diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 81fa104ad47..4da78f779d1 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -20,6 +20,12 @@ dev-setup: clean-dev npm-init build-dev
 
 production-setup: clean-dev npm-init build-production
 
+validate-release:
+	./docs/validate-release.sh --dry-run $(BRANCHES)
+
+prepare-changelog:
+	./docs/validate-release.sh --prepare-changelog $(BRANCHES)
+
 release: appstore create-tag
 
 build-dev: composer-install-dev build-js
diff --git a/docs/validate-release.sh b/docs/validate-release.sh
new file mode 100755
index 00000000000..ce7fb561b1b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/validate-release.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,608 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: AGPL-3.0-or-later
+# SPDX-FileCopyrightText: 2026 Nextcloud GmbH and Nextcloud contributors
+#
+# Pre-release preparation report for Nextcloud Spreed
+# Use --prepare-changelog to generate changelog entries as a local commit
+
+DRY_RUN=false
+VERBOSE=false
+PREPARE_CHANGELOG=false
+declare -a STABLE_BRANCHES=()
+
+RED='\033[0;31m'
+GREEN='\033[0;32m'
+YELLOW='\033[1;33m'
+BLUE='\033[0;34m'
+CYAN='\033[0;36m'
+NC='\033[0m'
+
+print_header() {
+    echo ""
+    echo -e "${BLUE}━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━${NC}"
+    echo -e "${BLUE}$1${NC}"
+    echo -e "${BLUE}━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━${NC}"
+}
+
+print_section() {
+    echo ""
+    echo -e "${CYAN}→ $1${NC}"
+}
+
+print_info() {
+    echo -e "  $1"
+}
+
+print_item() {
+    echo -e "  • $1"
+}
+
+print_error() {
+    echo -e "${RED}✗ $1${NC}"
+}
+
+print_warning() {
+    echo -e "${YELLOW}⚠ $1${NC}"
+}
+
+print_success() {
+    echo -e "${GREEN}✓ $1${NC}"
+}
+
+usage() {
+    cat << EOF
+Usage: $0 [OPTIONS] [STABLE_BRANCH...]
+
+Gather release preparation information for Nextcloud Spreed
+
+Run from 'main' branch to report on upcoming releases.
+
+OPTIONS:
+    --prepare-changelog   Generate changelog entries and commit locally (push and PR are manual)
+    --dry-run               Preview changelog output without making any git/PR changes
+                            (implies --prepare-changelog)
+    --verbose               Show detailed output
+    -h, --help              Show this help message
+
+ARGUMENTS:
+    STABLE_BRANCH   Specific stable branches to check (e.g., stable33, stable34)
+                    If not provided, automatically selects the 3 highest versions
+
+EXAMPLES:
+    $0                           # Check top 3 stable branches
+    $0 stable33 stable34         # Check specific branches
+    $0 --dry-run                 # Preview changelog without making changes
+    $0 --prepare-changelog     # Generate changelog and open a PR
+
+EOF
+    exit 0
+}
+
+while [[ $# -gt 0 ]]; do
+    case $1 in
+        --dry-run) DRY_RUN=true; PREPARE_CHANGELOG=true; shift ;;
+        --verbose) VERBOSE=true; shift ;;
+        --prepare-changelog) PREPARE_CHANGELOG=true; shift ;;
+        -h|--help) usage ;;
+        *) STABLE_BRANCHES+=("$1"); shift ;;
+    esac
+done
+
+if [ ${#STABLE_BRANCHES[@]} -eq 0 ]; then
+    if [ -f ".github/dependabot.yml" ]; then
+        STABLE_BRANCHES=($(grep 'target-branch:' .github/dependabot.yml | grep -oE 'stable[0-9.]+' | sort -Vr | uniq))
+    else
+        STABLE_BRANCHES=($(git branch -r 2>/dev/null | grep -oE 'origin/stable[0-9.]+' | sed 's|origin/||' | sort -V -r | head -3 || true))
+    fi
+fi
+
+print_header "Nextcloud Spreed Release Preparation Report"
+
+# ============================================================================
+# Pre-run checks
+# ============================================================================
+PREFLIGHT_OK=true
+
+if ! command -v git &> /dev/null; then
+    print_error "git is not installed"
