docs: describe releases for repositories with dev and main

CONTRIBUTING.md

@@ -2,27 +2,30 @@
 
 These rules cover every public cplieger repository.
 
-## Commits and releases
+## Commits
 
-Each pull request is squash-merged with its title as the release-notes line. Write it in [Conventional Commits](https://www.conventionalcommits.org/) form, as the change users see: `fix: subtitles in mov_text tracks decode again`.
+Each pull request is squash-merged under its title. Write it in [Conventional Commits](https://www.conventionalcommits.org/) form, as the change users see: `fix: subtitles in mov_text tracks decode again`.
 
 A change users notice gets a one-to-three-sentence `## Release note` in the description. Leave the `deps` and `devdeps` scopes to Renovate.
 
-With a `cliff.toml` and default branch `main`, the commit type decides the release:
+A hardening fix with no new public API is `sec:`.
 
-| Commit | Version | Section |
-| --- | --- | --- |
-| `feat:` | minor | Added |
-| `fix:` | patch | Fixed |
-| `sec:` | patch | Security |
-| `refactor:`, `perf:` or an unlisted type | patch | Changed |
-| `chore(deps):` | patch | Dependencies |
-| `chore:`, `chore(devdeps):`, `ci:`, `docs:`, `style:`, `test:`, `fuzz:`, `lint:`, `debug:`, `release:` | no release | |
-| a releasing type with `!` or a `BREAKING CHANGE:` footer | major | |
+A breaking change carries `!` in the title and ends the description with a `BREAKING CHANGE:` footer, one bullet per upgrade step.
+
+## Repositories whose default branch is `dev`
 
-A hardening fix with no new public API is `sec:`. Unreleased repositories start at `v1.0.0`. Below 1.0, `feat:` raises the patch version and a breaking change the minor.
+Your pull request goes to `dev`, where a releasing merge publishes a pre-release such as `v1.4.0-dev.2`.
 
-A breaking change carries `!` in the title and ends the description with a `BREAKING CHANGE:` footer, one bullet per upgrade step.
+The files a merge changes decide whether it releases. Its title becomes a line in the release-notes section its commit type picks:
+
+| Commit | Section |
+| --- | --- |
+| `sec:` | Security |
+| `feat:` | Added |
+| `fix:` | Fixed |
+| `perf:` | Performance |
+| `refactor:` or an unlisted type | Changed |
+| `chore:`, `chore(deps):`, `chore(devdeps):`, `fix(deps):`, `ci:`, `docs:`, `style:`, `test:`, `fuzz:`, `lint:`, `debug:`, `release:` | no line |
 
 Changes only to these files never release:
 
@@ -32,11 +35,9 @@ Changes only to these files never release:
 - any `package-lock.json` or knip configuration file
 - the root `.editorconfig`, `.gitattributes`, `.gitignore` and `.dockerignore`
 
-## Repositories whose default branch is `dev`
-
-Your pull request goes to `dev`. `main` holds the released version and takes only promotions of `dev` and automated pull requests, which release a patch when they change shipped files.
+`main` holds the released version and takes only promotions of `dev` and automated pull requests. An automated pull request that changes shipped files releases the next patch.
 
-A [promotion](https://github.com/cplieger/ci/blob/main/docs/workflows.md#the-two-branch-release-model) releases the next minor, or from 1.0 the next major for a breaking change.
+A [promotion](https://github.com/cplieger/ci/blob/main/docs/workflows.md#the-two-branch-release-model) releases the next minor, or from 1.0 the next major when it carries a breaking change. Below 1.0 a breaking change raises the minor. An unreleased repository starts at `v1.0.0`.
 
 ## Synced files
 

README.md

@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ This repository holds the default community-health files and the shared Renovate
 GitHub uses a file from this repository for any cplieger repository, public or private, that has no file of that type itself. A repository's own copy in `.github/`, its root or `docs/` takes precedence. A repository with its own `.github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE` folder gets none of the default forms. GitHub shows the defaults on its website only, and they are not part of a repository's clones, packages or downloads. The defaults work only while this repository is public.
 
 - `CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md` is adapted from the [Contributor Covenant 3.0](https://www.contributor-covenant.org/version/3/0/code_of_conduct/), which is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
-- `CONTRIBUTING.md` covers pull request titles, the commit types that decide each release and the files that never release. It also covers repositories whose default branch is `dev`, the files synced from cplieger/ci, the local checks and review.
+- `CONTRIBUTING.md` covers pull request titles and, for repositories whose default branch is `dev`, which merges release, the release-notes section of each commit type, the `dev` and `main` branches and version numbers. It also covers the files synced from cplieger/ci, the local checks and review.
 - `SECURITY.md` explains how to report a vulnerability privately from a repository's Security tab and how to verify a release. The maintainer acknowledges a report within 7 days and releases a fix before public disclosure, normally within 90 days of the report.
 - `SUPPORT.md` says where to ask a question, report a bug or report a vulnerability.
 - `.github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE/` holds the bug report, feature request and question forms. Its `config.yml` turns off blank issues and links the security policy.

default.json

@@ -155,7 +155,7 @@
       "enabled": false
     },
     {
-      "description": "devDependencies use scope 'devdeps' (commit prefix 'chore(devdeps)') so cliff can skip them \u2014 they don't ship to consumers and shouldn't trigger version bumps. Runtime/peer deps keep the default 'deps' scope which cliff treats as a release.",
+      "description": "devDependencies use scope 'devdeps' (commit prefix 'chore(devdeps)'): they never ship, so a devDependency-only change neither releases nor gets a release-notes line. Runtime and peer deps keep the default 'deps' scope.",
       "matchDepTypes": [
         "devDependencies"
       ],