \
+  grep -Fx RELEASES.md "$ROOT/docs/VENDORED.txt"
+
 # --- fixture builders --------------------------------------------------------
 
 # The main fake ceremony tree: three manifest entries, one in a subdirectory