+    PREFLIGHT_OK=false
+elif ! git rev-parse --git-dir > /dev/null 2>&1; then
+    print_error "Not in a git repository"
+    PREFLIGHT_OK=false
+fi
+
+if ! command -v gh &> /dev/null; then
+    print_error "GitHub CLI (gh) is not installed — https://github.com/cli/cli#installation"
+    PREFLIGHT_OK=false
+elif ! gh auth status &> /dev/null; then
+    print_error "GitHub CLI (gh) is not authenticated — run: gh auth login"
+    PREFLIGHT_OK=false
+fi
+
+if ! command -v jq &> /dev/null; then
+    print_error "jq is not installed"
+    PREFLIGHT_OK=false
+fi
+
+if ! command -v xmllint &> /dev/null; then
+    print_error "xmllint is not installed (libxml2-utils)"
+    PREFLIGHT_OK=false
+fi
+
+if [ "$PREFLIGHT_OK" = false ]; then
+    exit 1
+fi
+
+print_success "All required tools available"
+
+if [ "$DRY_RUN" = true ]; then
+    echo -e "${YELLOW}[DRY RUN – no changes will be made]${NC}"
+fi
+
+if [ ${#STABLE_BRANCHES[@]} -eq 0 ]; then
+    echo -e "Scope: ${BLUE}main branch (preparation only)${NC}"
+else
+    BRANCHES_DISPLAY=$(IFS=,; echo "${STABLE_BRANCHES[*]}")
+    echo -e "Target branches: ${BLUE}$BRANCHES_DISPLAY${NC}"
+fi
+
+# ============================================================================
+# Git setup
+# ============================================================================
+
+CURRENT_BRANCH=$(git rev-parse --abbrev-ref HEAD)
+print_info "Current branch: $CURRENT_BRANCH"
+
+print_info "Fetching remote info..."
+git fetch origin --quiet 2>/dev/null || print_warning "Could not fetch from origin"
+
+# ============================================================================
+# Version info
+# ============================================================================
+print_section "Version Information"
+
+VERSION=""
+PKG_VERSION=""
+
+if [ -f "appinfo/info.xml" ]; then
+    VERSION=$(xmllint --xpath '/info/version/text()' appinfo/info.xml 2>/dev/null)
+    [ -n "$VERSION" ] && print_info "appinfo/info.xml: $VERSION"
+fi
+
+if [ -f "package.json" ]; then
+    PKG_VERSION=$(grep '"version"' package.json | head -1 | sed 's/.*"version": "\([^"]*\)".*/\1/')
+    [ -n "$PKG_VERSION" ] && print_info "package.json:     $PKG_VERSION"
+fi
+
+if [ -n "$VERSION" ] && [ -n "$PKG_VERSION" ] && [ "$VERSION" != "$PKG_VERSION" ]; then
+    print_warning "Version mismatch between appinfo/info.xml and package.json"
+fi
+
+# ============================================================================
+# 1. Pending backports
+# ============================================================================
+print_section "Pending Backports"
+
+if ! command -v gh &> /dev/null; then
+    print_warning "GitHub CLI (gh) not installed — install: https://github.com/cli/cli#installation"
+else
+    BACKPORTS=$(gh pr list --label "backport-request" --state open --repo nextcloud/spreed --json number,title,baseRefName 2>/dev/null)
+    BACKPORT_COUNT=$(echo "$BACKPORTS" | jq 'length' 2>/dev/null || echo "0")
+    BACKPORT_COUNT=$((${BACKPORT_COUNT:-0} + 0))
+
+    if [ "$BACKPORT_COUNT" -eq 0 ]; then
+        print_success "No pending backports"
+    else
+        print_warning "$BACKPORT_COUNT pending backport(s):"
+        echo "$BACKPORTS" | jq -r '.[] | "  • #\(.number) [\(.baseRefName)]: \(.title)"'
+    fi
+fi
+
+# ============================================================================
+# 2. Milestones Status
+# ============================================================================
+print_section "Milestones Status"
+
+if ! command -v gh &> /dev/null; then
+    print_warning "GitHub CLI (gh) not installed"
+else
+    MILESTONES_JSON=$(gh api repos/nextcloud/spreed/milestones 2>/dev/null || echo "[]")
+    MILESTONES=$(echo "$MILESTONES_JSON" | jq -r '.[] | select(.state=="open") | .title' 2>/dev/null || echo "")
+
