--- a/README	Fri Jan 31 14:50:37 2020 +0100
+++ b/README	Thu Jan 30 18:14:14 2020 +0100
@@ -175,3 +175,61 @@
     byteify-strings = python3 ~/workspace/octobus/mercurial-devel/contrib/byteify-strings.py --dictiter --treat-as-kwargs kwargs opts commitopts TROUBLES --allow-attr-methods
     byteify-strings:mode.input = file
     byteify-strings:mode.output = pipe
+
+Release Checklist
+=================
+
+* make sure the tests are happy on all supported versions,
+
+  You can use the `contrib/merge-test-compat.sh` to merge with the test
+  compatibility branches.
+
+* make sure there is no code difference between the compat branches and stable
+  (no diff within `hgext3rd/`),
+
+* update the `testedwith` variable for all extensions (remove '.dev'):
+
+  - hgext3rd/evolve/metadata.py
+  - hgext3rd/topic/__init__.py
+  - hgext3rd/pullbundle.py
+
+* make sure the changelog is up to date,
+
+* add a date to the changelog entry for the target version,
+
+* update the `__version__` field of all relevant extensions:
+
+  - hgext3rd/evolve/metadata.py
+  - hgext3rd/topic/__init__.py
+  - hgext3rd/pullbundle.py (if touched)
+
+* create a new Debian entry:
+
+  - debchange --newversion x.y.z-1 "new upstream release"
+  - debchange --release
+
+* sanity check install and sdist targets of setup.py:
+
+  - python setup.py install --home=$(mktemp -d)
+  - python setup.py sdist
+
+* tag the commit,
+
+* push and publish the tag,
+
+* upload the tarball to PyPI,
+
+* make an announcement on evolve-testers@mercurial-scm.org (possibly on
+  mercurial@mercurial-scm.org too),
+
+* bump versions of all extensions and add '.dev' (see existing commits as an
+  example):
+
+  - hgext3rd/evolve/metadata.py
+  - hgext3rd/topic/__init__.py
+  - hgext3rd/pullbundle.py
+
+  The version we use on the stable branch during development should be
+  `x.y.z+1.dev`. The version of the default branch should be `x.y+1.0.dev`.
+
+* merge stable into default.