docs: add CONTRIBUTING.md, point CLAUDE.md at it, fix stale track table

CLAUDE.md now points to CONTRIBUTING.md as the canonical workflow doc
instead of duplicating the release lifecycle inline. docs/release-channels.md's
current-state table was stale — it still said beta/dev wasn't rolled out
to the sibling repos, which is now done.

CONTRIBUTING.md

@@ -0,0 +1,95 @@
+# Contributing
+
+This repo hosts `bakery` (the ecosystem package manager) and `bread-theme`
+(the shared theming crate). Other ecosystem products (`bread`, `breadbar`,
+`breadbox`, …) live in their own repos under `Breadway/` but follow the same
+workflow described here.
+
+## Branches
+
+- **`main`** — release branch, always tag-ready. Nothing is committed to it
+  directly; it only moves forward via a `beta` merge (see below).
+- **`dev`** — integration branch. All day-to-day work lands here first.
+  Every push to `dev` automatically builds and publishes a **dev-track**
+  build (see Tracks below) — use this to test your change in a real install
+  before it goes any further.
+- **`beta`** — a frozen stabilization branch, cut from `dev` periodically.
+  Every push to `beta` automatically builds and publishes a **beta-track**
+  build. While a freeze is active, only fixes for issues found *in that
+  freeze* should land on `beta`.
+
+New work — features and bug fixes alike — goes on a short-lived branch:
+
+```
+feature/<short-name>
+fix/<issue-number-or-short-name>
+```
+
+Branch off `dev`, open a PR/push back into `dev` when ready. If you're fixing
+something reported against an active `beta` freeze, branch off `beta`
+instead, merge the fix there to unblock testers, and also forward the same
+fix into `dev` so it doesn't quietly reappear next cycle.
+
+## The release cycle
+
+1. Work accumulates on `dev` via `feature/x` / `fix/x` branches. Each push
+   auto-publishes a dev build — install it with `bakery track set dev` and
+   `bakery update --all`, then report or fix anything broken with another
+   push to `dev`.
+2. Once `dev` has gone roughly **a week** without new issues, `beta` is cut
+   fresh from `dev`'s current tip. This freezes it as the stabilization
+   target — `dev` keeps moving independently starting the next cycle.
+3. `beta` is open for anyone to test: `bakery track set beta` and
+   `bakery update --all`. **File issues against anything you find on this
+   repo's Forgejo issue tracker.** Fixes land via `fix/<issue>` branches
+   merged into `beta`.
+4. Once `beta` has gone roughly **a month** without new issues, it's merged
+   into `main` and tagged `vX.Y.Z` — that tag is what actually triggers the
+   stable release build. `beta` is then reset from `dev` to start the next
+   cycle.
+
+## Tracks, from a user's perspective
+
+```
+bakery track show              # what you're currently on (defaults to stable)
+bakery track set dev           # or beta, or stable
+bakery update --all            # pull the latest build on your current track
+```
+
+| Track  | What it is | Published from |
+|--------|-----------|-----------------|
+| `stable` | The last tagged release | `main`, on a `vX.Y.Z` tag push |
+| `beta` | Current stabilization freeze | `beta`, on every push |
+| `dev` | Bleeding edge | `dev`, on every push |
+
+Dev/beta versions are auto-computed (`X.Y.Z-dev.<timestamp>+<sha>` /
+`-beta.…`) from the latest published stable tag, so they always sort as
+newer than what you have installed — no manual version bumping needed when
+pushing to `dev` or `beta`.
+
+## Local development
+
+```sh
+cargo build --release -p bakery
+cargo test --release -p bakery
+```
+
+Both `bakery` and `bread-theme` are members of this workspace's Cargo.toml.
+Run the same commands with `-p bread-theme --bin bread-theme` for that crate.
+
+## CI
+
+- `dev-bakery.yml` / `dev-bread-theme.yml` — triggered on push to `dev`.
+- `beta-bakery.yml` / `beta-bread-theme.yml` — triggered on push to `beta`.
+- `release-bakery.yml` / `release-bread-theme.yml` — triggered on a `v*` tag
+  push, cuts the actual stable release.
+- `package.yml` — publishes to the `[breadway]` pacman repo, also tag-triggered.
+
+All CI runs on a self-hosted runner; nothing runs automatically on plain
+commits or PRs beyond the track builds above. See
+[`docs/release-channels.md`](docs/release-channels.md) for the full policy,
+including how a new product gets wired onto these tracks.
+
+## Questions
+
+Open an issue on this repo's Forgejo tracker.