+    if [ -z "$MILESTONES" ]; then
+        print_info "No open milestones found"
+    else
+        while IFS= read -r milestone; do
+            # One call per milestone: fetch all open issues with labels, filter client-side
+            MILESTONE_ISSUES=$(gh issue list --milestone "$milestone" --state open --repo nextcloud/spreed --json number,title,labels 2>/dev/null || echo "[]")
+
+            OPEN_ISSUES=$(echo "$MILESTONE_ISSUES" | jq 'length' 2>/dev/null || echo "0")
+            OPEN_ISSUES=$((${OPEN_ISSUES:-0} + 0))
+
+            HIGH_PRIORITY=$(echo "$MILESTONE_ISSUES" | jq '[.[] | select(any(.labels[]; .name == "high"))] | length' 2>/dev/null || echo "0")
+            HIGH_PRIORITY=$((${HIGH_PRIORITY:-0} + 0))
+
+            if [ "$OPEN_ISSUES" -eq 0 ]; then
+                print_item "$milestone (ready)"
+            elif [ "$HIGH_PRIORITY" -gt 0 ]; then
+                print_item "$milestone: ${YELLOW}$OPEN_ISSUES open issue(s)${NC} (${RED}$HIGH_PRIORITY high-priority${NC})"
+                echo "$MILESTONE_ISSUES" | jq -r '.[] | select(any(.labels[]; .name == "high")) | "#\(.number): \(.title)"' | while read -r line; do
+                    echo -e "    ${RED}${line}${NC}"
+                done
+            else
+                print_item "$milestone: ${YELLOW}$OPEN_ISSUES open issue(s)${NC}"
+                if [ "$VERBOSE" = true ]; then
+                    echo "$MILESTONE_ISSUES" | jq -r '.[] | "#\(.number): \(.title)"'
+                fi
+            fi
+        done <<< "$MILESTONES"
+    fi
+fi
+
+# ============================================================================
+# 3. Open Pull Requests against stable branches
+# ============================================================================
+print_section "Open Pull Requests"
+
+if ! command -v gh &> /dev/null; then
+    print_warning "GitHub CLI (gh) not installed"
+elif [ ${#STABLE_BRANCHES[@]} -eq 0 ]; then
+    print_info "No stable branches to check"
+else
+    for branch in "${STABLE_BRANCHES[@]}"; do
+        if git rev-parse --verify "origin/$branch" > /dev/null 2>&1; then
+            PRS=$(gh pr list --base "$branch" --state open --repo nextcloud/spreed --json number,title 2>/dev/null)
+            PR_COUNT=$(echo "$PRS" | jq 'length' 2>/dev/null || echo "0")
+            PR_COUNT=$((${PR_COUNT:-0} + 0))
+
+            if [ "$PR_COUNT" -eq 0 ]; then
+                print_item "$branch: no open PRs"
+            else
+                print_item "$branch: ${YELLOW}$PR_COUNT open PR(s)${NC}"
+                echo "$PRS" | jq -r '.[] | "      #\(.number): \(.title)"'
+            fi
+        else
+            print_warning "Branch '$branch' not found in origin"
+        fi
+    done
+fi
+
+# ============================================================================
+# 4. Dependabot Coverage
+# ============================================================================
+print_section "Dependabot Coverage"
+
+if [ ${#STABLE_BRANCHES[@]} -eq 0 ]; then
+    print_info "No stable branches to check"
+elif [ ! -f ".github/dependabot.yml" ]; then
+    print_warning ".github/dependabot.yml not found"
+else
+    for branch in "${STABLE_BRANCHES[@]}"; do
+        if grep -qF "target-branch: $branch" .github/dependabot.yml 2>/dev/null; then
+            print_success "$branch: patch updates configured"
+        else
+            print_warning "$branch: missing from .github/dependabot.yml — add composer and npm patch update entries"
+        fi
+    done
+fi
+
+# ============================================================================
+# 5. First RC of major release checks (conditional per branch)
+# ============================================================================
+# Fires when: minor=0 and patch=0 (major release series) and no RC tags exist yet.
