Update release mechanism.

.github/workflows/release.yml

@@ -6,26 +6,30 @@ on:
 
 jobs:
   check-release:
-    name: Check if release commit
+    name: Check if release needed
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     outputs:
       is_release: ${{ steps.check.outputs.is_release }}
       version: ${{ steps.check.outputs.version }}
     steps:
       - uses: actions/checkout@v4
+        with:
+          fetch-depth: 0
 
-      - name: Detect version branch merge
+      - name: Compare VERSION against existing tags
         id: check
         run: |
-          VERSION=$(grep '^\*\*Version:\*\*' README.md | head -1 | sed 's/.*\*\* *//')
-          MERGE_BRANCH=$(git log -1 --pretty=%s | grep -oP 'Merge.*from.*\K[0-9]+\.[0-9]+\.[0-9]+' || true)
-          if [ "$MERGE_BRANCH" = "$VERSION" ]; then
+          VERSION=$(cat VERSION)
+          if [ -z "$VERSION" ]; then
+            echo "is_release=false" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+            echo "VERSION file is empty"
+          elif git rev-parse "$VERSION" >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+            echo "is_release=false" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+            echo "Tag $VERSION already exists — not a release"
+          else
             echo "is_release=true" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
             echo "version=$VERSION" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
             echo "Release detected: $VERSION"
-          else
-            echo "is_release=false" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
-            echo "Not a release merge (merge_branch=$MERGE_BRANCH, version=$VERSION)"
           fi
 
   qa:

.reporails/backbone.yml

@@ -45,6 +45,9 @@ registry:
   coordinate_map: registry/coordinate-map.yml
   tombstones: registry/tombstones.yml
 
+meta:
+  version_file: VERSION
+
 docs:
   sources: docs/sources.yml
   rule_template: docs/rule-template.md

README.md

@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 Validation rules for AI agent instruction files (CLAUDE.md, .cursorrules, copilot-instructions.md).
 Community-maintained.
 
-**Version:** 0.2.2
+**Version:** 0.3.1 <!-- source of truth: VERSION file -->
 
 ### Pre-1.0 — moving fast, API still evolving, feedback welcome.
 

VERSION

@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+0.3.1