diff --git a/.github/scripts/extract-changelog.py b/.github/scripts/extract-changelog.py
new file mode 100755
index 000000000..65d45843a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/scripts/extract-changelog.py
@@ -0,0 +1,57 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env python3
+"""Extract the latest version's release notes from docs/changelog/index.md.
+
+Outputs JSON with "version", "date", and "body" fields for use in GitHub Actions.
+"""
+
+import json
+import re
+import sys
+from pathlib import Path
+
+CHANGELOG_PATH = Path("docs/changelog/index.md")
+
+
+def extract_latest() -> dict | None:
+    """Extract the latest release entry from the changelog."""
+    text = CHANGELOG_PATH.read_text(encoding="utf-8")
+
+    # Match the first version heading: ### VERSION <small>DATE</small> { id="..." }
+    pattern = re.compile(
+        r'^###\s+(\S+)\s+<small>(.*?)</small>\s*\{[^}]*\}\s*$',
+        re.MULTILINE,
+    )
+
+    match = pattern.search(text)
+    if not match:
+        return None
+
+    version = match.group(1)
+    date = match.group(2).strip()
+    start = match.end()
+
+    # Find the next version heading or the "---" separator
+    next_pattern = re.compile(
+        r'^###\s+\S+\s+<small>|^---\s*$',
+        re.MULTILINE,
+    )
+    next_match = next_pattern.search(text, start)
+    end = next_match.start() if next_match else len(text)
+
+    body = text[start:end].strip()
+
+    return {"version": version, "date": date, "body": body}
+
+
+def main() -> None:
+    entry = extract_latest()
+    if not entry:
+        print("No version entry found in changelog", file=sys.stderr)
+        sys.exit(1)
+
+    json.dump(entry, sys.stdout, ensure_ascii=False)
+    print()  # trailing newline
+
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    main()
diff --git a/.github/workflows/draft-release.yml b/.github/workflows/draft-release.yml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..350fc9265
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/draft-release.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,87 @@
+name: Draft Release Notes
+
+on:
+  push:
+    branches:
+      - "main"
+    paths:
+      - "docs/changelog/index.md"
+    tags:
+      - "[0-9]+.[0-9]+.[0-9]+*"
+  workflow_dispatch:
+
+permissions:
+  contents: write
+
+jobs:
+  sync-release:
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    steps:
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
+
+      - name: Extract latest changelog entry
+        id: changelog
+        run: |
+          python3 .github/scripts/extract-changelog.py > /tmp/changelog.json
+
+      - name: Parse version and date
+        id: meta
+        run: |
+          VERSION=$(python3 -c "import json; print(json.load(open('/tmp/changelog.json'))['version'])")
+          DATE=$(python3 -c "import json; print(json.load(open('/tmp/changelog.json'))['date'])")
+          echo "version=$VERSION" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+          echo "date=$DATE" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+
+      - name: Set tag and draft flag
+        id: flags
+        run: |
+          if [[ "${{ github.ref_type }}" == "tag" ]]; then
+            echo "tag=${{ github.ref_name }}" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+            echo "draft=false" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+            echo "make_latest=true" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+          else
+            echo "tag=${{ steps.meta.outputs.version }}" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+            echo "draft=true" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+            echo "make_latest=false" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+          fi
+
+      - name: Write release notes to file
+        run: |
+          python3 -c "
+          import json
+          with open('/tmp/changelog.json') as f:
+              data = json.load(f)
+          with open('/tmp/release-body.md', 'w') as f:
+              f.write(data['body'])
+          "
+
+      - name: Create or update GitHub Release
+        env:
+          GH_TOKEN: ${{ github.token }}
+        run: |
+          TAG="${{ steps.flags.outputs.tag }}"
+          TITLE="${{ steps.meta.outputs.version }} – ${{ steps.meta.outputs.date }}"
+          NOTES_FILE="/tmp/release-body.md"
+          DRAFT="${{ steps.flags.outputs.draft }}"
+          MAKE_LATEST="${{ steps.flags.outputs.make_latest }}"
+
+          ARGS=(
+            --title "$TITLE"
+            --notes-file "$NOTES_FILE"
+          )
+
+          if [[ "$DRAFT" == "true" ]]; then
+            ARGS+=(--draft)
+          fi
+
+          if [[ "$MAKE_LATEST" == "true" ]]; then
+            ARGS+=(--latest)
+          fi
+
+          if gh release view "$TAG" &>/dev/null; then
+            echo "Release $TAG exists – editing"
+            gh release edit "$TAG" "${ARGS[@]}"
+          else
+            echo "Release $TAG does not exist – creating"
+            gh release create "$TAG" "${ARGS[@]}"
+          fi
diff --git a/.github/workflows/release-drafter.yml b/.github/workflows/release-drafter.yml
deleted file mode 100644
index 6eaab8566..000000000
--- a/.github/workflows/release-drafter.yml
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,16 +0,0 @@
-name: Release Drafter
-
-on:
-  push:
-    branches:
-      - "main"
-  workflow_dispatch:
-
-permissions: {}
-
-jobs:
-  draft-release:
-    permissions:
-      contents: write
-      pull-requests: write
-    uses: mkdocs-ng/.github/.github/workflows/release-drafter.yml@main