+# This catches the preparation phase before rc.1 is tagged, not just when already at rc.1.
+FIRST_RC_FOUND=false
+
+if [ ${#STABLE_BRANCHES[@]} -gt 0 ]; then
+    for branch in "${STABLE_BRANCHES[@]}"; do
+        if ! git rev-parse --verify "origin/$branch" > /dev/null 2>&1; then
+            continue
+        fi
+
+        BRANCH_VERSION=$(git show "origin/$branch:appinfo/info.xml" 2>/dev/null | xmllint --xpath '/info/version/text()' - 2>/dev/null || echo "")
+        [ -z "$BRANCH_VERSION" ] && continue
+
+        TALK_MAJOR=$(echo "$BRANCH_VERSION" | cut -d. -f1)
+        TALK_MINOR=$(echo "$BRANCH_VERSION" | cut -d. -f2)
+        TALK_PATCH=$(echo "$BRANCH_VERSION" | cut -d. -f3 | grep -oE '^[0-9]+')
+
+        [ "$TALK_MINOR" != "0" ] || [ "$TALK_PATCH" != "0" ] && continue
+
+        EXISTING_RCS=$(git ls-remote --tags origin "refs/tags/v${TALK_MAJOR}.0.0-rc.*" 2>/dev/null | wc -l | tr -d ' ')
+        [ "$EXISTING_RCS" -gt 0 ] && continue
+
+        if [ "$FIRST_RC_FOUND" = false ]; then
+            print_section "First RC of Major Release — Additional Checks"
+            FIRST_RC_FOUND=true
+        fi
+
+        print_item "${branch} at v${BRANCH_VERSION} — preparing first RC of Talk ${TALK_MAJOR}"
+
+        print_warning "  Manual: Create 'New in Talk ${TALK_MAJOR}' entries in the 'Talk updates ✅' conversation"
+        print_warning "  Manual: Review GDPR document for any new database tables/columns"
+        print_info   "  Hint:   Run 'make appstore' to verify packaging exclude list in Makefile is up to date"
+
+        # Dependabot check for this branch (template item: "patch updates to the stable branch")
+        if [ -f ".github/dependabot.yml" ]; then
+            if grep -qF "target-branch: $branch" .github/dependabot.yml 2>/dev/null; then
+                print_success "  dependabot.yml: patch updates configured for $branch"
+            else
+                print_warning "  dependabot.yml: $branch is missing — add composer and npm patch update entries"
+            fi
+        fi
+
+        # New DB migrations since last tag (to assist the GDPR check)
+        LAST_TAG=$(git describe --tags --abbrev=0 "origin/$branch" 2>/dev/null || echo "")
+        if [ -n "$LAST_TAG" ]; then
+            NEW_MIGRATIONS=$(git diff --name-only "${LAST_TAG}..origin/${branch}" -- 'lib/Migration/' 2>/dev/null | grep '\.php$' || true)
+            if [ -z "$NEW_MIGRATIONS" ]; then
+                print_success "  No new DB migration files since $LAST_TAG"
+            else
+                print_warning "  New DB migration files since $LAST_TAG (verify GDPR document):"
+                echo "$NEW_MIGRATIONS" | while read -r f; do echo "      • $f"; done
+            fi
+        else
+            print_info "  No previous tag found — check DB migrations manually"
+        fi
+    done
+fi
+
+# ============================================================================
+# 6. Changelog preparation (only when --prepare-changelog is passed)
+# ============================================================================
+
+# Increments the last numeric component of a version string
+# 24.0.0-rc.3 → 24.0.0-rc.4   |   23.0.5 → 23.0.6
