diff --git a/.github/scripts/announce-discord.mjs b/.github/scripts/announce-discord.mjs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3f44968
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/scripts/announce-discord.mjs
@@ -0,0 +1,69 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env node
+// Post a release announcement to a Discord webhook. Formats mechanically from
+// the GitHub Release: title + lead paragraph (word-boundary capped) + link.
+// Transport-agnostic formatting lives here so it can move into a shared action
+// verbatim when we extend to nimblebrain / mpak.
+//
+// Env:
+//   WEBHOOK_URL   Discord webhook. Empty/unset -> print payload + skip (never
+//                 fails a release, so merging before the secret exists is safe).
+//   REPO          owner/name (GITHUB_REPOSITORY).
+//   RELEASE_JSON  path to `gh release view ... --json tagName,name,body,url`.
+//   DRY_RUN       "true" -> print payload, don't POST.
+import { readFileSync } from "node:fs";
+
+const webhook = (process.env.WEBHOOK_URL || "").trim();
+const repoName = (process.env.REPO || "").split("/").pop() || "release";
+const dryRun = process.env.DRY_RUN === "true";
+
+const rel = JSON.parse(readFileSync(process.env.RELEASE_JSON || "release.json", "utf8"));
+const tag = rel.tagName || rel.name || "";
+const url = rel.url || "";
+
+// Lead paragraph: skip leading blanks; take consecutive non-blank lines until a
+// blank line, a heading (#), or a list marker (- / *).
+const lines = (rel.body || "").replace(/\r/g, "").split("\n");
+let i = 0;
+while (i < lines.length && lines[i].trim() === "") i++;
+const lead = [];
+for (; i < lines.length; i++) {
+  const t = lines[i].trim();
+  if (t === "" || t.startsWith("#") || t.startsWith("- ") || t.startsWith("* ")) break;
+  lead.push(t);
+}
+let desc = lead.join(" ").trim();
+
+// Word-boundary cap; always link out to the full notes.
+const CAP = 280;
+if (desc.length > CAP) {
+  const cut = desc.lastIndexOf(" ", CAP);
+  desc = desc.slice(0, cut > 0 ? cut : CAP).trimEnd() + "…";
+}
+if (!desc) {
+  // The parser found no prose lead under the version heading (e.g. a CHANGELOG
+  // that leads with `### Fixed`, or a manually-cut release using GitHub's
+  // auto-generated notes). Post a generic line but make the gap visible in the
+  // run log rather than silently shipping content-free copy.
+  console.log("::warning::No lead paragraph found in the release body — posting generic copy. Check the CHANGELOG format.");
+}
+const description = `${desc || "New release."}\n\n[Full release notes →](${url})`;
+
+const payload = {
+  embeds: [{ title: `🚀 ${repoName} ${tag}`, url, description, color: 0x0055ff }],
+};
+
+if (!webhook || dryRun) {
+  console.log(webhook ? "DRY_RUN — payload:" : "::notice::WEBHOOK_URL unset — skipping post. Payload:");
+  console.log(JSON.stringify(payload, null, 2));
+  process.exit(0);
+}
+const res = await fetch(webhook, {
+  method: "POST",
+  headers: { "Content-Type": "application/json" },
+  body: JSON.stringify(payload),
+});
+if (!res.ok) {
+  console.error(`::error::Discord webhook ${res.status}: ${await res.text().catch(() => "")}`);
+  process.exit(1);
+}
+console.log(`Announced ${repoName} ${tag} to Discord (${res.status}).`);
diff --git a/.github/workflows/announce.yml b/.github/workflows/announce.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f7218bb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/announce.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,52 @@
+name: Announce release
+
+# Posts a Discord announcement when a GitHub Release is published. Decoupled
+# from publish.yml on purpose: it fires for any published release (including
+# manually-cut ones), and a failure here never affects the publish path.
+#
+# Setup (one-time): create a webhook on the Discord #announcements channel and
+# add its URL as the `DISCORD_ANNOUNCE_WEBHOOK` repo/org secret. Until that
+# secret exists the job runs and cleanly skips (no post, green run) — so this
+# can merge before the webhook is wired.
+
+on:
+  release:
+    types: [published]
+  workflow_dispatch:
+    inputs:
+      tag:
+        description: "Release tag to announce (e.g. v0.10.2)"
+        required: true
+      dry_run:
+        description: "Print the payload without posting"
+        type: boolean
+        default: false
+
+permissions:
+  contents: read
+
+jobs:
+  announce:
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    steps:
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v6
+
+      - uses: actions/setup-node@v6
+        with:
+          node-version: 24
+
+      - name: Resolve release
+        env:
+          GH_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
+          TAG: ${{ github.event.release.tag_name || github.event.inputs.tag }}
+        run: |
+          gh release view "$TAG" --repo "$GITHUB_REPOSITORY" \
+            --json tagName,name,body,url > release.json
+
+      - name: Announce to Discord
+        env:
+          WEBHOOK_URL: ${{ secrets.DISCORD_ANNOUNCE_WEBHOOK }}
+          REPO: ${{ github.repository }}
+          RELEASE_JSON: release.json
+          DRY_RUN: ${{ github.event.inputs.dry_run || 'false' }}
+        run: node .github/scripts/announce-discord.mjs