diff --git a/CLAUDE.md b/CLAUDE.md
index 17810c9..60f0005 100644
--- a/CLAUDE.md
+++ b/CLAUDE.md
@@ -4,26 +4,31 @@ Scope: this file covers *repo hygiene* — branching, remotes, CI, cleanup. It i
 
 This repo follows the branch/release workflow documented in `CONTRIBUTING.md`
 — read and follow it for any git, branch, or release work here (the
-dev/beta/main lifecycle, `feature/x`/`fix/x` branch naming, when to cut or
-reset `beta`, etc). Don't improvise a different workflow. The short version:
-`main` is tag-ready and only moves via a `beta` merge; `dev` and `beta` both
-auto-publish a build on every push (dev-track / beta-track respectively);
-`beta` is a frozen stabilization branch cut from `dev` roughly weekly and
-promoted to `main` roughly monthly. `git branch -f beta dev` (plain
-branch-pointer move) is how `beta` gets reset — never `git checkout
-main`/`git merge` for this.
+single-trunk model, `feature/x`/`fix/x` branch naming, how RC tags work,
+etc). Don't improvise a different workflow. The short version: there is one
+long-lived branch, `main` — no `dev` or `beta` branch exists. `main`
+auto-publishes a dev-track build on every push. "Beta" and "stable" are both
+just tags, not branches: push a `vX.Y.Z-rc.N` tag to publish a beta-track
+build, push a plain `vX.Y.Z` tag to cut the signed stable release.
+"Freezing" for stabilization means pausing pushes to `main`, not moving a
+branch. This replaced an earlier three-branch (`dev`/`beta`/`main`) model
+after `main` was found to have silently rotted out of sync with `dev`/`beta`
+across most repos in this ecosystem — a manual "merge beta into main
+monthly" step nobody reliably did across a dozen-plus repos. Collapsing to
+one branch removes the class of bug; there's nothing left that can fall out
+of sync.
 
 ## Remotes
 - `origin` — Forgejo (`git.breadway.dev` via Hestia, SSH) — authoritative.
 - `github` — GitHub mirror. Push both when publishing.
 
 ## CI
-- `.forgejo/workflows/package.yml`, `release-bakery.yml`, `release-bread-theme.yml` all trigger only on `push: tags: ['v*']` — pushing to `dev`, `beta`, or `main` doesn't run these. Tag a release to trigger packaging.
-- `dev-bakery.yml` / `dev-bread-theme.yml` trigger on `push: branches: ['dev']`; `beta-bakery.yml` / `beta-bread-theme.yml` trigger on `push: branches: ['beta']` — both auto-publish a signed, auto-versioned build to `dl.breadway.dev/{dev,beta}/`. See `docs/release-channels.md` for the full three-track (stable/beta/dev) policy.
-- No build/lint/test CI runs on ordinary commits or PRs to `dev`/`beta` beyond what those track workflows do — there's no separate lint/PR-check pipeline.
+- `.forgejo/workflows/package.yml`, `release-bakery.yml`, `release-bread-theme.yml` all trigger on `push: tags: ['v*']`, gated to skip any tag containing `-rc.` — pushing to `main` doesn't run these. Tag a release to trigger packaging.
+- `dev-bakery.yml` / `dev-bread-theme.yml` trigger on `push: branches: ['main']`; `rc-bakery.yml` / `rc-bread-theme.yml` trigger on `push: tags: ['v*']` gated to *only* run for `-rc.` tags — both auto-publish a signed, auto-versioned build to `dl.breadway.dev/{dev,beta}/`. See `docs/release-channels.md` for the full track (stable/beta/dev) policy.
+- No build/lint/test CI runs on ordinary commits or PRs to `main` beyond the dev-track workflow above — there's no separate lint/PR-check pipeline.
 
 ## Cleanup
-- Delete feature/fix branches (local + remote) once merged. Check with `git branch --merged dev` / `git branch --merged main`.
+- Delete feature/fix branches (local + remote) once merged. Check with `git branch --merged main`.
 - A `fix/audit-findings` branch and a merged `copilot/create-readme-md` branch (both local and on `origin`/`github`) were found stale and fully merged here on 2026-07-21 and removed.
 
 ## Don't