+increment_version() {
+    local version="$1"
+    if [[ "$version" =~ ^(.*\.)([0-9]+)$ ]]; then
+        echo "${BASH_REMATCH[1]}$((BASH_REMATCH[2] + 1))"
+    else
+        echo "$version"
+    fi
+}
+
+# Outputs a formatted changelog section from a milestone's merged PRs
+generate_changelog_section() {
+    local milestone_number="$1"
+    local version="$2"
+    local today
+    today=$(date '+%Y-%m-%d')
+
+    local pr_data
+    pr_data=$(gh api --paginate "repos/nextcloud/spreed/issues?milestone=${milestone_number}&state=closed&per_page=100" 2>/dev/null || echo "[]")
+
+    local has_deps=false
+    local has_l10n=false
+    local entries_added=()
+    local entries_changed=()
+    local entries_fixed=()
+    local entries_removed=()
+
+    while IFS=$'\x1f' read -r number title; do
+        [ -z "$number" ] && continue
+
+        if echo "$title" | grep -qE '^(chore|build)\(deps'; then
+            has_deps=true
+            continue
+        fi
+        if echo "$title" | grep -qiE '^(chore|fix)\(l10n'; then
+            has_l10n=true
+            continue
+        fi
+
+        local link="  [#${number}](https://github.com/nextcloud/spreed/pull/${number})"
+        local entry
+        entry="- ${title}"$'\n'"${link}"
+
+        if echo "$title" | grep -qE '^feat'; then
+            entries_added+=("$entry")
+        elif echo "$title" | grep -qE '^fix'; then
+            entries_fixed+=("$entry")
+        elif echo "$title" | grep -qE '^revert'; then
+            entries_removed+=("$entry")
+        else
+            entries_changed+=("$entry")
+        fi
+    done < <(echo "$pr_data" | jq -r '.[] | select(.pull_request != null) | [(.number | tostring), .title] | join("")' 2>/dev/null)
+
+    echo "## ${version} – ${today}"
+    echo ""
+
+    if [ "${#entries_added[@]}" -gt 0 ]; then
+        echo "### Added"
+        for e in "${entries_added[@]}"; do printf '%s\n' "$e"; done
+        echo ""
+    fi
+
+    local show_changed=false
+    [ "${#entries_changed[@]}" -gt 0 ] && show_changed=true
+    [ "$has_deps" = true ] && show_changed=true
+    [ "$has_l10n" = true ] && show_changed=true
+
+    if [ "$show_changed" = true ]; then
+        echo "### Changed"
+        [ "$has_deps" = true ] && echo "- Update dependencies"
+        [ "$has_l10n" = true ] && echo "- Update translations"
+        for e in "${entries_changed[@]}"; do printf '%s\n' "$e"; done
+        echo ""
+    fi
+
+    if [ "${#entries_fixed[@]}" -gt 0 ]; then
+        echo "### Fixed"
+        for e in "${entries_fixed[@]}"; do printf '%s\n' "$e"; done
+        echo ""
+    fi
+
+    if [ "${#entries_removed[@]}" -gt 0 ]; then
+        echo "### Removed"
+        for e in "${entries_removed[@]}"; do printf '%s\n' "$e"; done
+        echo ""
+    fi
+}
+
+# Inserts a changelog section before the first "## " line in a file
+prepend_changelog_section() {
+    local file="$1"
+    local content="$2"
+
+    if [ ! -f "$file" ]; then
+        {
+            printf '<!--\n'
+            printf '  - SPDX-FileCopyrightText: %s Nextcloud GmbH and Nextcloud contributors\n' "$(date +%Y)"
+            printf '  - SPDX-License-Identifier: CC0-1.0\n'
