docs: add releasing guide (#177)

Documents the automated release workflow:
- How to tag and push releases
- Pre-release detection (alpha/beta/rc)
- Versioning strategy (semver)
- Release checklist
- Links to npm publish tracking issue (#174)

Written by Cameron ◯ Letta Code

"Ship it." - GitHub

README.md

@@ -284,6 +284,22 @@ npm run build
 lettabot server
 ```
 
+## Releases
+
+Releases are automated via GitHub Actions. When a version tag is pushed, the workflow builds, tests, generates release notes from merged PRs, and creates a GitHub Release.
+
+```bash
+# Create a release
+git tag v0.2.0
+git push origin v0.2.0
+
+# Create a pre-release (alpha/beta/rc are auto-detected)
+git tag v0.2.0-alpha.1
+git push origin v0.2.0-alpha.1
+```
+
+See all releases: [GitHub Releases](https://github.com/letta-ai/lettabot/releases)
+
 ## Troubleshooting
 
 ### WhatsApp

docs/README.md

@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ LettaBot is a multi-channel AI assistant powered by [Letta](https://letta.com) t
 - [Scheduling Tasks](./cron-setup.md) - Cron jobs and heartbeats
 - [Gmail Pub/Sub](./gmail-pubsub.md) - Email notifications integration
 - [Railway Deployment](./railway-deploy.md) - Deploy to Railway
+- [Releasing](./releasing.md) - How to create releases
 
 ### Channel Setup
 - [Telegram Setup](./telegram-setup.md) - BotFather token setup

docs/releasing.md

@@ -0,0 +1,72 @@
+# Releasing
+
+LettaBot uses GitHub Releases with automated release notes.
+
+## How to Release
+
+### 1. Tag the commit
+
+```bash
+git checkout main
+git pull origin main
+git tag v0.2.0
+git push origin v0.2.0
+```
+
+### 2. What happens automatically
+
+The [release workflow](../.github/workflows/release.yml) runs on every `v*` tag push:
+
+1. **Build gate** - `npm ci && npm run build`
+2. **Test gate** - `npm run test:run` (all unit tests must pass)
+3. **Release notes** - Auto-generated from merged PRs since the last tag
+4. **GitHub Release** - Created with the notes, linked to the tag
+
+### 3. Pre-releases
+
+Tags containing `alpha`, `beta`, or `rc` are automatically marked as pre-release:
+
+```bash
+git tag v0.2.0-alpha.1    # marked as pre-release
+git tag v0.2.0-beta.2     # marked as pre-release
+git tag v0.2.0-rc.1       # marked as pre-release
+git tag v0.2.0            # marked as stable release
+```
+
+## Versioning
+
+We follow [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/):
+
+- **Major** (`v1.0.0`) - Breaking changes to config format, channel API, or CLI
+- **Minor** (`v0.2.0`) - New features, new channels, new config options
+- **Patch** (`v0.1.1`) - Bug fixes, dependency updates, docs
+
+While in `0.x`, minor versions may include breaking changes.
+
+## Release Checklist
+
+Before tagging a release:
+
+- [ ] All PRs for this release are merged to `main`
+- [ ] `npm run build` passes locally
+- [ ] `npm run test:run` passes locally
+- [ ] README and docs are up to date
+- [ ] No known critical bugs (check open issues)
+
+## npm Publishing
+
+Not yet available. Tracked in [#174](https://github.com/letta-ai/lettabot/issues/174).
+
+Currently, users install from source:
+
+```bash
+git clone https://github.com/letta-ai/lettabot.git
+cd lettabot
+git checkout v0.2.0  # or latest tag
+npm install && npm run build && npm link
+```
+
+## Viewing Releases
+
+- [All releases](https://github.com/letta-ai/lettabot/releases)
+- [Latest release](https://github.com/letta-ai/lettabot/releases/latest)