+            printf '-->\n'
+            printf '# Changelog\n'
+            printf 'All notable changes to this project will be documented in this file.\n\n'
+            printf '%s\n' "$content"
+        } > "$file"
+        return 0
+    fi
+
+    local first_section_line
+    first_section_line=$(grep -n '^## ' "$file" | head -1 | cut -d: -f1)
+
+    local tmp
+    tmp=$(mktemp)
+    if [ -z "$first_section_line" ]; then
+        cat "$file" > "$tmp"
+        printf '\n%s\n' "$content" >> "$tmp"
+    else
+        head -n $((first_section_line - 1)) "$file" > "$tmp"
+        printf '%s\n\n' "$content" >> "$tmp"
+        tail -n +$((first_section_line)) "$file" >> "$tmp"
+    fi
+    mv "$tmp" "$file"
+}
+
+if [ "$PREPARE_CHANGELOG" = true ]; then
+    print_section "Changelog"
+
+if [ ${#STABLE_BRANCHES[@]} -eq 0 ]; then
+    print_info "No stable branches — nothing to generate"
+else
+    declare -a CHANGELOG_VERSIONS=()
+    declare -A BRANCH_MAJORS=()
+    declare -A BRANCH_NEXT_VERSIONS=()
+    declare -A BRANCH_SECTIONS=()
+
+    for branch in "${STABLE_BRANCHES[@]}"; do
+        if ! git rev-parse --verify "origin/$branch" > /dev/null 2>&1; then
+            continue
+        fi
+
+        NC_MAJOR=$(echo "$branch" | grep -oE '[0-9.]+')
+        BRANCH_VERSION=$(git show "origin/$branch:appinfo/info.xml" 2>/dev/null | xmllint --xpath '/info/version/text()' - 2>/dev/null || echo "")
+
+        if [ -z "$BRANCH_VERSION" ]; then
+            print_warning "$branch: could not read version from appinfo/info.xml"
+            continue
+        fi
+
+        TALK_MAJOR=$(echo "$BRANCH_VERSION" | cut -d. -f1)
+
+        MILESTONE_DATA=$(echo "${MILESTONES_JSON:-[]}" | \
+            jq --arg major "$NC_MAJOR" '.[] | select(.title | test("Next Patch \\(" + $major + "\\)"))' 2>/dev/null || echo "")
+
+        if [ -z "$MILESTONE_DATA" ] || [ "$MILESTONE_DATA" = "null" ]; then
+            print_warning "$branch: no 'Next Patch ($NC_MAJOR)' milestone found"
+            continue
+        fi
+
+        MILESTONE_NUMBER=$(echo "$MILESTONE_DATA" | jq -r '.number')
+        MILESTONE_TITLE=$(echo "$MILESTONE_DATA" | jq -r '.title')
+        MILESTONE_OPEN=$(echo "$MILESTONE_DATA" | jq -r '.open_issues')
+
+        NEXT_VERSION=$(increment_version "$BRANCH_VERSION")
+
+        print_item "${branch}: v${BRANCH_VERSION} → v${NEXT_VERSION} ← ${MILESTONE_TITLE} (${MILESTONE_OPEN} open issues)"
+
+        SECTION=$(generate_changelog_section "$MILESTONE_NUMBER" "$NEXT_VERSION")
+
+        CHANGELOG_VERSIONS+=("v${NEXT_VERSION}")
+        BRANCH_MAJORS["$branch"]="$TALK_MAJOR"
+        BRANCH_NEXT_VERSIONS["$branch"]="$NEXT_VERSION"
+        BRANCH_SECTIONS["$branch"]="$SECTION"
+    done
+
+    if [ "${#CHANGELOG_VERSIONS[@]}" -gt 0 ]; then
+        print_section "Preparing Changelog Commits"
+
+        TODAY=$(date '+%Y%m%d')
+        PR_BRANCH="chore/release/changelog-${TODAY}"
+        VERSIONS_STR=$(IFS=", "; echo "${CHANGELOG_VERSIONS[*]}")
+
+        if [ "$DRY_RUN" = true ]; then
+            print_info "Branch: $PR_BRANCH (from main)"
+
+            for branch in "${STABLE_BRANCHES[@]}"; do
+                MAJOR="${BRANCH_MAJORS[$branch]:-}"
+                NEXT_VERSION="${BRANCH_NEXT_VERSIONS[$branch]:-}"
+                SECTION="${BRANCH_SECTIONS[$branch]:-}"
+                [ -z "$MAJOR" ] || [ -z "$SECTION" ] && continue
+
+                CHANGELOG_FILE="docs/changelogs/changelog-${MAJOR}.md"
+                echo ""
+                print_info "Commit: chore(release): Changelog for v${NEXT_VERSION}"
+                echo -e "  ${CYAN}--- a/${CHANGELOG_FILE}${NC}"
+                echo -e "  ${CYAN}+++ b/${CHANGELOG_FILE}${NC}"
+                printf '%s\n' "$SECTION" | while IFS= read -r line; do
+                    echo -e "  ${GREEN}+${line}${NC}"
+                done
+            done
+            echo ""
+        else
+            if git rev-parse --verify "$PR_BRANCH" > /dev/null 2>&1; then
+                print_warning "Branch '$PR_BRANCH' already exists — delete it first or use a different date suffix"
+            else
+                git checkout -b "$PR_BRANCH" origin/main > /dev/null 2>&1
+
+                COMMIT_COUNT=0
+
+                for branch in "${STABLE_BRANCHES[@]}"; do
+                    MAJOR="${BRANCH_MAJORS[$branch]:-}"
+                    NEXT_VERSION="${BRANCH_NEXT_VERSIONS[$branch]:-}"
+                    SECTION="${BRANCH_SECTIONS[$branch]:-}"
+                    [ -z "$MAJOR" ] || [ -z "$SECTION" ] && continue
+
+                    CHANGELOG_FILE="docs/changelogs/changelog-${MAJOR}.md"
+                    prepend_changelog_section "$CHANGELOG_FILE" "$SECTION"
+                    git add "$CHANGELOG_FILE"
+                    git commit -s -m "chore(release): Changelog for v${NEXT_VERSION}"
+                    print_success "Committed $CHANGELOG_FILE"
+                    COMMIT_COUNT=$((COMMIT_COUNT + 1))
+                done
+
+                echo ""
+                print_success "Branch '$PR_BRANCH' ready — review and adjust the changelog, then:"
+                echo "  git push -u origin $PR_BRANCH"
+                echo "  gh pr create --title \"chore(release): Changelog for ${VERSIONS_STR}\" --base main --body \"\$(git diff HEAD~${COMMIT_COUNT}..HEAD -- docs/changelogs/ | grep '^+[^+]' | sed 's/^+//')\" --repo nextcloud/spreed"
+            fi
+        fi
+    fi
+fi
+
+fi # PREPARE_CHANGELOG
+
+# ============================================================================
+# 7. Repository Status
+# ============================================================================
+print_section "Repository Status"
+
+if [ -n "$(git status --porcelain)" ]; then
+    print_warning "Uncommitted changes detected:"
+    git status --short | sed 's/^/    /'
+else
+    print_success "Working directory is clean"
+fi
+
+# ============================================================================
+# Next Steps
+# ============================================================================
+print_header "Next Steps"
+
+echo ""
+echo -e "${CYAN}Address any blockers above, then:${NC}"
+echo "  1. Prepare changelog:  make prepare-changelog"
+echo "     Review and adjust docs/changelogs/*.md, then push and open a PR"
+echo "  2. Follow https://github.com/nextcloud/spreed/issues/5879 template"